Alabama Football Practice Dec 17, 2014

Alabama defensive back Tony Brown (2) grabs a pass in interception drills during Alabama football practice, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014, at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com

(VASHA HUNT)

The ideal scenario for Alabama's football team is that Tony Brown will play well enough to warrant consideration for the honor he earned in track and field Friday night.

Brown and the rest of the Tide's 4x100-meter relay team that competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week received first-team All-America honors after qualifying for the finals and then finishing eighth or better in the finals Friday.

Running together for just the second time, the team of Brown, Steven Gayle, Ahmed Ali and Tadashi Pinder finished eighth out of eight teams in the finals in 39.63 seconds.

Arkansas won in 38.47 seconds.

"We were in lane one again, and we ran an outstanding time coming out of that lane on this track," Alabama coach Dan Waters said. "I couldn't be happier with the relay. They were put together as a team late in the year, ran together for the first time at this meet, and ran very well here this week. It's very difficult to run under 41 seconds in lane one on this track. We ran 39.63. That's an impressive performance, especially considering the relative inexperience of this group and their unfamiliarity running together."

A sophomore cornerback in football, Brown has primarily competed in the 110-meter hurdles at Alabama.

Injuries led to Brown joining the 4x100 relay team for the NCAA Championships.

Brown, Gayle, Ali and Pinder had never run together in competition before the semifinals Wednesday, when the team was third in the second of three heats and posted the seventh-best time overall (39.23).

Brown ran the first leg, as he did Friday.

"A great start on the first leg is a big key to any relay, and Tony certainly gave us that today," Matt Kane, Alabama's assistant coach for sprints, hurdles and relays, said Wednesday. "Tony's inexperience didn't concern us. He's a competitor. He's tough, and we knew he would come out today ready to run well.

"He gave us the lead, and Gayle, Ali and Dash [Pinder] responded. It was what we hoped to see, and we weren't surprised. We were in the lead all the way to the final exchange."