Twenty Five Years Ago Today...

I also remember going to a big reception for F. Lee Bailey, who, by way of explanation for the younger set, was the most famous lawyer of the era.  F. Lee was chatting away with the law students, Supreme Court Justices and faculty members when the room suddenly went quiet--all eyes went towards the door--there stood the Bear and Mary Harmon Bryant.  F. Lee stopped mid-sentence and flew to the door, basically grovelling at Bear's feet.  It gave me some real perspective as to the man's prominence outside of University circles.

They announced it over the loudspeaker in the store. It sticks in my memory that way because I recall seeing a man crying in the store and I remember that scaring me because I didn't quite understand what was going on.  I had gone to my first football game not long before--315--and was still figuring it all out.

That is about all I can say without getting too emotional, but I can say that nowadays I understand why that old boy was crying.

Anyway, The Bear Bryant show was must see TV for me. I believe it came on at 4pm Sunday (?).  It began with the 'Bonnng Bonnnng' of Denny Chimes then to what seemed like a Lawrence Welk (ask your dad or granddad) version of the fight song.

The show was an hour long and seemed to show every play in rapid succesion, with some slo-mo replay of the good-uns, while Coach narrated the action, took the blame for the bad, and gave compliments for the good (even to the other team). After the game highlights they had a segment where they showed pictures of the players with their names and where they were from and Coach would 'introduce' them and talk about them like he was flipping through a photo album. (To this day I remember (maybe) that Tommy Wilcox is from Harahan, LA, even though Coach Bryant pronounced it 'Han-ra-han')-if memory serves. You actually 'knew' the players-they weren't just guys in helmets.

When I was about 6 or 7 I remarked to my grandmother, "Bear Bryant's lucky because he gets to go to all of Alabama's games!"  I think she was washing dishes or something and she acknowledged my remark with a polite 'mm hmm' (like adults do to their kids and grandkids sometimes).
Sometime later, a cardboard tube arrived in the mail addressed to me from the University of Alabama. To receive something in the mail as a 7 year old is almost like Christmas.  Inside was an 8x10 personally autographed picture of Coach Bryant.  When I say personally, I mean he wrote:

 'To (my name),
Best wishes
Paul Bryant

My grandmother had written him and told him what I said about his being able to go to all the games and he sent an autographed photo in return. She was as surprised as I was because she didn't request anything, she just thought it was something he might get a little kick out of. I know now that Coach Bryant received letters from all over and I'm sure he autographed and mailed countless 8x10's to numerous fans, but receiving that photo from Coach and knowing he had personally not only written his name on it but mine also gave me a connection to the greatest football coach who ever lived!

* I still have that photo to this day in the same simple gold-colored frame that I put it in then-priceless!  

At the same time I was also around some other great and powerful men: presidents, congressmen, actors etc. I was never in awe of them like I was of Coach Bryant.

One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I did not walk on at Bama while Coach Bryant was there. Crazily I chose to go to another school where I could play. I don't even watch that school on TV now.

One of my greatest possessions are 4 signed letters coach Bryant wrote to my dad over the years which I inherited when my dad died. They will be passed on in my family for generations...likely as long as the play football at Bama.