Jalen Milroe's Alabama football career may have been over after the ReliaQuest Bowl . It just wasn't something he wanted to announce.
But legacy was on the forefront of Milroe's mind.
As he began to talk through the Crimson Tide's 19-13 loss to Michigan , Milroe reflected on his Alabama career as a whole, one filled with hardships and doubt, but one he never took lightly.
"I put everything on the line," Milroe said.
Milroe, who declared Thursday for the NFL draft, will always be remembered.
He was Nick Saban's final quarterback , the one who was benched against South Florida , regained the starting job against Ole Miss and finished top-six for the 2023 Heisman Trophy.
He was at the center of the "Gravedigger," the fourth-and-31 Iron Bowl win cemented in the minds of all Alabama fans.
He was Kalen DeBoer's first Alabama quarterback, one who looked like a Heisman contender against Georgia and LSU before looking incredibly replaceable against Oklahoma and Michigan .
He was the quarterback DeBoer stuck with.
Milroe was never an All-American. He was never a Heisman finalist. He never won a national championship or even a College Football Playoff game.
But Milroe will always be remembered as the imperfect quarterback of an imperfect Alabama football team, one who always pushed forward, one who tried to remain steady, one who tried to "stay the course."
"Football has always been my passion, and since I was a kid, I dreamed of competing at the highest level," Milroe wrote in his statement announcing him going into the NFL draft. "Through every win, every tough loss and any criticism along the way, my love and dedication for to this game has never wavered. Each day, my gratitude for the opportunity to play this sport I love only grows stronger."
Milroe was the Alabama quarterback who lived the cliches he repeated time and time again, who tried to be "1-0 every day" even when he didn't finish 1-0 on his final day in a Crimson Tide uniform.
DeBoer showed his hand early.
Milroe was his guy, the quarterback who took first-team reps in spring and the one who had the Crimson Tide offense catered to him by fall camp, one that expected him to be a "point guard with the football," distributing to playmakers and using both the run and pass game to maximize weaknesses of defenses.
To DeBoer, Milroe was "intentional" about every aspect of his game.
"He's holding himself to a high standard," DeBoer said Aug. 3. "It's not all talk."
That high standard showed up early.
Milroe was efficient, athletic and dominant through the first half of 2024 in DeBoer's system, recording 11 rushing touchdowns and 11 passing touchdowns through his first six games, averaging more than 300 yards of total offense.
Production started to wane as SEC play began. Milroe threw six interceptions in his first four conference games compared to five passing touchdowns. He was sacked nine times in a three-game stretch against Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Tennessee .
"I know in Jalen's case, I know how he takes it all on himself," DeBoer said after Alabama's loss to Tennessee.
Milroe returned to form against LSU, recording only 109 passing yards but dominating the Tigers with a career-high 185 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. He also shined against Auburn with three rushing touchdowns and 104 rushing yards.
But Milroe's major struggles came late, completing 42.3% of his 26 pass attempts for 164 yards and three interceptions in a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma – the worst Alabama offensive performance in 20 years and his second game as a starter without a single touchdown.
Milroe was not much better against Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl with a 50% completion rate, one touchdown, one interception and seven rushing yards on 16 carries.
He was a quarterback with a burden, one who carried an unusually heavy load on the offensive production, one who seemed to determine by himself how Alabama would do on a given Saturday.
"When you're the quarterback of any football team, the eyes are always on you, especially when you're at Alabama," DeBoer said. "You're going through some ups and downs once in a while in the course of a season; it takes on a heavy burden sometimes."
It's a burden his teammates saw.
"I just tell him, 'Hey, continue to keep your head up, man. Just continue to do what you do. Don't listen to any of the doubters,'" Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard said after the Tennessee game.
It's a burden Milroe knew he would have to face, one he was mentally preparing for before the season, taking questions as the face of the Crimson Tide.
"You might not realize it until you have a tough moment on your journey," Milroe said at SEC Media Days. "It's all about being around the right people who uplift you, and also being around people that want to see the best from you and in you."
Milroe leaves Alabama with his name etched all over the football program's record books.
He has the seventh-most passing yards and the eighth-most passing touchdowns in school history. He is one of nine quarterbacks to have a completion percentage higher than 60%.
Milroe has more rushing touchdowns than any other quarterback in Alabama history.
But Milroe also has the worst career winning percentage as an Alabama quarterback since John Parker Wilson. He led the Crimson Tide during its worst season since 2007, ending a streak of 10-win campaigns that lasted 16 years.
Milroe was focused on neither of those heading into his final game in an Alabama uniform. It was what he wanted to leave behind.
Milroe used four words to describe Alabama's 2024 season: determination, grit, passion and love. It's what he said remained certain through each win and each loss, even before leading the Crimson Tide to its fourth loss of the season against Michigan.
It's what Milroe wanted to be remembered for in his time as Saban's last quarterback and as DeBoer's first.
"I don't take it lightly being the starting quarterback at the University of Alabama, wearing the script-A each and every Saturday," Milroe said.
It was a "script-A" that allowed him to put everything on the line.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: The complicated legacy of Alabama football QB Jalen Milroe
