AL.com’s Joseph Goodman didn’t just take out A.J. McCarron after he spread lies about the Auburn football brain trust already telling Bryan Harsin he’s fired on both The Ringer writer Kevin Clark’s podcast “Slow News Day” and Mobile local radio station WNSP. He proceeded to then bury the evidence.
In a piece titled ‘Auburn remains elite, but change is needed,’ penned about McCarron’s recent comments regarding Auburn being a mid-to-lower-tier SEC program, Goodman hit at the 2x national champion quarterback at Alabama multiple times.
Each time was a pointed put-down about McCarron’s credibility, which was attacked by Opelika-Auburn News’ Justin Lee earlier this week after the Crimson Tide-turned-NFL career backup’s various media appearances.
The lede in and of itself was a haymaker from the AL.com columnist who is always ready to joust journalistically:
"“Any mid- to lower-tier roasting of former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron should begin by pointing out that someone who opens a sushi restaurant and names it “Ajian” as a sort of joke maybe, just maybe, lacks the integrity required for honest words in a public space.”"
But wait, it get’s better:
"“Laughing at a funeral, heaping dirt on a sick foe, Airport Boulevard Adam Levine will not be the last Crimson McKaren this season to celebrate Auburn’s sad misery. What? Is he supposed to go easy on Auburn? Heck no.”"
Airport Boulevard Adam Levine? My goodness. Stop the count, referee. This one is over by knockout.
Thankfully, though, it wasn’t…
"“Some took his words as an insult, but anyone who understands the effects of getting hit in the head by one too many Moon Pies during Mardi Gras knows the dizzying truth. It was actually just a sign of respect.”"
How Auburn football could make A.J. McCarron’s take look even worse
A.J. McCarron set himself up to look good if Auburn football can’t get past LSU Saturday night. If AU loses, McCarron could use the loss as a means to say that this was only a matter of time for Bryan Harsin.
We all know a loss would likely lead that way anyway, but McCarron was clearly saying things to make the program look even worse. Auburn football doesn’t exactly need that at this point given how things have played out since last November.
Auburn winning against LSU would freeze that take like a Minnesota midnight in January, and defeating Georgia Between the Hedges October 8 would be like dunking it in liquid helium.