Split? A.J. McCarron & Katherine Webb Breakup Rumors Abound

Is it really over? All signs say yes.

The buzz on Friday was that University of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron and his lady love Katherine Webb, a former Miss Alabama, have called it quits on their less than year-long relationship. The first to report the “news” was RadarOnline, which touted their story as an exclusive.

Assuming it wasn’t entirely made up, the report, which cited Webb’s mother Leslie as the source, seemed legit enough. Said Momma Webb to Radar, “Yes [they’ve broken up]. Katherine’s just trying to stay real busy.”

The couple has been plagued by “trouble in paradise” rumors since last January when Webb rocketed to fame during the BCS Championship game between Alabama and the University of Notre Dame. Bored by Bama’s one-sided rout, ABC’s Brent Musburger steered drew the conversation with Kirk Herbstreit back to the striking beauty queen in the stands.

Swooned Musberger, “That’s A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend. You quarterbacks, you get all the good-looking women. What a beautiful woman. Wow.”

Wow was right—but directed at Musburger, who has made a habit of scamming on attractive ladies during college football games. We have him to thank (or blame) for the rise of Jenn Sterger. Brett Favre would probably lean towards “blame.”

Brent Musburger certainly does have an eye for the ladies.

A beautiful woman from Bama’s bitter in-state SEC rival, Auburn University, no less. In an interview with Vanity Fair in March, Webb said of their unlikely coupling, “People call us the Romeo and Juliet of Alabama.” And we all know how well it ended up for those crazy kids.

[They died]

TMZ got the ball rolling in January with their report that McCarron was jealous over his girlfriend’s sudden fame—he was stunned that Webb gained over 200,000 Twitter followers as a result of Musburger’s musings. And understandably so—he walked away with his second consecutive national championship and his girlfriend walked away a star.

The report was quickly bolstered by the fact that Webb cancelled eight interviews she had scheduled for the day, although she denied any correlation saying, “My decision to cancel the interviews was not made at A.J.’s request.”

Maybe it wasn’t made at McCarron’s request, but it’s hard to imagine the decision was made independently of him.

Webb went on to cover the Super Bowl for Inside Edition, a high-profile feature in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and she appeared on the wretched ABC reality show Splash, before being forced to abandon due to injury.

McCarron got to hold Nick Saban’s trophy, Webb got this.

McCarron’s offseason was far less eventful.

The only headlines he made were as part of a media-made feud with Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel, who McCarron roomed with at Manning camp before he was either kicked out of, left due to illness or departed after reaching a mutual decision with the Mannings that he was too hungover to be of service.

Whatever the real reason for Manziel’s departure, McCarron was not happy about being dragged into the saga. Especially when he was forced to answer questions about whether or not he tried hard enough to wake the Heisman winner from his alcohol-enhanced slumber.

The last time the couple was spotted together in public was the NASCAR race at Talladega in May. Webb and McCarron enjoyed the pre-race festivities and posted for pictures with fans.

She posted this photo on Twitter at the time:

In happier times.

A month later lingerie model Margaret Wood detailed the night she claimed she spent with McCarron for RadarOnline. It happened while Webb was out of town at the Spike TV Awards, which begs the question: Why didn’t she take her boyfriend?

According to Wood, they stayed together at a mutual friend’s house after a night of drinking in Tuscaloosa. Wood feigned concern for McCarron saying, “I did not stay at a hotel. That’s all I can say. I’m trying to be careful about what I say because I feel really bad.”

Yeah…it sure sounds like she was broken up over the whole thing. Selling your story to an online gossip site is always what people who feel bad about hurting a friend do.

Say what you will about Webb—this broad is a major downgrade.

As a fame-seeking model whose biggest achievement seems to be a vote-driven place among the dozens of women in Maxim’s annual “Hometown Hotties” contest, Wood isn’t the most easily believable source. But since the couple hasn’t been seen together in months, the allegations can’t be entirely discounted.

Webb took to Twitter on Friday to dispute the breakup story that her mother, apparently, was the driving force behind. She tweeted:

Hm. Well this is confusing.

FOX Sports was quick with a rebuttal: “Katherine Webb, A.J. McCarron remain above gossip game. All they do is WIN.” Despite not hearing from any parties involved, they were quick to proclaim Webb’s “…smh” tweet the last word on the matter.  McCarron’s silence on the matter was deafening.

Said the always reputable FOX:

“The Alabama quarterback was seemingly so shaken by the “news” that all he could do was bring himself to tweet on a kind deed he was in the process of doing.”

Not considering that McCarron’s commitment to visiting kids with cancer might very well trump anything in his personal life and that the tweet was completely unrelated. Whatever though…ALL THEY DO IS WIN, IDIOTS!

Okay, FOX.

Webb can deny all she wants, and FOX can trumpet her sentiments all they want, but the fact that neither half of the couple is following each other on Twitter anymore really speaks for itself. She’s still following Rusty McCarron…and Corey McCarron…but no A.J. McCarron.

As for McCarron, here are a few people he’s following instead of his supposed girlfriend: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, retired Raven Ray Lewis, blonde broadcaster Melanie Collins, Alabama Congressman Jo Bonner, and dozens upon dozens of enamored female fans—many of which are blonde and speak English as a second language.

Now if you ask me—and I realize you didn’t—that certainly trumps the fact that Webb appeared with McCarron’s mother, Dee Dee Bonner, on the cover of Access magazine earlier this month. She certainly hasn’t been adverse to all the publicity that has come thanks to her association with McCarron.

And how often does a middle aged mother luck into a magazine cover? Not often. So why let a little thing like a breakup spoil the fun for either of them.

This cover was well earned…by A.J. McCarron

With McCarron remaining mum on the reports, it really looks like the breakup is legit and Webb is trying to put them off for at least a month. That way she doesn’t look like such an opportunist.

That, of course, is my opinion. [I’m not going to proclaim anything definitive because I’m not FOX Sports]

Whether or not the split is technical or official is yet to be known—but that’s just semantics. There’s simply no question that these two are done. Expect an official confirmation within the month.