At first AJ McCarron went to his dad; the second to
his mom.
Then a bunch to other assorted family got in for
high fives and pats on the back as McCarron, standing on an electrical box,
reached up and into the front row of Sun Life Stadium where Alabama fans wildly
celebrated the Crimson Tide's 42-14 destruction of Notre Dame for a second
consecutive BCS title behind their star quarterback.
It was then, finally, when McCarron reached over and
kissed his girlfriend, Katherine Webb, the reigning Miss Alabama
and a young lady that, due to ESPN repeatedly flashing to her during the game
broadcast, is America's
newest celebrity.
So let it be known, here on a charmed night in the
charmed life of AJ McCarron, it was still family first. Webb just had to wait.
"That means he's a family guy, a mama's
boy," Webb said with a laugh to Yahoo! Sports. "And I'm totally good
with that. It's that personality that attracted me to him in the first place.
It was never about his status on the team."
Who knows where the pair's relationship goes, but if
its stands the test of time January 7, 2013 will go down as a night of all
nights for them.
McCarron forever shook off the lingering "game
manager" label and moved into the annals of legendary quarterbacks by
torching the once-vaunted Irish defense to the tune of 20 for 28 passing for
264 yards and four touchdowns. He was brilliant, sure now to go down as one of Alabama's all-time QB
legends with Joe Namath and Kenny Stabler among others.
It was this kind of night: McCarron was asked after
the game to "describe that touchdown pass to Amari Cooper."
"Which one?" he deadpanned.
What's better: leading a last-minute touchdown drive
to beat Georgia
in the SEC title game or dominating Notre Dame in the national title game?
"Can they both be equal?" he laughed.
Meanwhile, Webb became an instant star. ESPN, which
long ago figured out what gets ratings, focused in on the beauty queen wearing
the starting quarterback's No. 10 jersey.
There was even a first-half discussion on her from
broadcasters Brent Musburger, the legendary 73-year-old play-by-play man, and
former Ohio State QB Kirk Herbstreit.
"You quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking
women," Musburger said. "What a beautiful woman."
"Wow!" Herbstreit concurred.
"Whoa," Musburger said.
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