Deontae Lawson responds to Alabama football’s defense being called soft

Since being nationally embarrassed in Tallahassee during week one of the 2025 college football season, Alabama football’s captain, Deontae Lawson and the Crimson Tide defense believe they are starting to rewrite the ‘soft’ narrative.

The senior linebacker has led the charge on shifting this stance with his play, accounting for 14 tackles in the last two games as Alabama’s defense held ULM and Wisconsin to just 14 total points combined. Lawson commented on the shots thrown at the Tide’s defense while talking to reporters after Alabama’s defense was impressive in their 38-14 win over the Badgers on Saturday.

“I mean, as a man you don’t want to be called soft so it obviously makes you feel a certain way,” Lawson said. “And we can do all these things throughout the week, but it’s gonna determine how you play, like it’s gonna come down to how you play. So, we can do all these things throughout chatting in the locker room about all the talk on social media or whatever, but at the end of the day, all we can do is go out there on Saturday and let it all out. I feel we’ve been doing that, and we’re looking to change that narrative.”

Lawson and the Crimson Tide defense head into their bye week with a 2-1 record and have a chance to further rewrite their own narrative as Alabama prepares to enter SEC play.