AJ McCarron at Alabama, for most fans, is a reminder of confetti in Miami and New Orleans. Two national titles. A Maxwell Award. A record book full of wins. Yet if you ask AJ to name the single greatest moment of his college career, he does not point to a trophy. He points to a simple 3-yard pass to his brother, Corey, on Senior Day at Bryant-Denny.

“National championships are always great, but for me it was my last game in Bryant Denny. I got to complete a pass to my brother (Corey) on North Nashville,” McCarron said on The Dynasty podcast. “It was play call, fake right boot left, threw him–he had the down flat, and I think it was like six, eight-yard gain should have been a lot more. Corey tried to run over a tag on cornerback, and instead of just jumping over him or making a move, and that was probably the most special moment for me in my college career from another standpoint other than just winning the national championship.”

To truly understand why McCarron holds this so dear to his heart, more so than three national title wins, you need to understand Corey’s arc. Corey was actually a talented athlete in his own right and was playing on a full athletic scholarship down at the University of South Alabama. But Corey shared a deep, lifelong dream with AJ to share a college football field before their playing days were over.

Corey walked away from his free ride at South Alabama, transferring to Tuscaloosa as a non-scholarship walk-on fullback and H-back, knowing he might never see a single second of game time. Nick Saban ran a tight ship, taking no chances with walk-ons.

Knowing this, AJ spent two straight years, week in, week out, begging Saban and his offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier to give Corey just one chance to catch the pigskin at least. Apparently, AJ would walk into coaches’ offices, joking and begging them to draw up just one play.

The stars finally aligned on November 23, 2013, which happened to be Senior Day, AJ’s absolute final game playing in front of the home crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium. By the time halftime rolled around, Alabama was taking care of business, as usual, and leading Chattanooga 28-0.

Since the game was safely in hand, the starters were about to be benched to prevent injuries. Coach Saban decided to reward the McCarron family for their loyalty. Saban walked over to Nussmeier on the sideline and finally gave the official green light to draw up a safe and high-percentage play specifically designed to get Corey open in space.

When the offense broke the huddle early in the third quarter, Corey was lining up at fullback, and he later admitted he was completely terrified out of his mind.

The coaches had drawn up a play codenamed “Nashville,” which was a standard bootleg rollout where AJ would fake a handoff and look for Corey running a quick out-route toward the sideline.

With 100,000 eyes on him and AJ’s perfectionist reputation looming, Corey’s only thought was not to drop it. He later joked that his only thought in the huddle was that if he dropped a wide-open layup of a pass, AJ would mercilessly scream at him on national television. After all, he quite had a reputation for straightening his players and holding them to the highest standard possible.

Thankfully, the execution was flawless. Even though it’s one of the safest plays in the book of plays, for the McCarron family, that’s their national championship.

Special occasion for the McCarron family

AJ said he could hear his mom, Dee Dee Bonner, cheering loudly from the family seats, even with the whole stadium making so much noise and rooting for the  McCarron family.

After Corey caught the touchdown pass, AJ gave him a quick tap on the helmet to celebrate. Then he smiled and joked like a big brother, telling Corey he should have run up the field faster to get more yards.

More than ten years later, AJ says that thinking about the “Nashville” play still makes him emotional.

Winning championships was special, but that short three-yard pass to his brother is the memory that means the most to him. It is a family moment they will always remember.