CECIL HURT: Does Stabler have another great run left in him?

It has been more than 40 years since Kenny Stabler made University of Alabama fotball history with his “run through the mud” to beat Auburn.

Now, he’s trying to weave his way through even more adverse conditions and surprise Alabama fans once again.

Stabler, now the popular color commentator for football broadcasts on the Crimson Tide Sports Network, will not be in the booth this fall. Friday’s announcement that Stabler would take a “leave of absence” merely confirmed what had been rumored ever since Stabler was charged with a DUI in Baldwin County on June 9.

Underneath all the prepared statements, there is a simple explanation for Friday’s announcement.

The University of Alabama, which ultimately makes the call on the individuals who call the football games, is giving Stabler as much of a chance as it possibly can. It isn’t just because Stabler made that run in the mud in 1967, either, although his great football career – and the identification of that career with the Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant era at UA – doesn’t hurt.

Stabler has also proven to be good at what he does in the broadcast booth, a fine foil for play-by-play man Eli Gold. Stabler knows football. He also comes across as a distinctly “Alabama” voice. He isn’t slick and professional, more quirky and original, but that adds to his popularity among Alabama fans.

Thus, as long as Stabler maintains his innocence on the current DUI charges (he does have two prior convictions in alcohol-and-driving cases in 1995 and 2001), he’s being given as much benefit of the doubt as Alabama can give him. He’s not being permanently replaced, for one thing. Tom Roberts, a truly good person and a team player, is clearly an interim choice in the booth, unlikely to serve more than one year in the color analyst role regardless of the outcome of Stabler’s case.

If Stabler does beat the charges, and he insists that he is innocent, then he’ll be back in the booth in 2009. If the charges stand and Stabler gets a third drunken driving conviction on his record since 1995, Alabama officials will have a much tougher decision to make.

No matter how loyal the UA athletic department is, it would be hard for Stabler to stay in the box after a third strike. At that point, the public relations aspect of the issue would be particularly thorny. The radio crew aren’t technically employees of the University – they are basically talent-for-hire – but they are certainly representatives of the school. That’s especially true of Stabler, for all the reasons of identification cited above.

Comparing the behavior of a man over 60 with those of a 21-year old football player can be apples and oranges. But UA is currently fighting a battle in terms of the perception of its football program. My opinion is that Nick Saban is gradually making progress at upgrading that area. But the national perception, based on shorthand reports that cite “10 arrests” since last summer began isn’t good, and the recent Jimmy Johns arrest made matters worse. The saving grace in that situation was that Saban wasted no time on formalities and double-talk before dismissing Johns from the team. (It is entirely possible that the Stabler announcement would have been made a couple of weeks ago had the Johns situation not been dominating the state’s headlines.)

I am not comparing the seriousness of an alleged DUI, which might mean one glass of wine too many at dinner, to the seriousness of alleged cocaine dealing. At the same time, you can’t dismiss the seriousness of a DUI. If the University simply reinstates Stabler after a conviction, there will be public-relations repercussions. At that point, UA might have to make a permanent change.

It hasn’t reached that point yet. Perhaps it won’t. Personally, I like Kenny Stabler and am willing to wait on his day in court before passing judgment. That doesn’t mean a double standard. If he were still an Alabama football player with a possible third DUI pending, I would say Stabler shouldn’t play. Even if he does win during his day in court, I hope that Stabler takes his year’s sabbatical as a time for reflection and, if needed, counseling or other help.

I don’t know if Stabler will be back in the booth in 2009 or not. But history has shown that sometimes Stabler can dodge the obstacles and get where he’s going, even to a muddy end zone. Perhaps he has another surprising run left in him.

(Cecil Hurt is sports editor of the Tuscaloosa News. Reach him at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0225.)