Coach Bryant passed away on this date in 1983..

Yep. I made the mistake of being born in 1982. My family still blames me for precipitating Bear's retirement and death.

In all seriousness, I love watching clips of Coach Bryant and reading stories about him. Anybody got any good ones to share?

I was 8; just a tick too young to understand the implications at the time.

It sounds absurd to say it aloud, but I don’t exaggerate when I say the mood was like if a beloved POTUS died, like watching JFK’s funeral procession or something. Bryant was as much infused with everyday life in Alabama as much as church. All I really recall is just how somber the general mood was for what seemed like a long, long time. You couldn’t escape it: you felt it at school, at the grocery store, in the neighborhood, playing with friends.

For an 8-year-old, Bryant was no different than the Sun rising every morning; he was always going to be the Bama coach and he was going to live forever. Probably my first time understanding death and that nothing lasts forever.

There was a documentary made years later called Against the Tide. No link but it’s on YouTube. Worth watching. Lots of old clips and interviews from former players and coaches. I wanna say it was made around the time Stalkings was coach.

to this day....I still do not understand why today is not a state holiday!
Also, I believe Kobe's untimely death was a year ago today??

i was solidly on my way to pissing away a scholarship in my freshman year.

much like when elvis passed, my whole family was in mourning for days. southern hero's, we love'em forever!

quote:

---

I still remembered where I was when I heard the news

---

Yep, me too. I was in high school, in Alabama History class, when the principal came on the intercom and said he'd died. I remember one girl -- Beverly -- laughed. She was an Auburn fan.

Two Bear Bryant stories:
It was in the mid-60s, and Alabama was playing somebody at Legion Field. An Alabama player got hurt, and the crowd got quiet. Coach Bryant walked onto the field to lean over the player and talk with him while the trainers were working on him.

From somewhere in the crowd a leather-lunged fan yelled, "HEAL HIM, COACH!"

-------

Alabama had just played and defeated Penn State in the Sugar Bowl to win the national championship. It was a cold night in New Orleans, and Bryant and his wife Mary Harmon had retired to their hotel room.

They were relaxing in the bed, when Mary Harmon said, "God, your feet are cold."

Bryant chuckled, and said, "It's okay, dear; it's just us. You can call me 'Coach' here in the room."

Bear Bryant joke:
A man dies and goes to heaven. Saint Peter meets him at the gate and starts showing him around. The man is admiring everything, when the glimmer of light from over a hill catches his eye, so they walk down the street of gold to see what it is.

A stunning football stadium is revealed. The walls are made of pearl, and the seats are of the plushest velvet. The goalposts are real gold, the field is crushed emeralds, the line markers are crushed diamond, the scoreboard is pure light. Everything is more luxurious and regal than can be imagined.

Pacing the sideline, too bright to look at, is a figure. By squinting his eyes, the man can juuuuust make out what looks like a houndstooth hat on the figure's head.

He turns to Saint Peter. "I've never even dreamed of a football stadium like this. Who's that down there on the sideline?"

Saint Peter looks disgusted. "Oh, that's God," he said, "but He thinks he's Bear Bryant."

I was living in Mary Burke. I was in my room when someone let out a scream and we all came running out of our rooms, I lived on the 5th floor when we had a TV room.

We all sat around watching the TV and crying. I remember that Bear's wife, Mary Harmon, didn't want classes canceled for his funeral, but professors canceled every one of them and we stood out on street watching him make his last ride thru campus.
It was a very sad day and days to follow.