Dakota Ball doesn't necessarily stand out among Alabama's crop of star defensive players, but the injury that will keep him out of Saturday's Peach Bowl certainly does.
The senior defensive lineman arrived at media day in Atlanta on Thursday with his left hand heavily wrapped, and promptly told inquiring media members he recently shot off his own index finger with a 12-gauge shotgun while hunting.
"It's completely gone," he said, via AL.com. "I shot it right at the knuckle and blew it off."
Alabama DL Dakota Ball looks like a deleted scene from The Revenant. pic.twitter.com/2JTTJxTr7v
— Matt Scalici (@MattScalici) December 29, 2016
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Ball explained that he and a buddy were four-wheeling near Calhoun, Ga., two weeks ago when he decided to tie a rope around the gun to keep it in his lap.
"I was tying rope around the barrel and it just went off," he said. "I didn't have my hand on the trigger."
Ball has 12 total tackles this season, and his football career likely is done — though he held out hope of possibly making a special teams appearance should Alabama advance to the national championship game.
As for reassessing his hobbies away from the field: "I love guns, but I'll take a break from them for a little bit."
