Why Alabama's 2025 Captains are a Good Sign for Crimson Tide: Just a Minute

The last four Crimson Tide national championship teams have had the center as one of the team captains.

2025 Alabama football team captains: Tim Keenan, Deontae Lawson, Parker Brailsford and Ty Simpson | UA Athletics

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a daily video series featuring BamaCentral's Alabama beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI assistant editor Katie Windham discusses the positive sign for the Crimson Tide heading into 2025 with its group of captains.

Alabama announced the 2025 team captains Thursday morning with linebacker Deontae Lawson earning the honor for the second year in a row as chosen by his teammates and joined by quarterback Ty Simpson, defensive lineman Tim Keenan III and center Parker Brailsford.

A quarterback is going to be a natural leader on a football team because of the significance of their position, but it still shows a sign of respect and trust in Simpson from his teammates that he earned the role before ever taking a snap as the starter.

The more encouraging sign for the Crimson Tide is Brailsford. Alabama's last four national championship teams have had the starting center as one of the team's permanent captains: Landon Dickerson in 2020, Bradley Bozeman in 2017, Ryan Kelly in 2015 and Barrett Jones in 2012.

While quarterback is the most prominent position on a football team, the center is literally the center of the offense and the entire offense. When the center isn't afraid to be vocal and is one of the more respected players on the team, it usually leads to better outcomes for the offense and team as a whole.

Brailsford is heading into his second season with the Crimson Tide after following his head coach Kalen DeBoer over from Washington after the 2023 season. DeBoer said on Thursday that he could have guessed the Brailsford was one of the players that would have been picked by his teammates.

"Just the way he's been as a leader and it starts with his leading by example," DeBoer said. "It's really cool seeing a guy like Parker in particular step up vocally. See his growth. I've had a chance to see it now going on these four years. It means a lot to me just knowing our journey together that he's continued to keep fighting, keep believing. The guys just really respect him."

With Keenan and Lawson as the other two captains, the 2025 Crimson Tide has strong leadership on both sides of the ball.