Alabama Football Player Elijah Pritchett Arrested Ahead of College Football Playoff Game
Elijah Pritchett's arrest happened on Wednesday night.
Elijah Pritchett, an offensive lineman for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, was arrested on Wednesday night by the Tuscaloosa Police Department in Alabama, according to AL.com. The 19-year-old was charged with knowingly passing on a sexually transmitted disease. Prichett was released on a $500 bond. The charge is a Class C misdemeanor, and Pritchett could face three months in jail or fines up to $500 if convicted.
Pritchett is from Midland, Georgia, and played in two games last year. This season, the offensive lineman appeared in all 13 games and helped the team in the SEC Championship earlier this month. After the SEC title game, Pritchett announced his plans to enter the transfer portal but changed his mind on Dec. 16. "Transferring is not in my best interest. I apologize for any and all inconveniences. I'm 100% locked in. Roll Tide!" Pritchett said in a statement to On3.
#Alabama OL Elijah Pritchett was arrested Wednesday for knowingly passing on STD, per @TCLThread.
— Charlie Potter (@Charlie_Potter) December 21, 2023
🔗: https://t.co/ASeIprBamS pic.twitter.com/gcbeE3W6zj
The arrest happened less than two weeks before Alabama takes on Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The Crimson Tide have a chance to win its second national title in four seasons and seventh with head coach Nick Saban.
"Our team is very excited about having the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country in the University of Michigan," Saban said earlier this month, per Sports Illustrated. "They've had a very, very successful season, Big Ten champs. I'd like to congratulate them on that. We're going to look forward to the challenge that we have ahead in terms of what we have to do to prepare and be the best that we can be to play against the No. 1 team in the country."
Saban also talked about having a 6-1 record in the College Football Playoff semifinal games. "I think early on in preparation for these games when you have this long span of time, we probably practiced too much, and by the time we got to the game, our players were probably mentally and physically maybe not in peak performance," he said. "So as we've transitioned through the years, we've kind of learned how much you need to practice and how you can psychologically get them in the right place at the right time."