Lions pick up former Tider Burnthall

FLORENCE - North Alabama added some depth to its secondary Tuesday with the addition of former Alabama safety Sam Burnthall.

Since leaving Alabama last week, Burnthall had visited Jacksonville State and UNA, but chose to play his final two seasons for the Lions.

"It was a tough decision for me," said Burnthall, a former Decatur standout. "But after visiting both places I just felt more comfortable at UNA. Florence is just 40 miles from home, and I know several guys on the team. I talked it over with my parents, and we decided UNA was the best place for me."

Burnthall played in 11 games at Alabama as a freshman in 2006, recording nine total tackles. He played in three games last season, but failed to record a tackle.

He practiced with Alabama at the beginning of fall drills before announcing last week that he was leaving the Crimson Tide.

"I was happy at Alabama," Burnthall said. "My decision was nothing about the coaching staff or playing time. I just had certain things in my life I needed to take care of, and they involved me leaving."

Burnthall enrolled for classes at UNA on Tuesday and hopes to practice with his new team today. He is excited to be joining a team that is expected to compete for a national championship.

"I like the coaching staff here, and I know they have a good team," he said. "I'm not sure exactly what position I'll be playing, but I feel like I can help the team somewhere."

With the season opener against Southern Arkansas just eight days away, Burnthall understands that he will have to get up to speed quickly if he is to see early playing time.

"I've got to learn the defense quickly," he said. "Our defense at Alabama was pretty tough, so hopefully I can pick things up in a hurry. They have a lot of the same concepts, it's just different terminology.

"I'm excited about getting back on the field and getting to play defense. I prefer playing free safety, but if they need me somewhere else I'll adjust. I just want to play."

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@timesdaily.com.