Saban pledges support for Ingram family
September 17, 2008
Nick Saban praised freshman running back Mark Ingram Jr. with showing “a lot of maturity” in the face of a family crisis this week.
Mark Ingram Sr., who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on Tuesday for money laundering and bank fraud. He is free on $200,000 bail until Dec. 5.
Saban was an assistant coach at Michigan State when Ingram Sr. was on the Spartans. The Alabama coach said he was hurting for his friend.
“Mark Sr. is a friend, certainly that we have a lot of respect for,” Saban said Wednesday, “We’ll help him any way that we can in the future and we’re hopeful that, whether through some appeal process or whatever, that maybe things will work out better in the future.
“This happened a long time ago; it’s been in the pot a long time. I’ve known about it for a long time, and Mark Jr. knows that I’ve known about it for a long time. We just want to be as supportive as we can with the Ingram family right now.”
The coach said Ingram Jr. has worked hard in practice as the team prepares for Saturday’s SEC opener against Arkansas.
“I would say that from what I’ve seen from him, he hasn’t shown that it has affected him at all, in terms of what he’s trying to do for his teammates and his team. I’m sure it’s a difficult time for him,” Saban said.
Ingram Sr., 42, admitted mistakes to U.S. District Court Judge Denis R. Hurley. In an Associated Press story, he said he now counsels troubled youths and volunteers with various charities.
Hurley could not overlook Ingram’s record, which includes seven previous convictions dating back 23 years.
