COLUMN: Stay In Your Lane, John Merrill

*This is an opinion column*

TUSCALOOSA, AL — It was easy to spot Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill standing just outside one of the tunnels leading into the arena space in Coleman Coliseum a little more than a week ago. He's one of those rare politicians who can sniff out a stump just about anywhere.

Standing a head taller than most of the people in the crowd and sporting a Crimson windbreaker, he could be seen politicking with attendees before Alabama's first home gymnastics meet of the new season — a thrilling win over Kentucky I was lucky enough to attend in person. Keeping my eyes down as I passed by the ticket-takers, I made a conscious effort to avoid eye contact.

As other Crimson-clad vendors peddled programs and UA-themed trinkets, a bespectacled Merrill dealt in handshakes and smiles, as if set up with a booth of his own. And maybe he did have one. I admit, I didn't get close enough to tell, nor did I intend to.

It made me think back to a couple of weeks before last Christmas when I was sitting outside a coffee shop in downtown Tuscaloosa as the sun went down over the river. It was a Friday and I was 20 minutes early for a meeting at Merrill's request, so I just sat doodling in my notebook. He had reached out to request sitting down with me face-to-face following a pointed column I had written about his controversies and recent visit with former President Donald Trump.

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The nearly two-hour meeting that day was a candid and civil one. A professional politician prone to speaking in rehearsed talking points, the controversial official told me of how he was a changed man. He told me of his renewed sense of humility and the steps he was taking to improve as a human being after his latest sex scandal saw him remove his name from a race for U.S. Senate.

Regardless of his foibles and my own personal perspective, Merrill is objectively one hell of a politician. Seemingly coated in Teflon, he has proven to be wildly popular among more staunch conservatives in this state. This is due in no small part to his constant travels and media appearances across Alabama. As far as statewide politicians go here, he is far and away the most visible across platforms, proving more savvy with social media engagement than most of his counterparts in Montgomery.

No, it wasn't the planks or efficacy of his political platform that needed work in this particular instance. It was John Merrill — the person.

As I previously wrote, our past history and his track record have made me an ardent skeptic of everything from his words to his policy. But there were a few moments where he seemed genuine enough in addressing line by line the critiques I had presented in my 2,500-word column. I didn't come away convinced of anything that day, but I agreed at the time I would watch and take note of his actions moving forward.

This was a new John Merrill, he insisted — a wiser, more mature John Merrill.

But on Saturday, seemingly out of the blue, the Alabama Secretary of State took to Twitter and commented in response to AL.com journalist and Auburn beat writer Tom Green's reporting of Auburn gymnast Drew Watson.

Watson had commented during a media availability that: "It's nice to beat Alabama. All the other teams and sports were doing it."

"You need to get out more," Merrill said from his verified Alabama Secretary of State Twitter account in response to the senior's words.

This was following Alabama gymnastics losing on the road Friday at No. 8 Auburn — a rare occurrence in the history of the illustrious Crimson Tide program. Indeed, the loss represented a setback, but was far from the end of the world in the eyes of a devoted fanbase.

Nevertheless, Merrill's words prompted yet another cascading deluge of memes, backlash and references to his past scandals. At best, the most measured anger aimed at Merrill focused simply on his comments being unbecoming of a statewide official elected to represent all Alabamians.

It's worth pointing out that Merrill is a devoutly-religious man. I say this for those who pondered if maybe he was inebriated when he made the comment. He has insisted on more occasions than I can count that he doesn't drink alcohol, so I think it's fair to say he was of sound mind when tapping away on his phone Saturday night.

Does that make it better? I'm not so sure.

Keeping his acknowledged and well-documented vices out of this particular argument, though, Merrill is a die-hard Alabama sports fan. This passion, however, would lead to his latest gaffe that can be best described as odd.

And it's the main reason I sat down to write this column.

I reached out Sunday morning to Merrill, who told me he was not aware of any blowback from the comments, saying he was in bed by 10:30 p.m. Saturday night and had thought little more of his tweets after he posted them.

He also reiterated that he doesn't spend much time reading the comments of others, especially those critical of him. This makes sense for a man weathering attacks on all fronts, but does little to quell the outpour of public dissent for his words, especially in Auburn.

"If [Auburn athletics and fans] got out more, they would understand they don't win all time," Merrill said when I asked him to clarify his comment responding to the words of an Auburn gymnast who was excited to be part of only the 12th win in program history over Alabama.

As it stands, the rivalry record is 129-12 in the Crimson Tide's favor, further justifying a jolt of pride for an Auburn program on the rise and with something to prove.

Merrill also told me he was not aware that Green was an Auburn University beat writer for a statewide publication until informed of the detail by Patch. To agree with many in the Twitterverse, I find this hard to believe, primarily due to Merrill's constant use of social media. It could be argued that he knows the lay of the land much better than he is letting on, but that's just an educated speculation on my part.

If Merrill is to be believed, though, his words shows impulsivity and irresponsibility from someone who should know better.

I also reached out to Green — a respected journalist in the Auburn community and statewide —who told me that he was surprised by the entire thing. Indeed, as a working member of the sporting press with a job to do, it would have been unexpected to say the least to see the state's top elections official throwing shade in your comments toward a college athlete and fanbase.

Apart from that, though, Green was mostly just confused at the odd public display from Merrill.

When I asked him about the backlash and read him some of the tweets, Merrill mostly laughed and shrugged off the thought of any criticism from the Auburn fan base, which represents only his most recent comments to draw the ire of certain college football fans in the Yellowhammer State.

And Merrill's latest flub becomes that much more ironic when considering his recent critique of Alabama football coach Nick Saban's public support of the now-failed Freedom To Vote Act.

Without getting too much into of the back and forth of that debate, the Alabama Secretary of State made the rounds on local media, telling the Steve & DC Show: "do you think [West Virginia Senator] Joe Manchin is going to ask Coach Saban what he cares about legislation that's up there in DC? Roll Tide."

This and other comments brought out the anger of a more progressive segment of the Alabama football fanbase on social media, as many argued that Saban had a right to lend his support. This is justified in the eyes of many by Saban's deep connections to West Virginia and his place as a leader, not just in college sports, but at all levels of our American experience. Sports only represented the common thread for those lobbying Manchin as part of the letter in question, while the overall message was much bigger.

But Merrill was insistent Saban stay in his lane with regards to politics — a point he reaffirmed to me on Sunday. It was a common enough argument on the right side of the political spectrum at the time, but one that contradicts Merrill's own actions Saturday night.

Mr. Secretary, do you think Drew Watson cares at all what a 58-year-old politician has to say about college sports?

At the end of the conversation on Sunday, he just didn't really have an answer that made sense. He thought he was trash-talking a faceless fan. It was as simple as that, according to him. Nothing more than innocent banter.

Knowing what I know now and thinking back to that lengthy talk with Merrill outside of a Tuscaloosa coffeeshop in December, it's hard to see much humility or maturity in his recent actions. These aren't the words of someone burned by public controversies who has learned any kind of lesson. It's just a bad look, and worse, it's hypocritical.

So, Mr. Secretary, as you told Coach Saban to do with politics, I think maybe it would be best for you stay in your lane when it comes to sports.

Ryan Phillips is the founder of Tuscaloosa Patch and its field editor. The viewpoints expressed in this opinion column are his and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of our parent company.