Behind the Scenes of the National Championship Game: Postgame Edition

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The game was long over, and we were getting close to wrapping things up at Hard Rock Stadium early Tuesday morning, when maybe my favorite moment of the National Championship Game occurred.

The BamaCentral crew still had a couple of hours of work to go, but we finally reached a point in which everyone could shoot some videos together. Tyler Martin and John Garcia Jr. of Sports Illustrated were scouting for a location while Joey Blackwell and I finished posting stories in the press box, when we suddenly got a message that made us drop what we were doing.

They were on the field.

Normally that's not unusual, but this season it has been been due to coronavirus restrictions. This game in particular had a lot of restrictions about where we could go both before and during the game.

Apparently a lot of the limitations had ended when the teams left the stadium.

While Tyler and John were shooting, I ventured over to the tunnel to get a couple of pictures, and wandered over toward the locker room. Suddenly numerous students came running out like they were late to join a flash mob, each wearing a wide smile and a black celebratory t-shirt.

I had to do a double-take moments later when someone walked out of the locker room holding the national championship trophy.

It was Jeffrey Springer, Alabama's Associate Athletics Director, Equipment Operations. We had met last year when I did a feature on the Crimson Tide equipment staff., and wrote about the challenges of going from this same venue to the title game in the San Francisco area.

He couldn't stop smiling.

I asked if I could take a picture and he obviously said yes, and then ran out to enjoy a small celebration with his staff on the field.

It might have been my favorite moment from the whole trip.

Check out the postgame photos from the field, and the equipment truck pulling out while playing the song "Yeah, Alabama" to head back to Tuscaloosa.

They're going to have to find room to put another trophy on the side of that rig.

Hard Rock Stadium lights up in crimson to honor the national champions

The aftermath ... Jeffrey Springer

Jeffrey Springer shows off the national championship trophy

The Alabama tunnel

The entrance to the Crimson Tide locker room

The end zone looks good covered in confetti

The equipment staff celebrates

Yes, that is the national championship trophy

The College Football Playoff logo in the end zone

The 50-yard-line at Hard Rock Stadium

Midfield, a little closer