Aaron Suttles from T-town News on Dee...
Dee Hart arrived on campus in the summer of 2011, a freshman from Orlando, Fla., a speedy but tough running back and high school teammate of fellow University of Alabama signee Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Were it not for a string of horrible luck, Hart might be just as recognizable a name as Clinton-Dix, the Crimson Tide's preseason All-American and All-SEC honoree. Things played out how they did, however, and Hart tore his anterior cruciate ligament before the start of fall camp and redshirted. After rehabilitation, he came back in 2012 ready to go. Five games into the season he tore his other ACL.
No one would have blamed him if had quit, taken his surgically-repaired knees and prepared for a life outside of football. But not Hart. That wouldn't have been fitting for a player like Hart or his reputation.
"Dee Hart is one of the most competitive guys on our team," UA coach Nick Saban said. "If we had everybody on our team that was as competitive as Dee Hart, we wouldn't be too much worried about complacency or being selfish or accountability or any of that stuff that we talk about and worry about all the time because we have success.
"The guy's willing to do anything you ask him to do. He does it hard, he plays ... For his size, pound for pound, I don't know if there's a tougher guy on our team. I respect great competitors. I love competitors. That guy's a great competitor in my mind no matter how much plays, wherever he plays."
That's glowing praise from Saban.
Hart went through spring practicing with the defensive. Anything for the team. But when fall camp opened, the 5-foot-9, 187-pounder was back with the running backs. Starting center Ryan Kelly knows the pain of rehabbing a knee injury, tearing his ACL in high school.
"I had one and I was out for six months," Kelly said. "You look at guys like Dee Hart and Arie (Kouandjio), they've had both knee surgeries, completely redone, and they're back out there battling everyday. As a player you have the utmost respect for players like that. "Obviously he's not a big back, but he hits harder than anyone on the team. He doesn't care if you're 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, he'll come up and pop you." His toughness is respected from teammate to teammate. It's known that Hart shies away from no one, no matter the size.
"Dee Hart, man, he's the toughest player I know on the team," senior cornerback Deion Belue said. "He backs down from nobody. It doesn't matter if it's Ed Stinson or Adrian Hubbard, he's going to get in there and set it off in there with them and give it everything he's got."
