Alabama defensive end Da’Shawn Hand, who was arrested Saturday morning and charged with driving under the influence, won’t be suspended as long as he takes of internal discipline, coach Nick Saban said Thursday.
Saban explained his reasoning for not suspending Hand and it makes complete sense.
Alabama defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand will likely be available for the team’s Week 1 game vs. Florida State. “That’s a behavioral issue that needs to be addressed”. Later on we would come to find out that while the arrest was warranted, Hand was not operating the vehicle at the time, rather he was asleep inside the parked auto.
It’s not clear whether or not him participating in the first practice of fall camp means much at this point, but it could be a good sign for the former 5-star prospect. He was put in 48-hour in-patient care and will do community service and police ride-arounds as well, Saban said.
“If he does everything that he’s supposed to do he will not be suspended”, Saban said, .”We’re helping the player”. “If he had driven the vehicle, it would have been a totally different circumstance”.
Saban did say that he will be punished severely, circling back to the aforementioned conditions that he will have to meet.
The fact that Hand didn’t drive the vehicle played a big reason in the decision for no suspension, according to Saban.
“Every opportunity that we have, whether it’s somebody on our team, or somebody somewhere else, we use every one of these as opportunities to teach and opportunities for the other people to learn, all the time”, Saban said. “But the fact that he didn’t drive the auto – which is what we tell the players not to do”.