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Having to sit and watch one year was bad enough. Xavion Alford has been sidelined for two years.
There probably isn’t another player in the Arizona State football camp more excited about the coming season than the junior safety. Alford arrived in Tempe a year ago from USC where he was injured and actually never played in his final season there. But since he had spent the year before his USC days at Texas, he needed a waiver to be eligible. That was denied.
So that was the second year he was relegated to the role of spectator. He made no secret of that, frequently expressing his disappointment on social media.
But he’s finally eligible and proving to be the leader of a secondary unit that has athleticism and depth.
“The monkey’s off my back. After everything, now I get to release it, no more barriers,” Alford said. “It was a struggle out here watching my teammates and going to work every day and not really being able to help the way I wanted. But I put in the time I needed to, helped out with the scout team. Now I get to be out there flying around with the defense so it feels good.”
Teammates are taking a cue from him.
“He’s really the leader back there,” said Cole Martin, a newcomer who played last season at Oregon. “He gets us motivated, gets us amped up. We definitely look up to him a lot. He’s been through a lot and you can tell how much he really wants this, wants us to do well.”
Alford, who has two seasons of eligibility left, says he wasn’t surprised his waiver was denied and he had to sit out last season. Wide receiver Jake Smith was in the same position with similar circumstances, having been slowed by an injury, and the school got word of his denial in early August. So it was a forgone conclusion that Alford’s would follow the same pattern. It did.
Head coach Kenny Dillingham didn’t mince words when talking about…
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Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic
Publish date : 2024-04-11 22:22:12
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