Alabama has had some great winners over the years, and has produced a number of great players that have impacted the NFL greatly, but the most well know person ever to step foot on the gridiron at Alabama is most definitely “Bear” Bryant.
The Legendary Figure in Alabama Football, Paul “Bear” Bryant
Bear Bryant started his career at Alabama as a football player in 1931. He was only 1934 national championship play end. Brian always joked that he was the “other end” that played for “mamma”. The other end was the legendary NFL Hall of Famer, Don Hudson. Even bear Bryant’s college playing days, he showed mental toughness and playing the 1935 game against Tennessee with a broken leg.
As as college head coach, Bear Bryant had several college head coaching jobs such as Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas A& M before he ultimately had the opportunity to come back to his alma mater, the University of Alabama. So stirred was Paul Bryant, that he distinctively was quoted as saying, “Mama called. And when Mama calls, you just have to come runnin’.”
It was a change of atmosphere when Bryant came back to Tuscaloosa. In 1958, Bear Bryant took over as head coach , and started leading it to its previous Rose Bowl-style glory but accomplished even more. Coaching celebrated players like Pat Trammell, Big John Hannah, Snake Stabler, Joe Namath, Lee Roy Jordan, Billy Neighbors, Bob Baumhower, Johnny Musso,, and many others.
Overall, Bear Bryant was a remarkable motivator and knew how to make his players to do what he wanted them to accomplish. Florida A&M coach, Jake Gaither said of Bear Bryant, “He can take his’n and beat you’n, and he can take your’n and beat his’n.” The motivation wasn’t just on the playing field, the motivation carried into the world also by the quality he instilled in his players like big John Croyle, who founded the faith-based Christian Big Oak Ranch for unfortunate kids in Springville, Alabama.
The final year that he coached Alabama, 1982, was a down year for Alabama and Bear couldn’t see himself coaching Alabama into mediocrity. He always said that if he give up coaching that he “wouldn’t last a week.” In truth, he didn’t last much longer than that, only 37 days. On January 26, 1983, Bryant died of a heart attack at age 69 and many attended his funeral. Public officials projected that between a half-million to a million individuals were lined all along the 53 mile stretch from Tuscaloosa to the cemetery in Birmingham that was blocks from Legion Field.
Bear’s Legacy
Bear’s heritage lives in the players that are now growing older and the fans that recollect his championship spirit. Not only that… He helped break segregation in the South’s football world, and in doing so, turned the state around from intolerance to admiration. Not only that, he changed the world to a better place. Roll Tide!