The life of a pro football player is a busy one, especially during the season.

It’s not so busy, however, that NFL stars forget what happens on Saturdays.

“We definitely watch college football on Saturday,” Washington Redskins’ linebacker Ryan Anderson said. “We’ll catch the games at meetings, on the planes if we are traveling, whenever we can. It’s actually a really big thing.”

It’s apparently also a big thing to cheer against Anderson’s alma mater, Alabama.

“Oh yeah, it’s everyone against us,” he said. “We talk a lot of junk to a lot of guys on the team who played at different schools. A lot of guys talk back, but no one wants to bet with us. They don’t want to lose and have to put an Alabama jersey on or something like that, which is usually what the wager ends up being.

“They won’t bet unless we give them 25 points or something like that. It’s nice to come from a program like Alabama when you get to the league.”

Anderson isn’t the only former Crimson Tide player on the Washington roster. In fact, seven former Alabama players enter fall camp on Washington’s roster.

The list includes defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, safety Landon Collins, linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, defensive lineman Daron Payne, center Ross Pierschbacher and wide receiver Cam Sims, as well as Anderson.

“We all definitely have a lot of pride in Alabama,” Anderson said.

Another former Crimson Tide star, Buffalo running back T.J. Yeldon, said it’s fun keeping up with his former team whenever possible.

“It’s true. It’s always everyone against Alabama,” Yeldon said. “It’s Alabama or maybe Clemson these days. Everyone holds their grudges and wants to bet against us. That makes it fun. Alabama is always going to be on top, always winning, so it’s a good thing.”

Yeldon said traveling and team meetings on Saturdays can make it difficult at times to watch college games, but that doesn’t mean players don’t try their best to catch their favorite teams.

“Most of the time Alabama is playing at 2 or 3 o’clock, so that is often when we are flying,” he said. “But home games and night games, I watch when I can. That’s what everyone does. There are a lot of bets, people having to wear their rival’s jersey and silly things like that.”

In the Baltimore Ravens’ facility, safety Tony Jefferson – one of several former Oklahoma players on the roster – often draws a lot of Saturday attention.

“Any time any of our teams play Oklahoma, there is a lot of talk and a wager of some kind,” linebacker Michael Pierce said. “It’s a big thing in the league to follow your college team. You always want to see your team do well.”

Pierce doesn’t get a lot of chance to watch his college team. Samford doesn’t earn a lot of national television attention.

“We don’t play on ESPN a lot,” he said, “and there aren’t a lot of SoCon guys in the league, but we have other big rivalries on our team.”

Detroit defensive end Eric Lee played his college football at South Florida, another school that doesn’t receive a ton of national airtime on a consistent basis.

But he still has an interest in what happens on Saturday.

“If a game is on, we pick a side,” he said. “If your alma mater is playing, obviously you are rooting on them and want to see what happens. I think college Saturdays in the NFL are about what you would expect. We don’t forget where we came from and always have an interest in our schools doing well.”

As for his former Daphne High teammates’ statements about everyone being against Alabama?

“Yeah, I could see that,” Lee joked.