UAB Players Heartbroken, Angry At School Shutting Down Football Program [VIDEO]

By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak

CBS DETROIT - In a meeting with University of Alabama-Birmingham president Ray Watts, football players responded with tears and anger to the decision to shut down the program for financial reasons.

A video of the meeting posted on YouTube revealed the emotional reactions of the players, some of whom can be heard crying in the background as others lambasted the president, whom the first player to speak called out for a lack of connection with the program.

"It's bigger than what you think," that player insisted. "It's not about numbers. It's about family. Family, man, that's what this is, and you should be a part of that, but you're not. You should. You never have been. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you haven't. That last president we had, she was in the freakin' - she was in the locker room. She was there. I just want you to know how much this means to that guy, that guy, all of us.

"I can't tell you how many surgeries this team, these people have gone through," the player continued, emotional, his voice cracking. "It's about us in this room. It's about that man, which I love dearly, and I would do anything for him, and I know he would do the same for me, and the same for the rest of these guys, and Miss Shannon, the sweetest girl in the world, and all these people. It's more than just numbers. It's people. It's families. It's UAB football ... We came together to play for this place, and we made Birmingham our home."

Another player pointed out that players had never been asked what they could do to help the program financially.

Tristan Henderson, a senior tight end, also stood and raised his voice - as did the first speaker in the video - and compared the brotherhood forged on a football team to the brotherhood he experienced during his time in the military on a tour of duty in Iraq. Henderson said he has a wife and child but pointed out that many others on the team are much younger.

"There's 18-year-olds in here, 17-year-olds," Henderson said, pointing around the room. "What are they supposed to do? Some of these cats came from 3,000 miles away to play here, to be a part of this, to be a part of all of this, but you're telling us numbers?"

The Blazers became bowl eligible with a win Saturday against Southern Miss.