The Southeastern Conference will not suspend Alabama defensive lineman LeMichael Fanning for body slamming Missouri running back Russell Hansbrough, but that doesn’t mean the freshman got off without punishment.
Whether that punishment includes not making the trip this weekend to Tennessee, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban won’t say.
“We’re handling his poor judgement internally,” Saban said Wednesday morning on the SEC coaches’ teleconference.
Saban added this is a “family matter” and that the emphasis is on Fanning learning from his mistake.
“Everybody is satisfied with what we’re doing,” Saban said.
All Saban has revealed about the punishment is Fanning had to write letters of apology to Missouri coach Gary Pinkel and Hansbrough.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Saban said. “Everybody makes mistakes. We all make them. We’re all human.
“But when we make them, we need to, A, understand there are consequences, and, B, there’s a right way to try to handle it.”
During Pinkel’s time on the conference call, he said he knows Saban.
“He doesn’t teach anything like that ever,” Pinkel said. “Thankfully, nobody was hurt. It was a very dangerous act. I don’t think there was any malice.”
In case you missed it, here’s video of Fanning’s hit and the two plays that followed when Missouri’s offensive line delivered its own punishment for the Tide player:
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