Well, This Traffic Cop is About To Get Mysteriously Fired

by Glenn Davis | 2:57 pm, October 24th, 2011

Nick Saban is an icon. Sure, his team’s hated by half of the state he coaches in, but the other half worships him. And even those who don’t like him would probably at least admit respect for what kind of coach he is. And the record speaks for itself – he’s undeniably one of the best at what he does, and with that kind of success comes stature as one of football’s most famous coaches at any level. The guy even has a statue.

And Saban isn’t just iconic – he’s also feared. You don’t want to cross him, or he’ll get angry. Very angry. Really, we mean it – he’ll get angry. He might even curse at a press conference. Saban is the picture of a leader in total control, getting what he wants and demands of others – or else.

And that’s why the picture above is so odd to look at. It was snapped earlier today by Izzy Gould, an Alabama football reporter whose work appears on al.com and, according to his Twitter bio, in a few different newspapers in the state. It’s Saban’s car…and it’s getting a ticket. (He drives a Mercedes, for the record.) It’s a little jarring to us to think of Saban as just another guy with everyday problems – and maybe even more so to think that the person best equipped to cut through all the larger-than-life mythology surrounding the coach is…a traffic cop. A fearless traffic cop, says Gould:

After the ticketing officer was informed it was Nick Saban’s car, she still completed the ticketing process.

On the one hand, we imagine Saban seeing the ticket, turning into the Incredible Hulk, tracking down the officer, a shooting lightning bolts from his fingertips in her direction. On the other – in reality, he’ll probably just pay it. What else can he do? Because when it comes to where you can and can’t park a car, even the vaunted Nick Saban is just another guy.

UPDATE: Via al.com by way of Larry Brown Sports, video of the ticketing. A brave soul indeed.