- 6 weeks ago
385 wins, 37 winning seasons of 38 as a coach, 6 national championships
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:00I don't believe it! Phelan is at the bottom of that pile!
00:04Behind the epithet is the door!
00:06On the door!
00:08Door!
00:08To the Boston Road!
00:10What do you think?
00:12The block is drawn to the street.
00:15That's the perfect.
00:16That's the big difference.
00:17All out the streets are well!
00:19Hold it, hold it, hold it!
00:20Hold it, you're not that perfect.
00:21All right, man, man!
00:23Let's do it up the wall!
00:24Reggie Jackson is the best.
00:26He's the best.
00:26Hold on in the game.
00:30Cut out of the air!
00:31The ball is pulled in!
00:32I'll break our hands!
00:50Memphis has Elvis Presley.
00:52Richmond has Robert E. Lee.
00:54And in Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
00:57they have Paul Bear Bryant.
00:59From the Bryant Museum,
01:01down the street,
01:02onto Bryant Drive,
01:03to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
01:05Bryant's hold is as strong now
01:07as it was during his quarter-century reign
01:10as Alabama's head football coach.
01:15We've got to get breakfast on defense.
01:17We just can't stand there
01:18and wait for them catching passes.
01:19If that's east of the fan,
01:20I'm going to kiss the fan.
01:21Hit somebody!
01:22Can't we get a little rushing?
01:24To somebody!
01:25Coach Bryant stood next to you.
01:28If you could stop trembling,
01:30you certainly paid attention.
01:32His nickname was Bear.
01:33Now, what kind of guy,
01:35you know,
01:35you can imagine a guy
01:36that can carry the nickname Bear.
01:40He didn't like
01:41Bonnie Chatter.
01:43He wanted his teams,
01:45in his words,
01:46cold and deadly.
01:48He believed that players played best
01:51when they were driven to the edge.
01:53As a result,
01:55his practices were virtual death camps.
01:58Hit!
01:59Hit!
02:00Hit!
02:00Hit!
02:01Hit!
02:01Hit!
02:01Hit!
02:01The idea, of course,
02:02was to test their manhood
02:04to put them through a Marine Corps-type boot camp.
02:06This camp would separate the shaft from the wheat.
02:09His agenda was,
02:11if you quit in practice,
02:14you'll quit on me in the fourth quarter,
02:16and I can't have that.
02:17Get ready!
02:18Let's get ready!
02:19Let's get ready!
02:19Let's get ready!
02:23I got up,
02:25and I looked up,
02:25and there's Brian coming right at me,
02:27and his side body blocked me.
02:29He got up,
02:30and walked away.
02:30He says,
02:31that's the way you block.
02:32One player who kept messing up the same play every time.
02:36Brian started after him,
02:37and he started running.
02:38And every few steps,
02:39he'd throw off another piece of his football gear.
02:43And by the time he got the game,
02:44he had on his football shoes and his jock strap,
02:47and he climbed that gate.
02:49That's the last anybody ever saw of him.
02:51He was...
02:53Yeah, the guy...
02:55He body blocked the guy.
02:57Paul Brain actually played college football in his day.
03:01So, that's believable.
03:02The most profane and vulgar and crude-speaking person
03:09that I've ever been around in my life.
03:12He also was the most driven.
03:15At Alabama,
03:16Bear Bryant created a pseudo-torture chamber
03:18known as the mat room
03:20to toughen his players.
03:21He decided we'd have a wrestling class at the university,
03:25and of course,
03:25the wrestling class was just made up of football players.
03:28If you won,
03:29you find you were through.
03:30If you didn't,
03:30you wrestled three more minutes.
03:32And it's got to be sort of like
03:34survival of the fittest.
03:35We do sit-ups.
03:36We're not on any mats on the hard floor
03:38until your butt would bleed.
03:40It was a constant in motion,
03:43pushing, pushing, pushing,
03:45and players were constantly getting sick.
03:49There would be garbage cans around the room
03:52for them to vomit in.
03:54There would be no water.
03:58He hired a crusty old man
04:01named Smokey Harper.
04:02Smokey had two theories about injuries.
04:05One, take a cold shower.
04:07Two, take an aspirin.
04:09And Smokey Harper was from
04:10Bear Bryant's school of pain.
04:12If you got it,
04:13you're still gonna play with it.
04:17What's wrong with you, little partner?
04:20I said,
04:21Coach, I broke my hand.
04:22He said,
04:22you're gonna run on your hands, do you?
04:24Kept on walking.
04:26The Bryant mystique was enhanced
04:28by the tower he had built
04:30at the Alabama practice field.
04:32From 33 steps up,
04:34the bear had a bird's eye view
04:35and his lofty perch
04:37served as a psychological advantage.
04:39I think the tower
04:40was a symbol of
04:43I'm up here
04:44and you're down there
04:45and you better not make a misstep
04:48because I'm gonna say it.
04:49There was something about the tower
04:51that said he's looking at us
04:53and we've got to do it right.
04:56Coach and player.
04:57When I think I'm up on that tower,
04:58I think I've been
04:59picking that microphone up
05:01and saying,
05:02Coach,
05:03that's one of the worst drills
05:04I've ever seen.
05:05You know,
05:05you hated to have a drill
05:07right under the tower.
05:08It had a chain
05:09and it was kind of a cross
05:11and it had a little metal bar
05:12that he hooked it to.
05:13If he undid that chain,
05:15you could hear the chain come back
05:16and go clang.
05:19And if you weren't doing
05:20what you're supposed to do,
05:21he'd come off that tower
05:23and he would put you through
05:25one of his gut checks.
05:27He came down one day,
05:28I missed the block
05:29and grabbed me by the nose guard
05:30and threw me to the ground
05:32to symbolize
05:33that he could take
05:33the biggest guy there down.
05:36Over his 38 years
05:38as head coach,
05:38Bryant won 323 games,
05:41which at the time
05:42was a record.
05:43But his legend
05:44was about more than victories.
05:45He's still high up.
05:46We had a function
05:47where both teams were together
05:49and I exaggerate this not.
05:51Our players at Arkansas
05:53would stand in line
05:54to get Bear Bryant's autograph.
05:57The door squeaked
05:58differently when he opened it.
06:01We always knew
06:03the sound of the squeak
06:05when Coach Bryant opened it
06:06and we all got quiet.
06:08When he walked into the room
06:09it was like walking in church
06:10and a priest walking out
06:11at the altar.
06:12Everyone automatically stood up.
06:14To me, he was like God.
06:15I mean, he was a handsome,
06:17tough, good-looking man.
06:19When he spoke, you listened.
06:21You're not average.
06:23You're something special.
06:25We don't want you
06:26to ever forget that.
06:27One of the keys
06:28to his persona
06:30was that he could get people
06:31to do what he wanted them to do.
06:35They were in awe of him
06:36and he knew
06:37he had that kind of power.
06:40When we weren't doing so well
06:42or I didn't think
06:42that I played so well,
06:43I'd cross the street
06:44instead of, you know,
06:46meeting him head on
06:47when I didn't want to face him.
06:48We were walking outside
06:49the hotel and Coach Martin,
06:51well, Joe, you got the plan.
06:52I said, yes, sir,
06:53I think so.
06:55You think so?
06:58You think so?
06:59You have to know.
07:00He said, son,
07:01it's time you know.
07:02You're supposed to know.
07:04Apparently this big tackle
07:05got in his bad braces
07:07and Brian goes over to the dorm,
07:09goes up to the second floor,
07:11opens the window
07:11and starts throwing
07:12all of his clothes out.
07:13He called one of his defensive backs
07:15to go into the game
07:16and said,
07:16I want you to go in there
07:17and break up that little
07:19short flare pass.
07:20And the player started
07:21to strap on his helmet.
07:23He said,
07:23I'll do my best, Coach.
07:24And he shoved him back
07:25to the bench.
07:26He said,
07:26go sit down.
07:27He said,
07:27the kid I got out there now
07:28is doing his best.
07:29He said,
07:29I want somebody
07:30to go in there
07:31and stop it.
07:33It was almost
07:34a semi-religious experience.
07:37He certainly had me convinced
07:38that if I couldn't win
07:40on the football field
07:40that I probably wasn't
07:42going to do very well
07:43in life.
07:43You had a form
07:44of brainwashing players
07:47believing that they could win.
07:49The ability
07:50to pull people together,
07:53unify them,
07:55sell them on a single mission
07:57and go do it.
08:00Nobody was better at it
08:01than Paul William Bryant.
08:03It made you feel good
08:04to do things right.
08:06It made you feel good
08:07to make him happy.
08:08I like to see a smile around.
08:11I'm the world's champion frowner,
08:13so I'll do the frowning
08:14for the ball.
08:15You'll never find anybody
08:17that played for Bryant
08:18and stayed for the whole thing
08:20that wouldn't jump
08:22in front of a bullet for him.
08:25Really?
08:26The players that were
08:27down on their luck
08:28that he found out
08:29about it
08:30and somehow
08:31he would figure out
08:32a way to help them
08:33in a way that it didn't come back
08:35that he was helping them.
08:36He had a gift
08:37for wanting you
08:39to know he cared about you.
08:40He had a gift
08:41for tearing your butt up
08:44but bringing you
08:45in his office
08:46and asking you
08:46how your mom was doing,
08:48how your grades were,
08:49if you were writing home.
08:50Byrne was a man
08:51and of seeming contradictions.
08:53The coach
08:54who drove you
08:55to exhaustion,
08:57who demanded
08:58more than you thought
08:59you could give.
09:00But he was also
09:02the most compassionate person.
09:04Anybody who stayed
09:06reek the rewards
09:07of championships,
09:09bowl games,
09:10and they will swear
09:11by Bryant.
09:12The ones who left
09:13will tell you
09:14that he's a low-good,
09:16sorry, dirty,
09:16rascal dog.
09:26Bryant always
09:27had that early fear
09:30that he never wanted
09:31to go back
09:31to being dirt poor.
09:33I think that
09:33was a driving factor
09:35in his personality
09:36to succeed.
09:38He came up
09:39in a tough atmosphere,
09:40hard atmosphere,
09:41and he was tough
09:42and he was hard.
09:45Born to Ida
09:46and Monroe Bryant
09:47in 1913
09:48in the tiny community
09:49of Morro Bottom, Arkansas,
09:51Paul was the eighth
09:52of nine children
09:53who survived infancy.
09:54The only book
09:55in the family's
09:56four-room shack
09:57was the Bible.
09:59We had two beds
10:00as a girl slept together,
10:01the boys slept together,
10:03and you did a freeze
10:04to death in wintertime
10:05because there were
10:06so many cracks
10:06in the walls.
10:07Paul remembered all that.
10:08But he didn't ever
10:09forget any of that.
10:12His mother was
10:13the dominant figure
10:14in his life.
10:15His father,
10:16from early in Bryant's life,
10:18was an invalid.
10:19Often depressed,
10:20Monroe Bryant
10:21cast a pall
10:22over his family
10:23until the day
10:23he died at 46.
10:26They never knew
10:26what was the matter
10:27with him.
10:27Sometimes you'd wake up
10:28in the night
10:29and Daddy was gone.
10:30Sometimes we'd find him
10:31way up in the woods
10:32running around.
10:33When he died,
10:34he had pneumonia.
10:36My mother and Daddy
10:37didn't believe
10:37in a whole lot of doctors.
10:38And Paul always thought
10:40had they had a doctor
10:41with him,
10:41he would have lived.
10:42If not for his mother,
10:44they might starve to death.
10:46It was his mother
10:46who held things together.
10:48And I think
10:49those family values
10:50could be found
10:52in his coaching
10:52throughout his career.
10:53He loved his mother
10:55better than anything
10:55in the world
10:56because he,
10:57above the rest of us,
10:59knew what a hard time
11:00she had.
11:02The hat was a trademark.
11:04He played a Sugar Bowl game
11:06one year
11:06and he didn't wear the hat.
11:08And they asked him why
11:09and he said his mama
11:10told him never to wear
11:11a hat inside.
11:12If he had ever done
11:13anything to hurt her,
11:14offend her,
11:16disappoint her,
11:17he was still feeling badly
11:18about it 40 years later.
11:23The seeds of Bryant's
11:25hard shell
11:26were sown not only
11:27in poverty
11:28but in humiliation.
11:30When he was a young boy,
11:32Bryant would have to
11:33hitch up the wagon
11:34on Saturdays
11:35with his mother
11:36and go into Fordyce,
11:39the only town
11:39of any size
11:40in the area,
11:41and peddle groceries.
11:43The city kids,
11:45as Coach Bryant
11:46referred to the ones
11:47in Fordyce,
11:47would taunt him
11:48and make fun of him.
11:49He was barefooted
11:50and wearing old jeans.
11:51He grew up
11:52listening to the voices
11:54of the kids in town
11:56who said,
11:57you're not anything
11:57in this world.
11:58And it had a profound
11:59impact on his life.
12:00I think it affected him
12:02his entire life.
12:03I think he got up earlier
12:04and stayed later
12:05because of it.
12:07Craving respect
12:08at 13,
12:09Bryant took on a challenge
12:10that grown men
12:11shied from.
12:12When the carnival man
12:14came to Fordyce, Arkansas
12:15and asked
12:16for a volunteer,
12:17to wrestle the bear,
12:18only one guy
12:19raised his hand
12:20and that was
12:21Bear Bryant.
12:22He never got his $5
12:23for wrestling the bear,
12:24but he got a nickname.
12:26Bear.
12:27He was reckless.
12:28He was nakedly aggressive.
12:30He really had to work out
12:32some of those demons
12:33as a young man.
12:36As an end
12:36for the Fordyce Red Bugs,
12:38Bryant's fearless play
12:39earned him
12:40a scholarship
12:40to Alabama
12:41where,
12:42playing opposite
12:43future Hall of Famer
12:44Don Hudson,
12:44he made second team
12:46All-SEC
12:47as a junior
12:47and helped defeat
12:49Stanford in the
12:491935 Rose Bowl.
12:51But it was against
12:52Tennessee as a senior
12:53that the first brick
12:55of Bryant's
12:56indomitable will
12:57on the football field
12:58was laying.
12:59He had a broken leg,
13:01so he was not supposed
13:03to play that day.
13:04He played.
13:05He played the game
13:06of his life.
13:07So there was never
13:08a moment in Bryant's life
13:10that defined him
13:11more than that.
13:12It said,
13:13winning is everything.
13:17Winning and control.
13:18After six years
13:19as an assistant
13:20at Alabama
13:21and Vanderbilt,
13:22Bryant served
13:23in the Navy
13:23during World War II.
13:25In 1945,
13:26he became
13:27Maryland's head coach,
13:28but after one season,
13:29a clash with
13:30the school president
13:31forced Bryant to quit.
13:32Are you serious?
13:33He moved to Kentucky
13:34and set up his first
13:35military-style
13:36training camp.
13:37I was trying
13:38to get to sleep
13:39somewhere around midnight
13:40and I kept hearing
13:40a lot of noise.
13:42I went to the window
13:42and I saw suitcases
13:44dropping out of the window
13:45above me
13:46and then guys
13:47going down the drainpipes
13:48escaping from
13:50Millersburg.
13:51Bob Gaines said,
13:52I've had it
13:53and I'm going to quit
13:53and I'm going out there
13:54and I'm going with
13:55Coach Bryant.
13:56Bob knocked on the door
13:57and he said,
13:58what do you want?
14:00He said,
14:00Coach,
14:01I just want to know
14:02if I could go home
14:03for Christmas,
14:04would that be alright?
14:05He said,
14:06why sure,
14:07Bob.
14:08Under Bryant,
14:09Kentucky won its first
14:10Southeastern Conference
14:11title in 1950
14:13and then ended
14:14Oklahoma's 31-game
14:15winning streak
14:16in the Sugar Bowl.
14:17But the Bears'
14:18accomplishments
14:19were overshadowed
14:20by Lexington's
14:21legendary basketball
14:22coach,
14:23Adolph Rupp,
14:24who won three
14:25national titles
14:26between 1948
14:27and 1951.
14:29Basketball
14:30always was
14:31and always will be
14:32number one
14:33at the University
14:34of Kentucky.
14:34The final straw
14:35was at a team
14:37banquet.
14:38At the end
14:39of the year
14:40when Rupp
14:40had been given
14:41a Cadillac,
14:43Bryant got
14:44a cigarette lighter.
14:45I think Bryant's
14:46ego was immense.
14:48Almost every move
14:49he ever made
14:50was based on that.
14:51Pure and simple,
14:52he left Kentucky
14:53because he realized
14:54that Adolph Rupp
14:55was a bigger fish
14:56in the ocean.
14:57He eventually
14:58would have gained
14:59parity with Adolph Rupp,
15:01I think.
15:02But why fight that fight
15:04when you don't have to?
15:06So off he went
15:07to Texas A&M.
15:11When Bear Bryant
15:12got to Texas A&M,
15:14they had a rally.
15:15He decided to do
15:16his own thing.
15:17He ripped off his coat
15:18and he threw it down
15:19and he ripped off his tie
15:21and he threw it down
15:21and then he decided
15:23he was going to dance
15:24on both of them.
15:25The way he spoke,
15:26what he said,
15:27in my mind,
15:28there was no doubt
15:29that within two or three
15:30years we would have
15:31a championship
15:31football team.
15:34In 1954,
15:35Bryant traded
15:36the beauty of the bluegrass
15:37for what they called
15:38Sing Sing on the Brazos,
15:39an all-male military school
15:41that had gone 13 years
15:42without a conference title.
15:44Appalled by a lack
15:45of team toughness,
15:47he moved preseason camp
15:48250 miles
15:49to Junction, Texas,
15:51a small town
15:52where his players
15:53received the surprise
15:54of their lives.
15:55They were singing songs
15:57and having a good time.
15:58They thought they were
15:59going to the typical
16:00preseason camp.
16:03There was no camp
16:04to be in.
16:06Junction had been
16:07in the grips of a drought
16:08for four years.
16:10It was nothing.
16:11There was no grass
16:12in the practice field.
16:13They had to clear away
16:14the rocks
16:14so the players
16:15could work out
16:16on the field.
16:17Most coaches,
16:17when they got to the gates
16:18of Junction,
16:19would have realized
16:20they were the gates of hell
16:21and they would have
16:22turned around
16:22and gone back.
16:24Bear Bryant
16:25is not normal.
16:27We live in Quansonhoods.
16:29I was just about
16:30this far from the roof
16:32and I mean,
16:32it was hot.
16:33The first day of practice,
16:35Coach Bryant had his team
16:36in full pads
16:37and they scrimmaged
16:38twice that day.
16:39Some players would lose
16:40as high as 18,
16:4120 pounds of practice.
16:42Of course,
16:42most of that was fluid.
16:45About every hour,
16:46he would dump a bath towel
16:48in the water.
16:49He'd give a towel
16:50to the offense
16:51and a towel to the defense
16:53and we'd suck the towel.
16:54In those days,
16:55real men didn't drink water.
16:56They fed you salt tablets
17:00and those would make you sick.
17:02I got knocked out one time
17:03and the last thing I heard
17:04was I was going down.
17:05Somebody said,
17:06drag Watson off
17:07and get another quarterback
17:08in there, you know.
17:09Coach Bryant said,
17:11get his tail off the field.
17:13He's killing the grass.
17:14And the funny thing about it,
17:16there wasn't any grass
17:17on the field.
17:18It was all dirt.
17:19For that 10 days at Junction,
17:21I remember him
17:21walking off the field
17:22many a time
17:24with little specks of blood
17:26on that t-shirt.
17:27And I often wondered
17:28whose it was.
17:30I didn't have the nerve to ask.
17:36A week into Bear's
17:37hellish training,
17:38a lineman collapsed
17:39on the field
17:40due to extreme heat exhaustion.
17:43When Billy Schrader collapsed,
17:45I thought he was going to die
17:46on the field.
17:47His eyes were rolled back
17:49in his head
17:49and I just knew
17:50I was going to see a friend die.
17:52Coach Bryant
17:54did not pay any attention
17:56to him whatsoever.
17:58He went on with the drill.
18:00He didn't come over
18:01and look at him.
18:02Basically,
18:02what I was told
18:03was Bryant
18:04set to get this big ox
18:06off of the field
18:08and that Bryant
18:09kicked me
18:10or kicked at me.
18:11The doctor there
18:12at the hospital junction
18:13had, in fact,
18:14been anticipating
18:15something happening
18:16like this
18:17and had been storing
18:18ice there
18:19so that when he got there,
18:21they encased Billy
18:22in ice
18:23and probably saved his life.
18:25The miraculous thing,
18:26looking back on it
18:27nearly 50 years later,
18:29is that no one died
18:30at junction.
18:32It was dehumanizing.
18:36It was humiliating.
18:39It was all ugly.
18:41Every night
18:41we'd go to bed,
18:43we'd wake up,
18:44it'd be two or three
18:45more guys gone
18:46and they were leaving
18:47all in the middle
18:48of the night.
18:49By far,
18:50the majority
18:50of our players
18:51were lost
18:51to verbal abuse
18:53rather than
18:54actual physical abuse,
18:55even though it was hard.
18:56A lot of these people
18:58quit
18:59that were talented
19:00because they took it
19:02personally.
19:03When it was not
19:03intending,
19:04it was to make them
19:05a better ball player.
19:06There were 70-something
19:07who quit
19:08in 10 days.
19:10They got back
19:10with about 35 players,
19:12but in truth,
19:13only about 25 of those
19:15were healthy enough
19:15to start the season.
19:18The 1954 Aggies
19:20went 1-9.
19:21Two years later,
19:22only eight of the
19:23survivors of junction
19:24were on the undefeated
19:25A&M team
19:26that won
19:26the Southwest Conference.
19:28But the original
19:29junction boys
19:30remained blood brothers,
19:31forever linked to Bryant
19:33by what they endured.
19:34There was a bond
19:35that formed
19:36among those players
19:37that may have been
19:39unlike any other team
19:40in that era.
19:42The team he loved
19:43the most
19:44was the team
19:45that gathered
19:45down by the river
19:46for the reunion
19:47in 1979.
19:49And those were
19:50the junction boys.
19:51And the reason
19:52he loved them
19:53the most
19:53is because
19:54he had the greatest
19:55impact on their lives.
19:57I saw Coach Bryant
19:58at our 25th reunion.
20:01I said,
20:02I hated your guts
20:04that year.
20:05But I said,
20:06my having been
20:07under your tutelage
20:08has helped me
20:09as much as any other person
20:11or any other thing.
20:12I just went up to him
20:13and gave him a big hug.
20:15He hugged me back
20:16and he said,
20:17you know,
20:17he says,
20:18I'm so glad
20:19that we were able
20:19to get together like this
20:20because I wasn't sure
20:21whether you were going
20:22to hug me
20:23or hit me.
20:24Junction defined Bryant
20:25in many ways.
20:26Most importantly,
20:27it showed that Bryant
20:28was going to do
20:29whatever it took
20:30to win.
20:32It was his will
20:33against his players' will
20:34and he was always
20:36going to win.
20:36He found out
20:37exactly what human
20:38limits were
20:39in junction.
20:40And I think
20:41after he left
20:42Texas A&M,
20:42Bear Bryant
20:43was ready
20:44to become
20:45a national championship
20:46coach.
20:53In 1958,
20:54Bear Bryant
20:55returned to Tuscaloosa
20:56to coach his alma mater.
20:58He said it was
20:59like Mama had called
21:00to say it was
21:01time to come home.
21:02Coach Bryant
21:03walked in
21:03and closed the door
21:04and he started to talk
21:05and he said,
21:05gentlemen,
21:06we're starting a new era
21:07at the University of Alabama.
21:08About that time
21:09the door opened
21:09and five players came in,
21:11three of whom
21:11were pretty good players.
21:12He just turned around
21:13and said,
21:14Coach Lassie,
21:14help these guys
21:15get their bags
21:16and get them
21:16out of the dorm
21:17and they're not
21:17on the team anymore.
21:18Four years after
21:19inheriting a team
21:20that had posted
21:21four consecutive
21:22losing seasons,
21:23Bryant led the Crimson Tide
21:25to the first
21:25of three national championships
21:27in the 1960s.
21:29Despite success,
21:30his rules remained
21:32ironclad.
21:33I was suspended
21:35for the last game
21:36and bowl game
21:37my junior year
21:38because I broke
21:39the training rule.
21:40If I do let you play,
21:42he said,
21:42I'll retire
21:43after this year
21:44because it's going
21:45against what I believe in.
21:47We knew that
21:47if he would
21:48suspend Joe
21:50and take him
21:51off the football team,
21:53there's no telling
21:53what he'd do
21:54with some of us.
21:58I didn't conform
21:58to his rules.
21:59As a result,
22:00I was suspended.
22:03I got a telegram
22:04from him that says,
22:04you have been
22:05indefinitely suspended,
22:06Coach Paul W. Bryant.
22:08I got a telegram
22:09the next day
22:09from Joe Namath
22:10that said,
22:10he means it.
22:11There were no stars
22:12at the University
22:13of Alabama.
22:14We were all part
22:15of the University
22:16of Alabama
22:16and there was one star,
22:17Bear Bryant.
22:20While there were
22:21no exceptions
22:22to Bryant's rules,
22:23he broke in a few
22:24himself at Texas A&M,
22:26where he approved
22:27illegal inducements
22:28to recruits
22:29for which the school
22:30was placed on probation
22:31for two years.
22:34The program needed
22:35some money
22:35to have a little
22:37slush fund.
22:38Bear Bryant said,
22:39I want to find out
22:40exactly what your
22:41commitment is
22:42to Texas A&M.
22:44He put the spittoon
22:44in the middle
22:45of the table
22:45and the boys
22:46filled it up with money.
22:47He was not above
22:49cheating.
22:50I mean,
22:50he admitted that,
22:51you know,
22:51from getting kids
22:52into school
22:52to making sh...
22:55Cheating.
22:56Now,
22:56they just do it.
22:59What was called
23:00cheating then
23:01is now
23:02perfectly fine.
23:07Usually,
23:08it's the opposite.
23:10Sure that they had
23:12enough money
23:12to get by?
23:13He wanted to win
23:14so badly
23:16that he let the alumni
23:17do what they wanted
23:18to do.
23:19And in later years,
23:21he was so humiliated
23:23by the probation.
23:24He felt like
23:25that that had diminished
23:26him as a man.
23:27That's really what
23:28drove him
23:29on the straight and narrow.
23:31While never found guilty
23:33of NCAA violations
23:34at Alabama,
23:35the Saturday evening
23:36post twice-leveled
23:38serious charges
23:39at Bryant.
23:39In October 1962,
23:42it accused the coach
23:42of brutality.
23:44Then five months later,
23:45the post alleged
23:46that Bryant
23:46and Georgia Athletic
23:47director Wally Butts
23:49conspired to fix a game
23:50in which the Tide
23:51won 35-0.
23:53never in my life
23:55have I attempted
23:56to rig or fix
23:57any ball game
23:58either as a player
24:00or as a coach.
24:01He didn't need it.
24:03Certainly,
24:04such charges
24:05have been derogatory
24:06to my integrity
24:07and character
24:08of not only myself
24:09but the University
24:10of Alabama.
24:11as far as Alabama
24:13knowing what
24:14Georgia was going to do
24:16so Coach Bryant
24:17could gamble
24:18on the game.
24:19There's no truth to that.
24:20I was a sophomore
24:21quarterback
24:21who caught every play
24:22of that game
24:23so I knew the game
24:24wasn't fixed.
24:25suing the magazine
24:27for libel
24:27for $1,000
24:29in a published retraction.
24:31Bryant told me
24:33that's the worst
24:33share he ever spent
24:35and even though
24:36he ended up
24:37getting money
24:37from Saturday Evening Post
24:38he was hurt
24:40because
24:41it would hurt
24:42his family.
24:43Bryant was married
24:45since 1935
24:46to Mary Harmon
24:47with whom he had
24:48two children
24:49May and Paul Jr.
24:51She was
24:52a representative
24:53of the state's
24:54gentry
24:54and he was
24:55the poor boy
24:56from the sticks
24:57in Arkansas.
24:59Marrying her
25:00was quite an accomplishment.
25:02It said that
25:02he had arrived
25:03to somebody.
25:04She was
25:05complaining about
25:06him being gone
25:07so much
25:07and she said
25:08Paul
25:08I'd rather
25:09you'd been
25:09a ditch digger.
25:10He says
25:10I don't want
25:11to be a ditch digger
25:12I want to be
25:12a football coach.
25:13I think that
25:14Mary Harmon
25:15meant a lot
25:15to Bear Bryant
25:16but football
25:18was his first love
25:19and I think
25:20their relationship
25:21may have suffered
25:22just a little bit
25:23because of that.
25:25In an era
25:26when the personal
25:27remained private
25:28even for public figures
25:30Bear played
25:31the way he worked
25:32at full throttle.
25:34In 1958
25:36when Bryant
25:37was being
25:39courted
25:40to come back
25:41to Alabama
25:41there were a lot
25:42of rumors
25:42about womanizing
25:43and it almost
25:45cost him the job.
25:46he ran with
25:47a very good
25:47looking governor
25:48of Kentucky
25:49Governor Weatherby
25:50at the time
25:50they were great
25:51friends
25:51and they went
25:53through the state
25:53like a wildfire.
25:55He lived fast
25:55and furious
25:57he liked to drink
25:58and he would have
25:59his drinks
26:00but never
26:01to interfere
26:02with his business.
26:03You know
26:05he had to have
26:06something
26:06that brought him
26:07down.
26:08They'd get a few
26:08drinks in him
26:09and he'd think
26:09he was invisible
26:09and here's a guy
26:11that everybody
26:11in the state
26:12knew him.
26:13Everybody has
26:14got a story
26:14to tell about
26:15running into
26:16Coach Bryant
26:16after five.
26:18Bryant would invite
26:18you into his suite
26:19and you'd try
26:21to stay there
26:21and drink him
26:22under the table
26:22but you couldn't
26:23do it.
26:24We're driving
26:24down at Pepperdine
26:25and he really
26:26was hung over
26:27and he gets up
26:28and he starts
26:29his little speech
26:29and Bryant
26:30suddenly stops
26:32and says
26:34I don't know
26:35what's happening
26:35but is there
26:36a doctor in the house
26:37and with that
26:38he collapsed.
26:40In the spring
26:41of 1978
26:42Bryant checked
26:43himself into
26:44an alcohol
26:44rehabilitation clinic.
26:46He finally
26:47was persuaded
26:48to give up
26:49drinking
26:50in the interest
26:51of helping
26:52the health
26:52of a good friend
26:53of his
26:53who was on
26:54the verge
26:54of killing
26:55himself
26:55with booze.
26:57And Coach Bryant
26:58just made a bet
27:00with a friend
27:00that if he'd quit
27:02he'd quit
27:02and his doctors
27:03had been asking
27:04him to do that
27:04for years.
27:05He died at 69
27:07and the shock
27:08was not that
27:09he died at 69
27:10but that he lived
27:10that long
27:11because he pushed
27:12himself and punished
27:13his body
27:13just about every way
27:14he could.
27:17Not satisfied
27:18with the second
27:20class citizenship
27:21with segregation.
27:22Alabama
27:23created black
27:24and white images
27:25of racism
27:26in America
27:26that became
27:28an indelible part
27:29of our culture
27:30and our history.
27:31And I say
27:32segregation now
27:33segregation tomorrow
27:35and segregation
27:37forever.
27:38Back then
27:38we were police
27:39dogs
27:40we were fire
27:41hoses
27:42burning of the crosses
27:44and Ku Klux Klan.
27:47Alabamians
27:48began to see
27:49themselves
27:49on national
27:50television
27:51embarrassing
27:51themselves
27:52attacking black
27:53people with fire
27:54hoses
27:54and then on the
27:55other side
27:55you had this
27:56towering
27:57John Wayne
27:58like man
27:58with these
27:59clean cut
28:00hard fighting
28:01young men
28:02that said to
28:03white Alabamians
28:05we can show the world
28:06through this football team
28:07that we know how to behave.
28:12Throughout the civil rights movement
28:13two figures towered
28:15over the state of Alabama
28:16George Wallace
28:17and Bear Bryant
28:19in 1963
28:20the governor
28:21blocked the schoolhouse door
28:23in a symbolic gesture
28:24against the integration
28:25of the University of Alabama
28:26for the next eight seasons
28:29including national championship
28:30campaigns of 1964
28:32and 65
28:33Bryant's teams
28:34remained as white
28:36as their pants.
28:38A lot of people
28:39probably thought
28:40that the
28:42lily white
28:42Alabama football team
28:44was somehow
28:45proof
28:46of the
28:48rightness
28:49of segregation.
28:50Maybe.
28:51Bryant hated that.
28:52He maintained
28:53white teams
28:54much longer
28:54than he should have
28:55and frankly
28:56than he needed to
28:58politically.
28:59He couldn't have
28:59brought them in
29:00during the marches
29:02and the
29:02head beatings.
29:04He couldn't have
29:04brought them in then
29:05because they would only
29:06made a bad situation worse
29:07and would have inflamed it.
29:09Paul disagreed
29:09with George Wallace
29:10on the segregation deal
29:13very much.
29:14He went to George Wallace
29:15and talked to him.
29:16Well I don't think
29:17he did any good.
29:18Bear Bryant
29:19was one of the few
29:19prominent people
29:20in Alabama
29:22in 1963
29:23who could have told
29:24George Wallace
29:25to take a flying leap
29:26without political consequences.
29:28He didn't reject Wallace
29:30but he didn't
29:31embrace Wallace.
29:32Alabama was holding out
29:34for segregation
29:35until the bitter end
29:36and Bryant
29:37believing as he always did
29:39that he worked
29:39for somebody else.
29:40I think Bryant
29:41in that context
29:42could very well
29:44have been perceived
29:45as less
29:46than a believer
29:47in integration.
29:48Bryant
29:49was always aware
29:50of his power
29:51but he knew
29:53at that time
29:54that it would not
29:55be to his advantage
29:56to challenge the governor
29:57because he would not win.
29:58He was waiting
29:59for the right time.
30:02To Bryant
30:03the time seemed bright
30:04in the late 1960s
30:06when he began
30:07paving the way
30:08for his football team
30:09to eventually integrate.
30:11He pulled out
30:12a list
30:13from his desk drawer
30:14and he said
30:16here are the 25
30:17best African-American
30:19athletes
30:20in the country.
30:21You get any of them
30:22who want to come
30:23to Alabama
30:24I'll take them.
30:26I can say
30:26with certainty
30:28that Paul Bryant
30:30wanted to play
30:31black athletes
30:32on his football team
30:33a long time
30:34before he was allowed to.
30:37In 1970
30:38Bryant's first
30:39black recruit
30:40was a freshman.
30:41That September
30:42the Crimson Tide
30:43opened the season
30:43against Southern Cal
30:44first integrated team
30:46to play at Bama.
30:48African-American
30:49Sam Cunningham
30:50rushed for 135 yards
30:52and two touchdowns
30:53as the Trojans
30:54won 42-21
30:55in Birmingham.
30:56Sam, Bama,
30:57That made us
30:58start thinking different.
30:59It sure did
31:00because we realized
31:02that we were losing
31:04some super athletes
31:05going all over the country
31:07that we were not getting.
31:08I don't think
31:09the game was designed
31:10for that purpose
31:11although it served it.
31:12Bryant was definitely
31:14impressed.
31:14I think all the
31:15sellout crowd
31:17was impressed.
31:17You had to be
31:18with what he did
31:19that night.
31:19And I think Paul
31:20took particular
31:21delight in the fact
31:23that Cunningham,
31:25as he put it,
31:26integrated
31:27the Alabama
31:28football program.
31:31As the next season
31:32began,
31:33African-American
31:34John Mitchell
31:34was at defensive end
31:36for Alabama.
31:37Coach Bryant
31:38has been interviewed
31:39by some sports writer
31:40and he asked,
31:42how many black players
31:43do you have
31:43on your team?
31:44And Coach Bryant
31:45replied,
31:46I don't have
31:46any black players.
31:47So the sports writer
31:48said,
31:49well,
31:49how many white players
31:50do you have
31:50on your squad?
31:51Coach Bryant said,
31:51I don't have
31:52any white players.
31:53He said,
31:53I only have players.
31:55Martin Luther King
31:55preached the opportunity.
31:57Brad Bryant
31:58gave me the opportunity.
32:00Coach Bryant
32:00had great empathy
32:01with some black players,
32:03particularly those
32:04that came from
32:05poor farms
32:06and this kind of thing
32:06because that's what
32:07Coach Bryant came from.
32:08The integration
32:09of Alabama football
32:10came after an
32:11unprecedented slump
32:12for Bryant.
32:13While the Crimson Tide
32:14didn't lose more
32:15than two games
32:16in a season
32:16from 1959 through 67,
32:19it lost 13
32:20over the next three years.
32:22He knew he had
32:23to sign the black athlete
32:24because he was coming
32:25off of his two worst years.
32:26In 1973,
32:27when he won
32:28the national championship,
32:29he had nine
32:30All-SEC players.
32:32Three of them
32:32were black.
32:33I don't think
32:34there was any great
32:34social agenda
32:35that Bryant
32:36was following.
32:38He just wanted
32:39to win football games.
32:41It was competition.
32:44Missed by Millen
32:45behind the line
32:45of strength
32:46and over this.
32:47Touchdown!
32:49When Bryant
32:50integrated his team
32:51in 1971,
32:52he also installed
32:53a new offense,
32:55the wishbone.
32:56He had all
32:58the earmarks
32:58of a guy
32:59that had just
33:01about coached
33:02all he wanted to,
33:03but he was going
33:03to give this wishbone
33:04a try.
33:05I think it extended
33:06his coaching career.
33:08Bryant made
33:09a very impulsive
33:09decision to go
33:10to the wishbone.
33:11It was a famous
33:12meeting with his coaches.
33:14He said,
33:14you know,
33:15we're going to sink
33:15or swim with this.
33:17And of course,
33:18sink or swim meant
33:19you damn well
33:20better make this work.
33:22With the new
33:23offense in place,
33:24the Crimson Tide
33:25rolled to eight
33:26SEC titles
33:27and two consensus
33:28national championships
33:29in the 1970s.
33:31In the process,
33:32Bryant appeared
33:33to Mello.
33:35There was a conscious
33:36effort by Coach Bryant
33:38to undo part
33:39of the image
33:40that had no longer
33:42become a source
33:43of any pride to it.
33:45He wanted to be
33:45remembered as a
33:47better,
33:48approachable citizen
33:50than he was
33:51a gruff,
33:52old kicker,
33:54but if you mess
33:55with me type.
33:56Bryant had one
33:56of the great
33:57second acts
33:57in American life.
33:59Bryant was this
34:00dominant icon,
34:02not only for Alabama,
34:04but for the South.
34:05He was the kind
34:06of guy that we
34:07wanted our sons
34:07to grow up to be like.
34:09That sounds hokey
34:10in this day and age,
34:11but it was true.
34:12Welcome to
34:13The Bear Bryant Show.
34:14We're glad you could
34:15join our review
34:16of the exciting action
34:17of your University
34:18of Alabama's
34:18Crimson Tide football.
34:20At four o'clock
34:21on a Sunday afternoon,
34:24The Bear Bryant Show
34:24came on and I think
34:26probably 80% of the
34:29households in the
34:29state of Alabama
34:30was watching that show.
34:31And he drank his Coke
34:33and eat his golden
34:33flake potato chips
34:34and talked to everybody
34:36like they were the
34:36only person in the world
34:37that he was speaking
34:38to at the time.
34:39I thought Paul Bryant
34:40was a marketing genius.
34:42He was the only
34:43Southern football coach
34:44who ever took the time
34:46to go to New York.
34:47Go to New York,
34:48that's where the media
34:50centers were.
34:51He realized all the
34:52cameras at that time
34:53on the press box
34:54level.
34:55So he put his team
34:56on the other side
34:57so he and his team
34:58would be facing the
34:58cameras and they
34:59could get better
35:00pictures of him.
35:03But Bryant's sense
35:04of his image
35:04evaporated in Birmingham
35:06in October of 1974
35:09when TCU's Kent Waldrop
35:10was paralyzed
35:11by Bryant's defense.
35:14He adopted Kent
35:15like one of his own
35:16players.
35:17He raised money
35:17for him.
35:18He became a very
35:20important person
35:21in his life.
35:21They raised more
35:23money in Alabama
35:24than TCU ever spent
35:26on me.
35:28He came in
35:29and would act
35:29like nothing was
35:30wrong.
35:32And then Mom
35:33and Dad
35:34years later
35:37told me he'd go out
35:38in the hall
35:39and cry with them.
35:41He didn't spend
35:42his life.
35:42He didn't waste it.
35:43He didn't hoard it.
35:44He invested.
35:45I said Coach Bryant
35:47I need $70,000
35:48from you to build
35:49a home for children.
35:50To this day
35:51the Paul Bryant
35:52home exists
35:52and there have
35:53literally been
35:54hundreds of boys
35:55come through that
35:55home.
35:59Of all the close
36:00relationships that
36:01Bryant forged
36:02with his players
36:02no one was closer
36:04to his heart
36:05than Pat Trammell
36:06the quarterback
36:07of his first
36:08national championship
36:08team in 1961.
36:11Bryant called him
36:12quote
36:12the favorite person
36:13of my entire life.
36:16He was the toughest
36:18grittiest
36:19foulest mouth
36:20smartest guy.
36:22In other words
36:23he was like
36:24a Paul Bryant clone.
36:25He was a guy
36:26who kind of
36:27butted heads
36:28with Coach Bryant
36:29and challenged
36:29him on things
36:30and Coach Bryant
36:31just loved Pat.
36:32He was like
36:33a second son.
36:34And later
36:34when he found out
36:35that Trammell
36:36was dying of cancer
36:37Bryant was devastated.
36:38Over those next
36:39few months
36:39he endeavored
36:41to spend a lot
36:41of time with him.
36:42He would go
36:43to New York
36:44for treatments
36:45with Pat.
36:48Following Trammell's
36:49death in 1968
36:50Bryant established
36:51a foundation
36:52to benefit
36:53the children
36:53of his players.
36:55More than 700
36:56sons and daughters
36:57have received
36:58free educations
36:59in Alabama
37:00courtesy of the Bear.
37:02What they didn't realize
37:03when they set it up
37:04was how massive
37:06it was going to be
37:07and how many kids
37:08was going to come
37:10through this program.
37:10everybody knows
37:12about the championships
37:14and so forth.
37:16What Coach Bryant's
37:17greatness was
37:18is how many players
37:20he helped.
37:21How many players
37:22children he helped.
37:28the times that we
37:29were in
37:29directions
37:30we did pretty good.
37:31Let's play some
37:32directions with
37:32strong
37:33and drop our
37:34end off over there.
37:36Do I think
37:36Paul Bryant
37:37was a driven man?
37:39Do you think
37:39he was anything else?
37:42What drove him?
37:43To win more games
37:45than anybody.
37:46The man has made
37:47mystery.
37:48Three hundred and
37:49fifteen wins.
37:51Being the all-time
37:52winningest coach
37:54probably meant more
37:55to Coach Bryant
37:55than I thought it did.
37:56He always poo-pooed it
37:57but it meant a lot to him.
37:59He could be the
38:00humblest guy in the world
38:01but he could also
38:02be the most ambitious
38:03and so that record
38:05gave him something
38:06to shoot for
38:07in his later stages
38:08of his life.
38:08It gave him a reason
38:10to live.
38:10It gave him a reason
38:11to keep on coaching.
38:13Breaking Amos Lonzo
38:14Stagg's record
38:15was Bryant's
38:15crowning achievement
38:16but the strain
38:18of coaching
38:18in his 60s
38:19began to take its toll.
38:21The towering man
38:22had suffered
38:22from a stroke
38:23and heart failure.
38:25Coach Bryant
38:26obviously was
38:26in decline in health
38:27and the team doctors
38:28at every practice
38:29they were there.
38:30They watched after him.
38:31I think everyone
38:32knew that
38:32his coaching career
38:34was near an end
38:37but no one
38:39wanted to believe it.
38:41He smoked incessantly
38:43and was known
38:44to have a dram
38:44now and then.
38:45He was strictly
38:46a Chesterfield man
38:47and he'd bum
38:48a cigarette off me
38:49and I'd have
38:50those filters
38:52and he'd call me
38:53a sissy
38:54and break the filter off.
38:55One time
38:56they were talking
38:57about that
38:58they wanted him
38:59to check
38:59and get his arteries
39:00and his neck
39:01cleaned out
39:02and Bryant
39:03supposedly said
39:04well look
39:05I'm not going
39:05to do that
39:06when the good Lord
39:07wants me
39:07he'll call me.
39:11His mother
39:11was a very
39:13fundamentalist
39:13Christian lady
39:14but of course
39:15he always resented
39:17one thing
39:18about religion
39:18is that
39:19their teachings
39:21forbade medical treatment
39:23in those days
39:23and he believed
39:25for the rest of his life
39:26that that's why
39:27his father
39:27had suffered
39:28needlessly
39:29and had died
39:30at a very young age.
39:31it was the foundation
39:32of his struggle
39:34with religion
39:35for the rest of his life.
39:36He called me
39:37and a couple
39:37of the other players
39:38and we went down
39:39to visit him
39:40and that's
39:41when he told us
39:41that he was going
39:42to try to get
39:43a little closer
39:43to God.
39:44It was obvious
39:45he was concerned
39:46about his fertility
39:49and I think
39:50intentionally
39:52or subconsciously
39:53he was dealing
39:54with something
39:55he knew
39:55he had to deal with.
39:58In his final summer
39:59Bryant returned
40:00to the place
40:01he'd spent
40:02his entire life
40:03running from.
40:05Coach Bryant
40:06was a roots person.
40:07He was continually
40:08drawn back
40:09to his roots
40:10in the moral bottom
40:11and his mother
40:12and his upbringing.
40:14He said
40:14I did a lot of things
40:16that I'm not proud of
40:17and he said
40:17I just want you
40:18to know
40:19how proud I was
40:20for people at Ford
40:21that put up with me
40:22that helped me.
40:23I think it was
40:24very important
40:25to him
40:25to tie that all
40:27back together
40:28in a positive way.
40:33There comes a time
40:34in every profession
40:35when you need
40:35to hang it up
40:36and that time
40:37has come to me
40:38as head football coach
40:39at the University
40:40of Alabama.
40:41Bryant's decision
40:42to step down
40:43was probably
40:44the toughest
40:45that he ever made.
40:46He knew
40:47by walking away
40:47from the game
40:48that in some ways
40:50he would be
40:51closing a door
40:52that he could
40:53never open again.
40:54and he knew
40:55the end was coming.
40:56Bryant's announced
40:57his resignation
40:58at the end
40:59of the 1982
40:59regular season
41:00but he would
41:01coach one more
41:02bowl game.
41:044, 3, 2, 1
41:06the 24th annual
41:08Liberty Ball
41:09is in three.
41:09Paul Bear Bryant
41:10goes out a winner
41:12in his final game
41:1321-15 Alabama.
41:17It was
41:1937 winning seasons
41:21and 38 seasons
41:22as a head coach.
41:2428 consecutive.
41:27It's hard for him
41:27to stand up
41:28three hours
41:29on the sideline
41:29anymore
41:30and after he retired
41:31he said
41:31I'll croak
41:32in a month
41:32and dang
41:33if he didn't.
41:36On January 26th
41:371983
41:3828 days
41:40after coaching
41:41his 323rd win
41:42Bryant died
41:44of a heart attack.
41:45He was 69.
41:48In short order
41:49our switchboard
41:50just seized.
41:51If you picked up
41:52the phone
41:52you'd get no dial tone
41:53or maybe a fast busy
41:55but that became
41:56a moot point
41:57because in short order
41:58all of the
41:59Tuscaloosa exchanges
42:00went down
42:01and then shortly
42:03after that
42:03the entire area code
42:05for the state
42:05of Alabama
42:06went down.
42:07Totally
42:08set me back
42:09for a while
42:10and still get emotional
42:11when I think about it.
42:12It was a deep
42:13sad feeling
42:14the only time
42:15I've ever been
42:15really sad
42:16and my whole life
42:17all the death
42:18was when my father died.
42:19It was almost like
42:20I'm finished
42:21with what I was
42:21put here to do.
42:23See ya.
42:27Two days
42:28after his death
42:29Alabama
42:29bid farewell
42:30to the bear.
42:33Roughly a quarter
42:34of a million people
42:36witnessed
42:36Bryant's funeral
42:38cortege
42:38as it went
42:39from
42:39the church
42:40in Tuscaloosa
42:41to Elmwood Cemetery
42:42in Birmingham.
42:43It was like
42:45a combination
42:46of the
42:46Newton Rockne
42:47funeral
42:48and the
42:49Charles Lindbergh
42:50parade
42:50after flying
42:51the Atlantic.
42:52You'd see truck drivers
42:53pull over
42:54and get outside
42:55and tip their hats
42:57as the procession
42:58went by.
42:59Construction workers
43:00on the side
43:01of the road
43:01would do the same thing.
43:04People on Bryant Drive
43:05were almost
43:06ten people deep.
43:08Some people
43:09crying
43:12It was a very
43:13emotional trip.
43:15Papa's funeral
43:16was the
43:17first time
43:18I really realized
43:20how many people
43:20loved him
43:21besides me.
43:25You can talk
43:26to players
43:27today
43:27and they'll tell you
43:28after Bryant's death
43:30when they walked
43:30on that field
43:31they looked up
43:32at that tower
43:33to see if he was there.
43:34The special thing
43:35with Coach Bryant
43:36is he could look
43:36you in the eye
43:37I don't care
43:38who you were
43:39and connect.
43:41He understood
43:42how a man felt.
43:43He understood
43:44what was inside
43:45of guys.
43:46Even though
43:46Bear Bryant
43:47appeared to be
43:48calloused
43:48and tough
43:49and brutal
43:49ask the people
43:51he coached.
43:52He gave them
43:53a gift.
43:54He was forever
43:55giving them
43:56a gift
43:57and I think
43:58that Bear Bryant
43:59had a tremendous
43:59soul in that regard.
44:01His tactics
44:02could come into
44:03question at times
44:04but Coach Bryant
44:06was a winner
44:07and I'm thankful
44:08that I went
44:10through that hell
44:11at Junction
44:12because I got
44:14to be under
44:15the great
44:16Paul Bear Bryant.
44:22When Paul Bryant
44:23passed away
44:24he was wearing
44:25just one piece
44:26of jewelry.
44:27It wasn't any
44:28of his national
44:28championship rings
44:29nor was it
44:30a wedding ring
44:31but it was
44:32a gold ring
44:33presented to him
44:34at the 25 year
44:35reunion of the
44:36Junction Boys
44:37by those who
44:38survived the
44:39summer heat
44:40and his wrath
44:41at a remote
44:42Texas town.
44:43The 1954
44:44Texas A&M Aggies
44:46were the only
44:47team Bryant
44:48ever coached
44:49to a losing season.
44:51For SportsCentury
44:52I'm Jeremy Schaap
44:56Whoops
44:57Neppo Baby
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