Ingrained in Stateside popular culture.
Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Clemson Tigers 45-40 in a thrilling College Football Playoff championship, last night.
The victory was the fifth secured by legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban and his fourth national title in the past seven years.
Post-match, it emerged that Saban had inspired his charges with a speech inspired by UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Saban declared:
“I did not come to take part. I came to take over.”
Saban reportedly showed his players the quote and clips of McGregor knocking former UFC champ Jose Aldo out after 13 seconds of their title bout.
Of course, Saban’s words are a play on McGregor’s infamous declaration – about the Irish invasion of the UFC – that ‘we’re not here to take part; we’re here to take over.’
The fact that a quote from ‘The Notorious’ has filtered into an American football dressing room goes to show how far ‘The Notorious’ has risen into the consciousness of the American public since his UFC debut in April 2013.
We look forward to Al ‘Any Given Sunday’ Pacino delivering the McGregor-inspired line in a biopic of Saban’s life.
As he soaked in the glow of his latest triumph, Saban told ESPN, “I would say this was the most difficult game we had to win a championship. No question about it.
“Special teams was huge. Some of the big plays we made on offense were huge. And the defensive players, although we didn’t play to our standards, certainly made plays when they needed to make them in the game.”
