Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s season ending injury made national headlines over the weekend.

The junior suffered a dislocated hip and possible fracture in the Crimson Tide 38-7 victory over Mississippi State at Davis-Wade Stadium.

Alabama coach Nick Saban has gotten ripped in the media and fans for playing Tua with a 35-7 lead late in the second quarter. Some thought Tua should’ve sat out.

It’s easy to second guess Saban. I won’t do that. We have no way of knowing the future. We all take risks in our lives everyday and playing Tua is no different. It ended badly.

I was pleased to hear Urban Meyer and Matt Leinart on the FOX Sports college football pregame show defend Saban’s decision.

“You cannot blame Coach Saban for that,” said Meyer, a former Florida and Ohio State coach.

“Every time you step on the football field and put your pads on you’re at risk of being injured every single play,” said Leinart, a former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at Southern Cal.

I had no problems with Tua playing mainly for selfish reasons. I enjoy watching Tua throw, especially his nice, crisp delivery and accuracy.

My younger brother teases me that the only reason I like Tua because he’s left-handed. I must admit, some of my favorite quarterbacks are southpaws: Ken Stabler, Steve Young and Mark Brunell.

I like Tua because he is special regardless being a lefty or right handed. In my opinion, Tua was Alabama’s most charismatic quarterback since Joe Namath.

I saw the irony when I bumped into Namath at Alabama’ homecoming last month. We traded handshakes and he’s a big Tua fan. Like Tua, Namath had an injury riddled career at Alabama. They both also won national titles.

Alabama being in the college football playoff race is the last thing on my mind.

I don’t see the Playoff Committee putting a 11-1 Alabama team into the national semifinals, especially since Auburn lost to Georgia at home.

My top concern is Tua getting healthy and go from there, whether it’s returning to Alabama or applying  for the NFL Draft. I’d still draft Tua in the first round, hoping he gets healthy and groom him for the future.

Tua is a good kid who deserves a second chance at success. His warrior like mentality will put himself in position to do so.  He just needs to get healthy.