Former Alabama Crimson Tide safety George Teague knows something about playing the SEC. During his time with the Tide, Teague helped an Alabama team win the national championship in 1992. Eventually becoming a first-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 1993 NFL draft.
He is mostly known as the defender of the star, during his second stint with the Dallas Cowboys he plowed San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens at midfield during a celebration.
Around SEC country, he is remembered as an All-SEC free safety. The play called “the strip” is what most remember him for. During the 1993 Sugar Bowl, Teague chased down Lamar Thomas and stripped the ball before he could enter the endzone. Alabama was called offsides and the ball went back to Miami, however, had it not been for his efforts the momentum could have helped the Hurricanes. Alabama won 34-13.
I recently spoke with Teague about Oklahoma heading to the SEC and asked him for his initial thoughts on the Sooners joining Alabama.
“When I first heard about it, it just seemed strange with two teams wanting to move at the same time. I really thought it was going to change the dynamics of recruiting first of all. Especially with the way that college football was going to look with two powerhouse teams moving from one conference to another.” – Teague on when the news broke
When discussing the financial implications of this sort of movement, Teague stated the financial payouts definitely go up. “The TV deals are going to rise, everything is about to rise,” Teague said. “With the talk of the playoffs expanding, I think this is going to have a huge financial impact on that for the conference. You essentially are going to have a super conference.”
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Teague went on to state that he believes a ripple effect is about to happen with teams moving around. Either remaining teams will join other conferences or conferences will begin recruiting other schools.
“This move might also benefit the recruiting in the state of Texas. Alabama coming in here, Georgia coming in here, and everybody. It’s not just the SEC.” Teague continued, “it will help these schools get into Florida, Georgia, Tennesee. It will help Oklahoma and Texas all the way around.”
When asked about the timing of the move, the former Alabama safety believes that Oklahoma will move sooner than three years from now. “I don’t think they would even start talking about this move unless it was a year out.”