Sometime next fall, barring catastrophic injury, University of Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland will put on a new uniform and make his National Football League debut.
Before that, in the midst of bowl game preparations, he'll walk across a different stage in Tuscaloosa to greet UA President Stuart Bell. He's already counting down.
"In about four and a half weeks," Ragland said last week. "December 12th. I'm happy. It's been a long journey for me, three-and-a-half years. It's been a long journey and it's something nobody can take away from me, being able to graduate."
Ragland will be one of 19 graduates from the Alabama football team to walk across that stage this winter, the most in the program's history.