Xavier McKinney is Alabama’s leading tackler through the first five games of the season.

Watch a Crimson Tide game and No. 15 is usually somewhere around the football. A junior this year, McKinney is one of the leaders not only on Alabama’s defense but on its entire 2019 roster.

“He means a lot,” cornerback Patrick Surtain II said. “He’s an alpha dog on the team. Whenever he steps his game up, you can tell the whole defense steps their game up. He’s a special player, not only his play but when he talks on the field, it brings other guys to step up their play, as well.”

But the hard-hitting safety is much more than that.

A look underneath the helmet reveals half-black, half-blonde hair that he and his brother came up with as he entered high school. The arms that wrap up ball-carriers are covered with tattoos of cartoon characters McKinney drew himself, including Mario, Minions and Marvin the Martian.

He’s expressive, creative and wants to be known as more than just a football player.

“I think I’m a guy that can be serious when it’s time for it, but I also take things really lightly,” McKinney told BamaOnLine in an exclusive interview. “I have fun with my life, or at least I try to. A lot of the times, I think the kid in me shows a lot, and that’s how I want to carry myself.”

McKinney got his first tattoos when he was 16 years old, which are located on his inner biceps and read “hungry” and “humble.” His older brother, Brandon McKinney, helped him develop the idea. “To be honest, man, he’s stolen a couple of my tattoos that I drew up,” Brandon joked.

“We’re creative when it comes to stuff like that -- drawing, the hairdo, the tattoos and all of that. It’s just pure creativity. I don’t see him stopping, as far as that goes -- tattoos and his artwork.”

The ink has spread across his body since his 16th birthday, and McKinney has drawn nearly every one of his tattoos before needle hit skin. Only his left leg isn’t of his own making, he said.

After those first tattoos, McKinney scooped up any loose paper he could find and sketched out his thoughts. He eventually started filling journals with blueprints for his next idea, but the Roswell, Ga., native also found solace in putting pen to paper rather than just doodling potential tattoos.

“It was just like something that really kept me level-headed,” McKinney said.

“I found my peace with it. Something in my free time, if I wasn’t doing anything or maybe if I was stressed about something then I would just start drawing and put on some music. It relaxed me, so I kept doing it, and eventually, I realized I was actually pretty good at it.”

McKinney enjoyed drawing so much that he considered focusing on art as his major before he arrived at Alabama as a former Top100 recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite. But the classes wouldn’t fit in with his schedule for football. He is now majoring in financial planning.

Still, he finds time to draw, especially when he comes up with a new tattoo.

His latest creation stretches across his right arm and mimics a comic book. It features Minions, Mario, Marvin the Martian and, on his shoulder, the Tasmanian Devil. That tattoo, along with a football-centric section on his back that features his name, number and an elephant are two of his favorites. His left arm also houses Chuckie Finster from Rugrats with bricks in his hands.

The tattoos on McKinney's right arm

Like he said, McKinney is a kid at heart. If he spots SpongeBob SquarePants or any cartoon he likes on television, he will stop and watch. Just like drawing, it’s a way for him to decompress, especially after the grueling hours he and his Crimson Tide teammates put in off Bryant Drive.

“I think it’s good to do that because I feel like just being here and the responsibilities that you have to have, if you don’t have that side of your life where everything’s not so serious, it’s kind of less stressful,” McKinney said. “I feel like if you don’t then you can get really stressed really fast just with what comes with being here and playing here. That’s something that I try to do.”

The kid in McKinney still views football as a game and not strictly business, but like anything, it’s good to get away from your everyday routine once in a while. So, in the rare instances where he isn’t at the football complex -- “He is always up here. He is here after practice. He always gets extra,” cornerback Trevon Diggs said -- McKinney prefers to discuss topics outside of sports.

“I don’t really talk to a whole bunch of people, but for the people that do know me and for the people that I talk to, I don’t really like talking about football like that,” McKinney said. “Like if I’m not here, I kind of want to talk about other things because I think I’m knowledgeable of a lot of different things in the world, so I actually enjoy talking about different stuff.

“Seeing the guys that are ahead of me and the guys that have already created their platform and stuff like that, just kind of seeing them talk about being more than just an athlete, that means a lot to me because a lot of people, when they see us, see athletes and when people see me, they think, ‘He’s just that, and he can only do just that.’

“And it can kind of be frustrating at times because a lot of people, when they think that, they kind of just treat you like you’re an athlete, so they don’t really treat you like a human being. But when I do get the chance, I try to make sure that people know that I’m more than just that. I think that’s a big thing for me.”

Don’t get it twisted, though. The star safety can be laid-back when it’s time to be laid-back, but he chose Alabama for a reason. “There’s honestly no better place for the mindset he has,” Brandon said.

“The best word I’ve got for my little brother, honestly, would be focused. That is the most determined young man I think I’ve ever dealt with, met in my life. If he says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it. It might not be the orthodox way or the way that everybody else may do it, which makes him him. He has his own lane, his own creativity, his own thoughts on everything.

“We’ve been saying it for a long time -- it’s almost like he’s been here before. I can’t even explain it, for real. It’s almost like he’s been here before, man. He’s used to this. His whole way of living is just different from what we’re used to.”

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban agreed with McKinney’s brother.

“X is a really hard worker,” Saban said. “He sets a great example. He’s always full-speed ahead in how he practices and how he tries to do things. He’s very focused, whether it’s meetings, walk-throughs, whatever it is. And I would say that him and Anfernee Jennings have been our two most productive players on defense so far this year, and I think both of those guys are guys that provide really positive leadership for us.

“But X sets a good example every day. He’s obviously talented and explosive, but he really does try to do things the right way. And I think he’s made a tremendous amount of improvement. He’s a lot more confident than he was a year ago in not only what he’s supposed to do but how he’s supposed to do it and why it’s important to do it that way.”

McKinney leads Alabama and ranks fifth in the SEC with 41 tackles through five games. He has also recorded two quarterback hurries, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble and an interception. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound defensive back has arguably been the Tide’s best player on defense to start the season, but he believes better performances are coming out of the team’s first bye week.

“I think I did alright, but I still think it’s a lot of things that I can do and it’s a lot of things that I will do,” McKinney said. “So, I think it’s going to be a major improvement, and I’m kind of like ready and excited to get this game going because I think it’s going to be a lot of improvement from those first five to these next few games we’ve got.”

Whether it’s the rest of the season or at the next level or just in life, McKinney knows finding the balance between pouring one’s self into a craft and setting aside time to reset is important. And viewing the game of football as exactly that, a game, goes a long way in having a long career.

That’s why the future looks bright for Alabama’s self-expressive alpha on defense.

“We rock with the word unprecedented, which initially means originality,” Brandon said. “So, whatever he does, he’s going to make sure it’s him, he’s doing it because he wants to do it. Not because he’s following the wave or following the trend. I mean, the sky is definitely the limit at this point.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).