Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold’s “most special memory” of the Iron Bowl doesn’t come from the field, but from a tradition at Alabama under Nick Saban during Iron Bowl week – Thanksgiving dinner at the coach’s home.
“That was the first time I seen a different side of coach Saban,” Arnold said during this week’s episode of the “Closed on Sundays” podcast that Arnold hosts with another former Crimson Tide cornerback Patrick Surtain II of the Denver Broncos. “Like when we was right there, man, you know how he is when he see his grandson -- whole face lit up. … Like, when he was, like, in that atmosphere, I’m like, ‘Dang, man, coach Saban really a family man.’ And just being able to talk to him, like, he went from being Coach to just Mr. Saban almost. Then, like, in my head, I’m like, ‘Dang, bro. Like, dude, man, Coach might kind of like me.’
“But that next day, because you know how it is, we practice on that Thursday on Thanksgiving, and then we go eat at his house, man. Boy, that Friday we came back. Boy, I mean: ‘12, what is this?’ Like, I’m talking, I said, ‘Yeah, he back. He back.’”
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Those Thanksgiving dinners with the Crimson Tide coach also are a special memory for Arnold because he started an enduring friendship there with Saban’s wife.
“Around this time, freshman year, that’s when I got introduced to one of my closest friends, man, Miss Terry,” Arnold said. “I had went over to their house. You know, man, ain’t no shame in the game. Like, hey, she was honest with it, man. We went, I said, ‘Dang, Miss Terry, boy, this ham good. So you cook this?’ She said, ‘Oh, no, sweetie, we catered.’ But then, like, right there, man, just sitting right there being able to talk to her, I never knew, like, that would have sparked something that’s still going on.”
Thanksgiving 2025 started off well for Arnold as he returned to Detroit’s secondary in the Lions’ game against the Green Bay Packers after missing the previous two games because a concussion, although he did not resume his spot in the starting lineup following a week as a limited-practice participant.
Arnold made four tackles, but Detroit came up short in the NFC North rivalry as the Packers posted a 31-24 victory.
Surtain also got good injury news on Thursday. A pectoral injury kept Surtain from playing in the Broncos’ past three games. But on Thursday, Surtain returned to practice as a full participant as Denver prepares to play the Washington Commanders on Sunday night.