Quarterback AJ McCarron helped St. Paul's post a 14-1 record and win the AHSAA Class 5A football championship for the 2007 season, when he was an All-State selection. The next season, McCarron was a U.S. Army All-American choice and capped his prep sports career with All-State recognition on the Saints' baseball team.
At Alabama, McCarron was the quarterback for the BCS national-championship teams of the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 2013, McCarron won the Maxwell Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting and earned first-team All-American recognition from the American Football Coaches Association and the Football Writers Association of America as he departed Alabama as the school's all-time passing leader.