Deontae Lawson reveals the defining moment that persuaded his decision to return to the Alabama Crimson Tide

Deontae Lawson was well on his way to being a high pick in the NFL Draft before he was injured. 

Even still, he surely would have received his shot at the league had he declared in April. 

Instead, he decided to come back to Alabama, and he had a clear reason for doing so...

Deontae Lawson explains why he came back to Alabama

"It was definitely a very hard decision," said Lawson via On3. "I think any college athlete, any college football player, we all have dreams and aspirations of playing at the next level. I feel like I had the opportunity. But I had to look past that a little bit. There were still some things I needed to work on — being a leader more, more of a vocal leader, and just building more relationships off the field . . .

" . . .I feel like this would be a good year to kind of set me up for life after football. Obviously, I have dreams and aspirations of playing at the next level. I think the injury made me realize it could be taken away from you at any point. It kind of made me just want to dig deeper — and life after football or some goals after football and getting some relationships settled. I think that was the biggest thing. It definitely was a tough decision, though."