Mark Ingram Back for Alabama: Is He 100 Percent And How Much Work Will He Get?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Alabama will beat Duke with or without Mark Ingram, and everyone in America knows that, including the Duke Blue Devils.

So why play him at all?

Because he has to come back sometime and he needs the carries and stats for an upcoming entrance into the NFL. That and it's just fair. He's earned it.

Should he re-injure himself, then the second guessing will be nonstop across the airwaves and Internet.

But is that fair?

Nobody wants to see Mark Ingram back running between the tackles more than Mark Ingram. It's not just what he does, it's who he is. He is a running back, and running backs run the ball, and catch the ball, and take vicious hits, and in his case, dish out vicious hits.

Football is not a finesse sport, it is a contact sport. Contact sometimes causes injury. It always has and it always will. It is a risk that every player and parent knows before they play their first game. No one is stupid enough to know that it couldn't happen to them.

So the only question left is how much work will we see Ingram get?

Usually, the carries favor Ingram—will they this week? I, for one, will not only be watching his running, but the number of times he carries the ball.

What most people may not know is that Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram are much more than teammates, they are very close, personal friends.

The other thing that I find remarkable in interviewing these players is the totally unselfish attitude in sharing the position. They all to a man relish in each others successes.

Ingram told me, "Trent is like a brother to me, and I love to see the success he's having because I know hard he works every day to get it. All our running backs are great and we keep each other fresh with substitutions and it helps us all."

And though I haven't talked to Richardson since the injury, I know there is no one wanting Ingram to return and reclaim his starting job any more than Trent Richardson.

That's something truly remarkable.

That's the influence of a great program led by a great man—that's Alabama football.