Category: Alabama

Police Arrest Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, in Disappearance of Aniah Blanchard, 19

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Probably the suspect was resisting arrest, or something.

Far be it from me to imagine that a fugitive apprehended in the kidnapping of a teenager might have been intentionally injured by the cops who caught him, because accidents happen. (Nudge, nudge.) All things considered, Ibraheem Yazeed should count himself lucky that one of the police officers didn’t accidently fire a pistol into his face five or six times. But let’s go to the unbiased news coverage:

A man wanted in connection with the disappearance of UFC fighter Walt Harris’ 19-year-old stepdaughter was arrested in Florida late Thursday night, just one day after police released video surveillance showing him in the same location where the victim was last seen.
Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, was booked into the Escambia County Jail Friday at around 2:38 a.m. after U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement tracked him down to an area near Highway I-10 and Pine Forest Rd. in Pensacola where he was said to be hiding in a brushy area, dressed all in black, WEAR-tv reported.
Yazeed was arrested on an out-of-state-fugitive charge and is being held without bond, according to inmate records.
It’s likely that he is awaiting extradition to Alabama, where a warrant was issued Thursday for his arrest on the charge of kidnapping in the first degree in the disappearance of Aniah Blanchard.
Auburn Police said in a news release that Blanchard disappeared on Oct. 23 after she was last seen on video surveillance inside a convenience store on South College Street. Her 2017 Honda CR-V was then observed heading southbound on the same street. Investigators say she was last heard from after speaking to a friend just before midnight.
She was reported missing by her family the following day.
On Oct. 25, her vehicle was found significantly damaged and abandoned at an apartment complex in Montgomery. Several days later police announced that the investigation turned criminal after evidence collected from the car signaled that Blanchard “was harmed and is considered to be a victim of foul play.” . . .
Auburn police said that Yazeed was out on bond for kidnapping and attempted murder charges during the time of Blanchard’s disappearance.

Holy freaking crap! This guy had already been charged with two serious felonies in a different case, but somehow got bailed out and then, according to police, he kidnapped this beautiful 19-year-old girl who is probably dead somewhere. My guess is that the injury Yazeed sustained while being apprehended in Florida is nothing compared to the injury that this girl’s father — a professional fighter — would like to inflict.

UPDATE: This guy has an extensive criminal record:

He first appeared to run afoul of the law in April 2011 when he was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery. Yazeed, and three other unnamed co-defendants, robbed two men at gunpoint of about $2,700 in cash, two wallets, a $50 money order and a cellphone at the Good Night Inn on West South Boulevard, according to court records.
Those cases were ultimately dismissed by a grand jury.
In January 2012, Yazeed allegedly rammed a vehicle into a Montgomery police officer’s patrol car in an attempt to kill two officers as they exited the vehicle at a Chevron gas station on East South Boulevard.
Those cases were also dismissed by a grand jury, according to court records.
In September 2013, Yazeed was charged with possession of a pistol without a permit and first-degree possession of marijuana. According to the arrest affidavits, Yazeed was found “hanging over the entrance gate” to the Blount Mansion on Taylor Road. The officer then conducted a search of his vehicle after smelling marijuana and discovered a bag of the substance under the driver’s seat along with a pistol.
About two weeks after that interaction with law enforcement, an officer attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle Yazeed was driving, according to court records. He failed to stop, hopping a grassy median to get to another parking lot before jumping out of the still moving vehicle and fleeing to a wooded area. The officer caught him a short time later.
Police found about 3 grams of crack cocaine in the area Yazeed was apprehended. A search of the vehicle revealed 16 grams of marijuana and rolling papers. He was subsequently charged with attempting to elude, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of crack cocaine and second-degree possession of marijuana.
Yazeed was indicted on all the September 2013 charges, and he pleaded guilty to them in 2015.
In January 2016, former Circuit Judge William Shashy sentenced Yazeed to serve 30 days in the county jail on the misdemeanor pistol permit charge, and 13 months on the felony drug charge. The sentence for the drug charge, however, was suspended and he was ordered to 6 months probation, according to court records.
Months later, Yazeed was sentenced on the remaining charges. A judge ruled he’d serve 13 months, though that too was suspended.
Three days after his sentencing, Yazeed was charged with trafficking spice, but the case was ultimately dismissed by a grand jury.
Yazeed then left the city and was arrested by Cass County sheriff’s deputies in Missouri on a warrant from Johnson County, Kansas, in July 2017. He was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement official, aggravated assault, fleeing a law enforcement official and first-degree possession of marijuana. Online court records do not detail the events that led to those charges.
Yazeed remained in the Johnson County Jail until his trial in February 2018. He was found guilty of fleeing a law enforcement official and possession of marijuana but found not guilty of the aggravated assault and battery charges.
A judge in March 2018 sentenced Yazeed to serve 16 months in jail. He was released from the Johnson County Jail six days later, earning credit for the approximately eight months he waited in jail for a resolution to the cases.
Less than a year later, Yazeed was back in the Montgomery County Jail accused of entering a SureStay Hotel on Eastern Boulevard armed with a handgun in January and holding two men against their will with Nicky Terrell Gains and Jessie Dale Ford.
According to court records, the trio beat one victim “until he was unconscious, unresponsive, severely injured and near death.” The other victim was also beaten and injured, according to records.
Before fleeing the scene, the three took a Rolex watch, rifle, handguns, wallets, credit and debit cards, clothing and cash from both the victims.
Yazeed and Ford were captured when Macon County deputies made contact with a vehicle driving erratically down the interstate. Inside the vehicle was a severely beaten 77-year-old man who has been assaulted, robbed and abducted from his vehicle in Montgomery, investigators with the State Bureau of Investigations.
Yazeed was ultimately charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery, attempted murder and first-degree possession of marijuana. He was freed on a combined $295,000 bond, set by a magistrate when the warrants were initially signed, the day after his arrest in February.

Can someone explain to me how this one-man crime wave — the perpetual perpetrator, the eternal offender — was able to raise bail money? I mean, if one of my children had spent the past decade engaged in violent felonies and sundry lesser offenses, I’d be like, “F–k no, I ain’t bailing you out again.” And yet Yazeed gets sprung on a $250,000 bond?

My brother has suggested Yazeed’s bond must have been posted by some kind of 501(c)3 tax-exempt group. Apparently, it’s now “charity” to spring career felons from jail, so as not to infringe their right to terrorize the law-abiding citizenry. If there is such a 501(c)3 doing this, I’d be willing to bet that it’s funded by George Soros.


 

Emily (a/k/a ‘Ross’) McFarland ‘Harbored Animosity’ Toward Victim, Police Say

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Sunday, we reported on the murder of Martha White, 66, in Auburn, Alabama. A news account stated that the suspect in that case, named as Ross Jonathan McFarland, 16, was “publicly known to identify as male” and yet was “being held at the Lee County Detention Facility as a female.” The latest news clarifies the circumstances of the case:

An affidavit filed in Lee County court details the murder of an Auburn woman shot last Thursday and claims she was killed by her previous soon-to-be teenage step-son.
Ross Jonathan McFarland, formerly known as Emily Ruth McFarland, 16, is charged with the murder of Martha “Marti” Jones White, 66.
White was engaged to McFarland’s father, according to the affidavit obtained by the Opelika-Auburn News on Monday afternoon.
Auburn police responded to a subdivision in the 700 block of Burke Place at about 7 p.m. Thursday after receiving a call reporting an unresponsive female.
When officers arrived they located White, who was lying on the floor suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the face. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.
McFarland was developed as a suspect during the investigation.
Police discovered that there was a missing Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun missing from the residence while interviewing an unidentified individual, the affidavit said.
Police later located a witness who was a close friend with McFarland. The witness stated that she and McFarland were in the residence earlier and she saw McFarland shoot White as she turned her head to look away from him, said the affidavit.
McFarland then picked up the shell casing and the two left the residence, the witness stated to police.
“The witness also stated that McFarland harbored animosity towards White for being engaged to his father in such a short time after his mother’s death,” the affidavit reads.

The suspect is the daughter of Dr. John H. McFarland, 68, and his late wife Donna, who died last November at age 45. So, the doctor’s wife dies and his daughter now identifies as his “son,” who shot his fiancée to death. It’s a latter-day Peyton Place down in East Alabama, ain’t it?


 

Transgender Teen Charged With Murdering Father’s Fiancée in Alabama

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Pay close attention or you could miss the transgender angle:

A Lee County Judge has ordered an Auburn teen charged with Murder be held without bond due to public safety concerns on behalf of the Lee Co. District Attorney’s Office.
16-year-old Ross McFarland is charged in Thursday’s shooting death of 66-year-old Martha White. White was the fiancé of McFarland’s father, a prominent east Alabama physician.
“I requested an extraordinary bond in this case as a result of evidence obtained during the investigation. I presented this information to the court in support of my public safety concerns and the judge ordered the defendant to be held without bond,” shared Lee Co. District Attorney Brandon Hughes.
Prosecutors declined to comment specifically on why McFarland’s release would cause them to be concerned for the safety of the public.
Ross McFarland, who is publicly known to identify as male, is being held at the Lee County Detention Facility as a female according to detention facility records.
Coroner Bill Harris says White appears to have been killed by a single gunshot based on a preliminary exam.
Auburn police arrested the 16-year-old early Friday morning on Murder charges after the Thursday night homicide along Burke Place.
“On Oct. 18, 2019, at approximately 6:30 a.m., Auburn Police along with the assistance of members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and Tallapoosa County Drug Task Force arrested Ross Jonathan McFarland, 16, of Auburn, on a warrant for Murder,” said Auburn Police Captain Lorenzo Dorsey.
Investigators say analysis of the scene resulted in McFarland, who resides at the residence on Burke Place, being developed as a suspect in the death.
“McFarland, a truck missing from the residence and what is believed to be the weapon used in the homicide, was located in the 10,000 block of Highway 50 near Dadeville and taken into custody,” said Dorsey.
McFarland has been charged with Murder, transported to the Lee County jail and was held under a $150,000 bond until a no bond was issued in a Friday afternoon hearing. This means McFarland will be held until a possible trial unless a new bond is set in the case.

My brother Kirby called my attention to this case, but when I did a Google search, none of the other news stories I found made any mention of “Ross” being, in fact, a girl who “identifies” as a boy. This account from WRBL-TV turns out to be the only article that mentions it. My guess is that “Ross” has undergone a legal name change and had been on testosterone prior to the murder. But unless journalists start asking questions — and reporting the answers — we’re not going to know all the facts. Also, if a transgender teenager had been the victim of homicide, you’d see it all over the national media, but because this case involves a suspected transgender perpetrator, it’s just “local news.”

UPDATE: OK, it appears the case may be opposite of what I’d presumed. Ross McFarland may actually be a male who “identifies” as female. Ross’s father is Dr. John H. McFarland, age 68. Ross’s mother, Donna, who was the doctor’s second wife, died last year at age 45. The couple married in 1996 and Ross was the youngest of their three children. Dr. McFarland apparently had two children by his previous marriage. So the question is why Ross is identified as female on jail records. We must wait for further reporting to clarify this issue.


 

Roll Tide!

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After the conclusion of The Other Podcast Saturday night, my colleague John Hoge and I went to dinner with my brother Kirby who, thanks to generous support from the tip-jar hitters is now recuperating here. After dinner, Hoge dropped Kirby and I off at my son Jim’s house, where we watched the Alabama Crimson Tide defeat Tennessee, 35-13. The game was actually closer than the final score would imply. In the fourth quarter, Tennessee drove down to the Alabama 1-yard-line where their quarterback ran a keeper and fumbled while trying to extend the ball over the goal line. The loose ball was scooped up by Tide cornerback Trevon Diggs. As Diggs streaked down the sideline in the opposite direction, Kirby said, “Ain’t gonna catch him. He’s the fastest man on the field.”

It was this 100-yard fumble return that put the victory away, but despite their undefeated season so far, Alabama is a team with problems. There are true freshmen starting in the Tide defense which, as Coach Nick Saban said in a post-game interview, is “a work in progress.” Meanwhile, Alabama’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa left the game with an ankle injury that will keep him out of the lineup at least until the Nov. 9 meeting with undefeated LSU, currently ranked No. 3 nationally.

Perhaps the best news to come out of Saturday’s game, however, was something Kirby called to my attention in the second half.

“A black punter — you don’t see that much,” he said.

This is one of those facts that you’re never supposed to mention. All behavioral patterns involving race are taboo in our society, so that anyone who merely points out an observable pattern automatically becomes suspected of racism. And I must confess that this was a question that never occurred to me: Why are the punters and kickers in football always white? In a sport where black players excel at every other other position, you simply take it for granted that the kickers are always white. Yet here was a black punter coming into the game for Alabama, a fact that turns out to be newsworthy for other reasons:

Ty Perine is a punting sensation.
The walk-on freshman from Prattville High School entered the second half of Alabama’s game against Tennessee and instantly became a fan favorite.
Alabama fans have been dealing with kicking woes for years and the Crimson Tide have ranked near the bottom of college football in punting average this season.
So it’s no surprise that the crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium cheered wildly for Perine who started his career with two successful punts for a 46.5 yard average. . . .
“He’s a guy that’s a walk-on that’s gotten better throughout the course of the year and we thought it was time for him to get an opportunity based on some of the struggles we’ve had at that position,” head coach Nick Saban said after the game. “And I thought he responded really well.” . . .
Perine entered in place of freshman Will Reichard, who played his first game in a month after suffering a hip flexor but left the game late in the second quarter with another apparent injury. Reichard had a 33-yard punt in his only attempt Saturday before leaving after apparently re-injuring the hip flexor injury that cost him two the past two games. . . .
At Prattville, Perine had quite the successful career, helping the Lions reach the playoffs his senior year and an extremely high average hang time on his punts. He was also on the soccer team.
In Week 10 of last year’s high school football season, he had a 57-yard punt downed on 1-yard line against Smiths Station with 4 minutes remaining in a 23-18 win that coach Caleb Ross called the play of the game. . . .
He was the Montgomery Advertiser’s All-Metro punter in 2017 when he averaged 42 yards per punt and had nine punts landed inside the 20. He was the news organization’s All-Metro placekicker in 2018 when he was 8-of-13 on field goals with a long of 35, including a last-minute, game-winning 28-yarder at Stanhope Elmore. He also averaged 38.2 yards on 40 punts with seven downed inside the 20 last year.

The question here is why this kid had to walk on at Alabama. Shouldn’t this high-school standout have been recruited for a scholarship? And you have to wonder if some subtle racism explains this. Because nearly all kickers and punters are white, perhaps this has become an expectation that would cause college coaches to overlook a talented black kicker, in the same way white running backs and receivers are often overlooked.

Also, notice that Perine played soccer in high school. Soccer is one area of U.S. athletics where African-Americans are severely underrepresented, in the same way (and perhaps for the same reasons) that blacks were underrepresented in golf (before Tiger Woods) and gymnastics (before Dominique Dawes) — these are sports where economic privilege matters, where private lessons and other expenses limit opportunities for poor kids. Whereas in the rest of the world, soccer is a sport of the masses, in the United States it’s a game of the suburban middle class, and parents have to pay for their kids to participate in youth leagues. Also uniquely to the United States, football attracts top athletes who might, in other countries, be playing soccer. In the South, at least, high-school soccer is played in the spring, and most high-school football coaches don’t want their players participating in soccer, mostly because of the risk of leg injuries. If you’re a high-school football star, you coach would rather you play baseball or run track in the spring. Anyway . . .

Alabama may have finally solved their punting problem, and now if the defense can get its act together, we’ll have a shot at the title.


 

Sweet (Pro-Life) Home Alabama

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Professor Glenn Reynolds linked to my post examining the feminist rage over the Alabama law restricting abortion. In the comments, one reader drew attention to how few abortions are actually performed in Alabama — 6,063 in 2017, 6642 in 2016, 5899 in 2015. So, in a state with a population of 4.9 million, only about 6,000 abortions are performed annually. There are roughly 900,000 females of child-bearing age (15-44) in Alabama, so that each year, more than 99% of Alabama women don’t get abortions. Even if you think of the problem in terms of cumulative risk — i.e., the chance of any woman having an abortion at any time in her life — the abortion numbers are still very low in Alabama.

There are more than a million abortions a year in the United States, and the National Abortion Federation claims that about 35% of American women will have an abortion in their lifetime, but it seems obvious that Alabama’s women are not a significant contributor to that grisly statistic.

Numbers matter in politics. Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicate that the abortion rates are highest in New York (23 per 1,000 women ages 15-44 annually), and a few other liberal states (Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, etc.), while the abortion rate in Alabama (6 per 1,000) is some 70% lower than for women in New York. While it may be true that more than a third of U.S. women will have abortions in their lifetimes, that number is likely somewhere around 10% in Alabama.

In other words, about 90% of Alabama women have never had an abortion and never will. Actual difference between the behavior of women in different states — the more rural South versus the more urban North — reflect not only differences in socioeconomic conditions, but also differences in cultural attitudes. The South is more religious than the North, and this may explain a lot:

Alabama’s governor said Monday the new abortion ban she recently signed into law reflects the high value residents place on the “sanctity of life,” adding she doesn’t expect any fallout from the controversial measure on tourism or business recruitment.
Gov. Kay Ivey last week approved the most stringent abortion law in the nation— making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases unless necessary for the mother’s health. The law provides no exception for rape and incest. Asked about criticism the state has received— particularly over the lack of an exception for rape and incest— the Republican governor noted the bill was overwhelmingly approved by the Alabama Legislature without the exceptions.
“The Legislature has spoken,” she said. “It underscores the sanctity of life the people of Alabama value so highly.”

The governor of Alabama is a woman — a pro-life Republican woman. Liberal women elsewhere in the country, including journalists in New York and Washington, D.C., may find it mind-boggling that a woman would sign Alabama’s legislation and defend the law, but life in small-town Alabama isn’t life in Brooklyn or Dupont Circle. Numbers matter, culture matters, and the pro-abortion culture in liberal states has real consequences. Consider that the total fertility rate (TFR, average lifetime births per woman) in Alabama was 1.82 in 2017, whereas the TFR in New York was 1.65 and TFR in Massachusetts was 1.51. This means that Alabama women average about 10% more babies than New York women, and about 20% more babies than Massachusetts women.

Last week, it was reported that the U.S. birth rate is the lowest in more than 30 years, and the Associated Press quoted an expert:

If trends continue, experts said, the U.S. can expect labor shortages including in elder care when aging baby boomers need the most support.
“I keep expecting to see the birth rates go up and then they don’t,” said demographer Kenneth M. Johnson of University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy.
He estimates 5.7 million babies would have been born in the past decade if fertility rates hadn’t fallen from pre-recession levels.
“That’s a lot of empty kindergarten rooms,” said Johnson . . .

If you are a young person planning a career as a teacher, chances are you’ll have trouble finding work in Massachusetts or New York, and the scarcity of children being born in these liberal states may explain why Democrats support illegal immigration. New York needs to import people to substitute for the children liberal women aren’t having, whereas people in conservative states like Alabama, with higher birth rates, perceive illegal immigration as a threat to their own offspring.



 

Alabama vs. Oklahoma Tonight

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Did you know that tonight’s national championship semifinal between Alabama and Oklahoma will match the two best quarterbacks in the country?

Seldom do a Heisman winner and his runner-up meet after the winner is crowned. Even given that rarity, this may be the best postseason clash of college quarterbacks we’ve ever seen. Both are coming off of historic regular seasons, with each in line to trump the record for Total Quarterback Rating, which ESPN has tracked since 2004 and is measured on a scale of 0 to 100. . . .
“Kyler Murray has accomplished more in one season and had more impact on the Sooners’ tradition in one season than any other player in our history,” former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer told The Athletic. “He’s broke all the damn records.” . . .
At the same time, [Tua] Tagovailoa has been the figurehead of the Tide’s offensive ascension since replacing Jalen Hurts in last season’s national championship game. Saban has been in Tuscaloosa since 2007, and this year’s offense has been his best in terms of, well, everything.

Alabama has produced an average of 527.6 yards and 43.9 points per game. The big question tonight is Tagovailoa’s ankle:

Alabama sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said his injured left ankle, which required a minor surgical procedure to repair four weeks ago, is at about “80 to 85 percent” as the top-ranked Crimson Tide prepares for Saturday’s Orange Bowl national semifinal against No. 4 Oklahoma.
The sophomore provided the update Wednesday at the first media availability for the Crimson Tide since arriving in South Florida. He said he was continuing to undergo rehabilitation in hopes of recovering fully from the injury he sustained against Georgia in the SEC championship game. . . .
“Tua’s been able to practice and get all the reps that he’s needed to get,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said Monday. “It’ll be interesting to see after having a few days off, with the additional rehab, how that impacts his ability to get closer to 100 percent.”

Playing against the Heisman Trophy winner less than a month after ankle surgery? No big deal. Just another game. Roll Tide.

My son bought me a new HDTV for Christmas, so I’ll be here watching the game after tonight’s episode of The Other Podcast.



 

The Devil’s in Alabama

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Yes, I know Charlie Daniels said the devil went down to Georgia, but that was years ago, and he’s been headed west since then:

An Alabama police department has been criticized for blaming recent violence on the community ‘rejecting god and embracing Satan’.
The post from the Opp Police Department comes as two gunshot killings in as many days in Covington County, located on the Alabama-Florida line.
It claimed recent area homicides had been perpetrated by young people who need ‘to stand up and be responsible leaders in our community’.
The post reads: ‘These murders have been done by our young people. This is happening because we have turned away from God and embraced Satan. We may have not meant to do so but, we have. It is time to ask for god’s help to stop this. It is time to be parents and raise our children, not have them raise us’.
The post calls on the community to support law enforcement and officers who have ‘to walk into dangerous situations and clean the mess’.
‘Bottom line, there are sheep, there are wolves and there are sheep dogs. Which group do you belong to?’
However the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation says police in the town of 6,500 people are wrongly promoting religion with the social media message.
The group said it is illegal for a government entity to endorse or criticize religious belief.

This isn’t about “belief.” If Satan is real, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in him or not, he’s still gonna get you. The way I figure it, the Devil must have left Georgia on I-85, gone down through Auburn and Tuskegee, then south on U.S. 29 through Troy before he hooked a left at Luverne and went down U.S. 331 until he got to Opp. And if folks in Covington County have “embraced” Old Scratch, there’s no helping ’em now. There’s only so much the Opp Police Department can do, I reckon.

UPDATE: I suppose some might criticize my calculation of Satan’s route to Covington County by pointing out that his trip could have been quicker if he had just taken I-85 all the way to Montgomery and from there headed south on U.S. 331, or taken I-65 to Evergreen and gone east on U.S. 84. However, considering how badly Auburn got whupped by Alabama this year, I’m pretty sure the Devil spent some time working his infernal arts in Auburn and, besides, does anyone imagine that Satan would risk getting caught in a traffic jam at Montgomery?

 

‘The Bible and the Belt’

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The University of Alabama won the SEC football title Saturday night. If you listen to this week’s episode of The Other Podcast, you’ll find me interrupting the political commentary to give updates. It was a huge gut-check for the Crimson Tide. The undefeated national champions trailed 28-14 before Tua Tagovailoa threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle with three minutes left in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa was injured and had to leave the game. Jalen Hurts came in at quarterback and led a drive that ended with a 10-yard TD pass to Jerry Jeudy to tie the game at 28-28. On Georgia’s next possession, the Bulldogs failed to convert a fourth down on a fake punt, surrendering the ball to Alabama at midfield with three minutes left. Hurts then led the game-winning drive, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown run.

A win is a win, even a come-from-behind win that induces cardiac trauma, and leaves your starting quarterback gimped up with a bad ankle. Tagovailoa will have four weeks to recover from his injury before the Tide’s Dec. 29 national championship playoff game (probably against Oklahoma), and Jalen Hurts was awesome, as Tagovailoa acknowledged after the game: “You guys have seen Jalen do this numerous times. For him to get his opportunity again, I am happy for him, and the team is happy for him as well, for him to step in and do what he did.”

Before Saturday’s game, however, there was controversy:

ESPN’s College GameDay aired a feature on Saturday that seemed ready to tell the story of Tagovailoa’s family life in Hawaii and the road to Tuscaloosa. Instead, it made for a disturbing viewing experience as Tua’s father, Galu, detailed how be molded Tua into a football star with a “Bible and the belt” philosophy.
Early in the story, Galu discussed how he forced Tua to throw lefty despite his son being right-hand dominant. The reason: Galu was a lefty.
Tua said his father’s strict discipline applied to both school and sports. When Tom Rinaldi followed up for clarification on what he meant, the Alabama quarterback said the “belt was involved” when he threw an interception or failed to get a certain grade.
“Two things in a Tagovailoa is your faith and your discipline. It’s simple,” Gula said, laughing.
“He means the Bible and the belt. You gotta work, son. You gotta do better. The evaluation from dad is the most honest,” his mother, Diane, added.
The feature also shed light on how Tua ended up at Alabama. Gula made the decision. Regardless of what Tua favored, he said his father had the final say.

The revelation that the Alabama quarterback’s family believes in corporal punishment evidently shocked some viewers, but how do you think championship athletes are made, anyway? Football is not a game for weaklings. Becoming the best quarterback in the country — Tua threw for 3,189 yards and 36 touchdowns during the regular season — doesn’t just happen accidentally, you know. Someone should do an interview of NFL Hall of Fame members and ask, “Did you father ever spank you with a belt?” My guess is that at least 90% would answer yes, and they wouldn’t even think it was controversial. That’s just the way it was.

Old-fashioned good parenting — “your faith and your discipline,” as Gula Tagovailoa said — may seem “disturbing” to some sports writers, but they’re not the ones playing in the championship game, are they?

Here, watch the 5-minute video and judge for yourself:

 

Gula Tagovailoa: “You want the best for your kids. I felt the best was USC, because a lot of great players came out of there. I felt like, man, maybe Tua can be a part of that. But when Alabama called, it just changed everything.”
Diane Tagovailoa: “Nobody gets an offer from the University of Alabama who lives in Hawaii. So it was like, wow, is this really true? Is this really happening?”
Gula Tagovailoa: “I was like, all right. You want to go big? Let’s do it big. You want to go compete? Alabama’s where it’s at.”

Yes, sir, Mr. Tagovailoa — and thank you for raising such a fine son!

“Every ’Bama man’s behind you, hit your stride!”

(Hat-tip: Kirby McCain on Twitter.)