Since the dawn of time, young ladies have grown up dreaming of the day when their Prince Charming would propose and then they would live happily ever after. While not every girl has the same scenario in mind, how many of those fantasies involve Prince Charming hiding in the bathroom in Nick Saban's office before surprising her and dropping down on one knee?
Alabama native Kayla Posey is living that dream.
Her boyfriend, Drew Clayton, surprised her with a proposal in the office of Saban, Alabama's head football coach. Posey attended grad school at Alabama and had been working in the Alabama football office for years, so Clayton -- a Mississippi State alum -- used Posey's friends and co-workers to help set the plan into motion.
Posey's co-workers helped orchestrate everything, including sending her to lunch the day of the proposal so Clayton could set up in Saban's office. The Alabama coach was out of town.
Clayton swapped out the 2012 BCS National Championship ring on Saban's coffee table with Kayla's custom-made diamond and then retreated to the only place in the office where a man could reasonably hide.
Saban's private bathroom.
"For 30 minutes, my stomach is churning and I'm waiting on Kayla to get back," Clayton said. "It was a very well-kept bathroom, as we would expect from such a perfect coach."
Posey says that when she returned from lunch she was told that there was a special guest coming to the office and that the championship rings in Saban's office needed to be polished. While there, she discovered the ring Clayton left for her, and he emerged from the bathroom, dropped to one knee and proposed.
Take that
Vikings receiver Cordarrelle Patterson hopes to make Patriots Coach Bill Belichick regret last year's draft.
The Patriots traded the 29th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft to the Vikings, who used that pick on Patterson. As Patterson sees it, that shows the Patriots didn't think he was good enough to draft for themselves, and Patterson wants to make the Patriots pay for that when the teams meet today.
"I've seen a little article today where Belichick, I think he said he didn't want me," Patterson said in the Pioneer Press. "So that's the kind of things that stick in the back of a player's head. And you get out there, you just want to beat the defense up since people say things like that."
This may be more a case of Patterson looking for motivation than anything Belichick actually said or did: Belichick didn't actually say he didn't want Patterson, just that he has no regrets because the Patriots addressed other needs by acquiring Minnesota's third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks in the trade.
Belichick said he thinks highly of Patterson.
"Patterson is obviously an explosive guy," Belichick said. "You see that in the return game. He's a deep threat. He's dangerous with the ball in his hands, whether you hand it to him or throw it to him on a short pass."
Money Man
"Why is anyone surprised at Eagles running back LeSean McCoy leaving a restaurant tip of only 20 cents," wrote RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com. "He's known for stopping on a dime."
Money Man II
LeSean McCoy said he left the 20-cent tip on the $62 bill as "a statement."
Wrote Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "The statement? 'I'm really cheap.' "
Headlines
From sportspickle.com:
"Ravens release Joe Flacco after seeing video of him playing football"
"Roger Goodell fines Ray Rice's wife $500,000 for her role in getting knocked out"
Sports quiz
How many seasons has Adrian Peterson led the NFC in rushing?
Sports answer
Three, Peterson led the NFC in rushing in 2007, 2008 and 2012.
TIM COOPER
Sports on 09/14/2014