"Bryant." Welcome to the 23rd annual Paul W. Bryant Namesake Reunion, where the only requirement to attend is that you or a member of your immediate family is willingly and lovingly -- sometimes strategically -- named for the coach known as "Bear." Voit muokata valintojasi milloin tahansa napsauttamalla tietosuojan hallintapaneelin linkki sivustoissamme ja sovelluksissamme. All he has to show for two decades of service are his memories, and even those often hang just out of reach. Simply stated, Paul Bryant cares deeply for the university.. "I met a lot of business people through my parents," Bryant told Bloomberg, acknowledging the obvious connections his famous name brought. Bryant bought seafood dinners for everyone there, and Billy cracked later, "It was like you were handing out loaves and fishes." Bear Bryant had died, and as the news went out on the radio -- the man's voice cracked when he said, "Ladies and gentlemen " -- Varner stood in the hallway of the Druid City Hospital with nowhere to go. He was working for Charlie Finley, who was a Birmingham native who had made a gazillion dollars in pharmaceuticals and became quite a character in baseball, said Kirk McNair, who was a sports writer in Birmingham at the time, and who became a longtime Bryant family friend. A number of people wore T-shirts that said 'It Took a Giant to Replace the Bear,' referring to former New York Giants Coach Ray Perkins, whom Bryant selected to succeed him at Alabama last month. With the nomination tied up in the Legislature, trustee Frank Bromberg decided to resign, which allowed Bryant to fill the sixth district slot in April 2000. In 1973, the newspapers were purchased by the Knight-Ridder Corporation and in 1983 were merged into a single, morning paper that is still published as The Lexington Herald-Leader. Each day brings its own reality. "We knew he'd been offered a lot of money to write a book or help make a movie," says Linda Knowles, Bryant's longtime secretary, "and he would have none of that. Billy always walked a few feet in front of Bryant, for reasons he's trying to recall. "We had a dog named Bear as a puppy, but then we changed it to Bryant," confessed a family from Huntsville that also has two human Bryants on the roster. Over the years, various accounts have given him different titles, but essentially, he was a fixer. Bryant Jr. also has clear ties to a federal insurance fraud case that drew a 15-year prison sentence for Allen W. City Editor Ken Roberts contributed to this report. Finally, he asks for help. In addition, he chaired the committee that hired Dr. Robert Witt, past President of The University of Alabama and retired Chancellor of The University of Alabama System. He puts a finger over his lips and says, "Shhh." This photograph was published on Feb 24th, 1948 (1948-02-24) Photograph Number: 1.03-1497.01 ", There were also no Sabans at the reunion. Billy saw him weak and insecure. He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. Cities and towns -- Growth -- Kentucky -- Lexington. [2] In 1999, he acquired a stake in Harvest Select Catfish Inc., a company which raises catfish in Alabama and Mississippi. Susie can tell you what she saw, but that's it. "My favorite part is meeting all the folks and hearing all the different name combinations they come up with," explained Curtis Paul Parker of Anniston. Business districts -- Kentucky -- Lexington. Joe Elmore said. Each rising sun takes a little more from the couple who live in the small brick home southwest of downtown. [1] QB Bennett addresses off-field issues at combine, Stroud says he's top player, defends run ability, Alabama QB Young undeterred by size questions, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. Later that night, she'd get the inevitable call. Alabama-"Bear" Paul Bryant funeral. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway Jr.), College football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, wearing black coat, observes his team Alabama Crimson Tide after they defeated Illinois 21-15 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 30, 1982. (AP Photo). Susie is short, 77, with gray hair and a walker she pushes around. Sometimes they talked. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Mourning fans at Paul "Bear" Bryant's funeral. Lexington Leader (Lexington, Ky. : Daily), [Identification of item], John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, 1936-1990,2004AV001, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries,Lexington, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. "He never told me anything personal about Coach Bryant," she says. "Oh, it goes so much deeper than that," Hilburn said, rolling her eyes and grinning. Coach Bear Bryant at the 1982 Liberty Bowl football game in Memphis, Tennessee. [3][7] He also served on the boards of trustees of the Alabama Heritage Foundation and the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. coverage of "Bear" Bryant's service. She settles in front of the exhibit of his office, the soft black-and-white couch players hated because they'd sink further and further down, the white telephone, the wide wooden desk. Jos et halua meidn ja kumppaneidemme kyttvn evsteit ja henkiltietoja nihin listarkoituksiin, napsauta Hylk kaikki. [1] [2] It's a deification. The magazine quoted Bryant, who owned GreeneTrack in Greene County at the time, as saying that the dog track was frequented by low-class, welfare blacks.. That's the man I'll always remember.". 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Man mourns at Coach "Bear" Bryant's funeral site. He spent his youth in Lexington, Kentucky; College Station, Texas; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama the towns where his father coached. "It's crazy. In 1977, Bryant opened GreeneTrack, a dog racing track in Greene County. But while the younger Bryant never coached, he has used his personal fortune to support UA to the tune of millions of dollars in donations -- $20 million to the UA football program alone during his time as a trustee. The coach visited this house once. Half a dozen helicopters carrying news photographers hovered near the cemetery, which lies at the end of a black community in southwest Birmingham. As of 2015, seven trustees were executives or directors at Bryant Bank. Nobody ever has a plan. Former Data Analyst - Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida - Jacksonville. Four years later, Billy was bartending at the Tuscaloosa Country Club. In his hospital room, Bryant was joking with the nurses. We probably don't pump that as much as we should, Bryant said, but we're real proud of that. Twenty-eight days later, on a Tuesday night, Billy's phone rang. Billy's voice drops back down, and the words press together, a slurry of confusion and rearranged thoughts, part truth, part fiction. Even Mrs. Bryant didn't know him as well as Billy did. "Right there with the hat on, in the middle. They made small talk in the car, nothing about the life's work that had just ended. Billy sits up, his voice and cane rising at the indignity. ", You think Paul "Bear" Bryant is dead? "I never did hear about him dying.". Croakies to hold sunglasses, cuff links, purses, both the kind with handles and clutches. For many years, Bryant has been accused of running the Alabama board of trustees like a family business, "holding secret meetings, shrugging off public records requests, ignoring or sidestepping the law. So why change the dog's name? Bryant is a family man: He has been married to his wife, Cherry, since 1966, and they have three daughters all UA graduates and three grandchildren. NHL trade deadline: Winners and losers, including the Bruins, Devils and Bruce Boudreau? he man Billy Varner is remembering has very little in common with the Bryant who is beloved by so many Alabama fans. He was born in Birmingham while his father served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. If I'd changed jobs, I would have been making $50 more a month. Paul Bryant Jr.'s bank is the tie that binds UA trustees. Although Bryant never served in the military, he is a lifelong scholar of American military history and active in battlefield preservation. You want a window into Bear Bryant's power in the state of Alabama? [2], In 2005, Bryant founded the Bryant Bank. Bryant announced last week that he was retiring after this game, which marks his 323rd victory. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eight husky players carried Paul 'Bear' Bryant to his grave under a bare hickory tree and more than 8,000 mourners in two cities said goodbye Friday to the man they called the greatest football coach who ever lived. Lexington (Ky.) -- History -- 20th century. While Bryant won't talk about it, it is believed he has given millions more to UA for non-athletic needs. The pictures on the wall hold him. The family had asked that cameras be barred from the services. "Uh, uh. Billy found a phone and called ahead, telling Susie to make her good cornbread. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. All his memories are still in there, somewhere, only much of the time he can't translate them into words. They married right out of high school. Since then, Moore says, daughters of Joe Namath and Ken Stabler have attended Alabama on . ", She stands still, surrounded by the strangers who've come to genuflect, and she thinks, "If they only knew." Wilson's father added his own nod of approval, replying loudly, though muffled by a bite of hot dog, "Rollf Tfide! Billy is asleep. It was perhaps the most oddly attired gathering of mourners the cemetery had ever seen. Today he can. When he came back, he was a regular campus policeman. It's lunchtime. Is the Alabama board of trustees finally ready to kill UAB football? Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. "He won't make it without coaching.". But many mourners wore crimson and white, the colors of the Crimson Tide. ", As Chase Bryant's father nodded proudly, another teen, Bryant Wilson, shouted "Same! Paul William Bryant Jr (born December 19, 1944 in Birmingham) is a Tuscaloosa businessman and chairman of the Crimson Tide Foundation. Paul W. Bryant Jr. was running a minor league baseball team before he was 25 years old. KATIE J. BUSH SUFFOLK -Katie Jane Bush, 74, died. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? Your account has an invalid email address. Billy shuffles into the room wearing gray pajamas and black slippers. Paul Bryant Jr., the son of the late Hall of Fame coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, has clear ties to a federal insurance-fraud case that netted a 15-year prison sentence for a Philadelphia lawyer . He said he asked Esquire for a retraction, but William M. Adler, the freelance writer of the article, said he stood by the story. The trust has over 50,000 members and more than 250,000 supporters throughout the country. Early life and family background. (Fie Photo/ The Huntsville Times) The Huntsville Times, Former Governor George Walalce attends the funeral of Alabama coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant at the First Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa on Friday Jan. 28, 1983. She sits down and tells the story her husband can no longer tell. His clarity comes and goes. Before every Alabama home game, the big video board plays clips of Bryant talking, sounding like he ate a carton of Chesterfields. During an extensive interview a year ago with the Tuscaloosa News and executive sports editor Tommy Deas, Bryant talked about what Bama football meant to the university. When then-Gov. I remember all of them. Billy picked him up in the morning. Another large circulating newspaper during this time was the Kentucky Leader (formed by a group of Fayette County Republicans in 1888) which eventually became known as the Lexington Leader in 1901. This isn't a celebration. Paul Bryant Jr., at this time 38 and an established businessman with concerns in real estate, agriculture and dog racing tracks as well as a new reinsurance company, which insures insurance. Sometimes Bryant visits. A story last year from Bloomberg News, mostly about his extensive business dealings, shows a man who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, a fortune gained through a variety of businesses and investments spanning dog and horse racing, the insurance industry, cement making, catfish farming and banking. Trump avoided . 19572 posts. ", T He was with him almost 24 hours a day.". "Bryant." Paul William Bryant Jr. (born c. 1945) is an American banker, investor and philanthropist from Alabama . S Married with three daughters, Bryant is known to be a student of American history, especially the Civil War. This urge to protect, probably born from seeing the Saturday Evening Post erroneously accuse the coach of fixing a game, is also erasing something. Here's everything we know, The paths of KD and Kyrie: How one month changed three franchises and two superstar legacies, From bubble struggles to NCAA seed improvement, why these final weekend games matter, Foden's return to form helps mask De Bruyne's troubles, Nelson sends Arsenal into euphoria with last-gasp winner over Bournemouth. Not unlike the lawn outside at the reunion, where the Pauls and Paulas and Bryants ate crimson-colored snow cones and craned their necks to read each other's nametags. The John C. Wyatt photographs (LHL) consist of an estimated 2 million unique photographic negatives spanning the years 1939-2001. Bryant grew reflective. No, no. "[12] In 2001. a committee of trustees met in secret, just one day after a court barred Auburn's board of trustees from doing the same thing. A 1966 UA graduate who earned a degree in commerce, Bryant started People's Bank while still in his 20's. Bryant is a family man: He has been married to his wife, Cherry, since 1966, and they have three daughters all UA graduates and three grandchildren. "What is?" Patsy Abbott said it pointedly -- like, literally pointing at her grandson as he waited to build a bear. She was 19. (File Photo/ The Huntsville TImes) The Huntsville Times, Former Alabama student Tammy Rogers at graveside service for Alabama coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Ala. on Friday Jan. 28, 1983. Miss Bryant, Martin Folmar, Paul Bryant Jr., Mrs. Folmar, Mary Dillard Marr and Mrs. Bryant. Rutledge played for Bryant's first team and was an assistant on his last, and when he realized that he would be sharing new information, he clammed up. They greet one another by saying "Doctor " "Doctor " "Doctor " "Doctor " in a round-robin introduction that ends up with the title being used 24 times. It's been a good experience and I've made a lot of very close friends on the board, he said. SUFFOLK - Paul Bryant Jr., 67, retired employee of Perry Lumber Co., died Saturday, Dec. 14, 1996. A few days before the game, as a television crew interviewed him, Bryant walked by and cracked, "Don't rush yourself, Billy, I'll bring the car around. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Young man gives final salute to Coach "Bear" Bryant. His voice is deep and trails off when he's unsure. Bryant did play high school basketball in Tuscaloosa, but in interviews he has said he was part of a great team and played only sparingly. 2023 www.tuscaloosanews.com. Bryant realizes his business career got off to a quick start, and that his family ties were an asset. Other Members of the class of 2016 2016 Robert Witt 2016 Beverly Phifer 2016 Unnamed sources later said if Bryant had the votes he would kill the football program. Bear Bryant looks down from four or five different places. "His life is as concealed as Coach Bryant's life. TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - Maybe Winston Churchill comes closest to summing up Paul Bryant Jr. "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia," said Churchill in a 1939 radio address talking about what role the then USSR might play in World War II. Paul W. Bryant, Jr. is the son of the late Paul W. Bryant and Mary Harmon Black Bryant. She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. He earned his degree in finance from The University of Alabama in 1966. Bryant, at the time less well-known, lived in the historic Redmont home shortly after he married Mary Harmon in June 1935. I'd park the car. Jack Rutledge asked carefully. As she talks, there's a noise down the hall, a rattle of movement and the thump-thump of a cane on the floor. Paul Bryant, Jr., who traveled with his former K-9 partner Azeem to Ground Zero to search for missing persons shortly after the attacks of . "It's really important to the state that we have a successful football program. Football The Birmingham News, By Steve Gates - Fans watch Bear Bryant's funeral procession from the Woodstock overpass on I-59. He's been on the board for 13 years or so. Behind the casket is present Alabama coach Ray Perkins, his wife Carolyn and son Mike. "I said, 'Why would you name him after the greatest coach of all time when he could be named after the two greatest coaches of all time? He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. The database includes around 700 names, and the museum manages to track most of their whereabouts via both old-school correspondence and newfangled social media. Alabama-Funeral-Woman and child mourn the death of Coach "Bear" Bryant. "Do you remember?". After the game, on Dec. 30, Varner drove Bryant back to Tuscaloosa. A lot of them we've got don't hunt because they're older. He's out having lunch and out doing business, so (to say he is a) recluse is maybe a little too strong, but he has certainly guarded his private life as well as anyone could with that name and with the things he has done.. (AP Photo). A houndstooth car is just the beginning. You can reach up and feel it. There's even a song named that. Missing in the houndstooth beach balls and paint jobs is a person. Even Knowles sheepishly admits she has a houndstooth umbrella. Next fall, another great-grandson, Paul William Bryant Tyson, will be on Nick Saban's roster as a freshman quarterback. She picks back up the conversation about Bryant, and Billy sits across the narrow room, listening. He pauses. I think that's one reason, McNair said, that he has put so much money (in the form of donations) into museums at the university., In 2005, Bryant founded Bryant Bank, which he calls my winding-down project.. I didn't use it but one time. Billy Varner has been married to Susie for 57 years, and as her life was once spent waiting on him to get home from a job that didn't know hours or days off, now it's spent managing his dementia. Alabama-Air view of cemetery at "Bear" Bryant's funeral. Its descendant, the Morning Herald, was first published January 1, 1895 and became known as the Lexington Herald in 1905. He laughs at himself when he recenters. "I don't know whether he died or what" is what it sounds like he says. They have three daughters: Stella Gray Bryant Sykes, Mae Martin Bryant Murray, and Anna Laurie Bryant McKibbens, all graduates of The University of Alabama, and three grandchildren. Paul W. Bryant's income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful American businessman. In a brief graveside service, the crowd recited the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer and then Bryant's family left, with the mourners straggling behind and the simple pine casket still beside the grave. Mr. Bryant was Chairman of the Crimson Tide Tradition Fund, the organization that preceded the Crimson Tide Foundation. We'd go to the stadium. I'm not much better than other people, but the timing might have been good on some things.. Perhaps more interesting, calls, emails and text messages to other trustees, senior UA system officials, and business associates seeking conversations about Bryant also went unanswered. From 2000 to 2015, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama System. Yes, Bear died, but He is risen. A decade ago, speaking of efforts by UAB to decrease its athletics department deficit, Bryant offered: "You can put any spin you want on it, but if you aren't selling tickets, the money isn't there.". We can't just have anybody who is named Paul or William or even Bryant showing up and trying to sneak into the group. Look at the UA System Trustees website and you will see the names of 15 permanent trustees, but only 14 photos. Miss Mae Martin Bryant, daughter of Couch and Mrs. Paul Bryant, gives holiday tea. A diamond of belly shows through the puckered front of his shirt. "Well, we don't hardly know the details," he said finally. [1][2] By 1995, they were incorporated as GreenTrack, Inc.[4] As of 2009, he owned 72% of GreenTrack. She shot back: "I thought all my cornbread was good!" I'd travel with him to the games. That's the number of IDs it would have taken to make the rounds at an invitation-only picnic in Tuscaloosa two weekends ago, before Alabama's home opener versus Arkansas State. (AP Photo), Press Photo Woody Hayes At Bear Bryant Funeral, Woody Hayes - Bear Bryant Funeral. I'm not as big on killing stuff as I am finding it with the dogs. Here we are updating just estimated networth of Paul William Bryant Jr. salary, income and assets. Somebody comes up to do something to Coach Bryant, they're gonna have to get me first. This year's reunion was the first to feature a carnival theme, complete with cotton candy, county-fair-style games and -- wait for it -- a teddy-bear-building station. He dropped him off at night. (AP Photo), Press Photo Mel Allen At Bear Bryant Funeral In Birmingham, Mel Allen - Birmingham - Bear Bryant Funeral. But he never played football past age 12 because of a health issue -- he contracted hepatitis. Horns' Robinson: Versatility worthy of early pick, QB Young 5-10 1/8, 204 pounds at NFL combine, Wolverines' Turner wows with 4.26 40 at combine, Smart backs UGA culture after fatal crash, arrests, Kelly inks contract extension at UCLA through '27, Top QB prospect Levis eager to unleash 'cannon', Smith-Njigba feels 100% after injury-marred '22. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. It's certainly not too serious of a process by any stretch, but we really want to know people's stories and give them a chance to share those stories.". Hilburn's mother was Mae Martin Bryant, and Paul Murray's mother is Mae Martin Murray, the daughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant Jr. and, like Mary Harmon Hilburn, the granddaughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant . #RollTide pic.twitter.com/C5wakg73d7. He established the General J.C.C. Gaps open between the words, and sentences turn staccato. Kentucky football coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant poses with his family, Paul Jr. at center with their pet dachshund, and his wife Mary, right, at their home in Lexington, Kent., Feb. 5, 1954. Bryant has been married for 50 years to UA classmate Cherry Handley Hicks Bryant. I didn't want it to be (a fight), but I felt some responsibility, Bryant said. The Birmingham News, Bear Bryant funeral at First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, AL. Three trades in a chaotic top five, The new law changing service academy football, and the coaches pushing back, Realignment chatter: How the Pac-12 holds the key to it all. Paul Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to William Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Fordyce, Arkansas. ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. Early life and family background [ edit] Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. 'I think Coach Bryant was the greatest leader this country ever had,' said his former All-America and Dallas Cowboy linebacker Lee Roy Jordan. The funeral service at the First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa was deeply religious, with little reference to Bryant's career or character. They put him on night traffic, and that first winter, he caught pneumonia. Former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath -- Bryant's most famous player -- former Oklahoma Coach Bud Wilkinson and Georgia Coach Vince Dooley were among those at the graveside, bathed in bright sunshine. Bryant's son, Paul Bryant Jr., remembers his father's birthday more than the anniversary of his death, but for most Alabama fans, everything changed "the day Bear Bryant died." There's even a song . Knowles cries every time. Four loud slaps. She answers for him when he seems lost. It's a cult. But I got outvoted. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Air view of cemetery at "Bear" Bryant's funeral. Roll Tide!" S He's following me. Despite his famous name, business success and longtime influential role at the University of Alabama, Paul Bryant Jr. has stayed out of the spotlight. John C. Wyatt established and maintained the collection's original organizational scheme. ", Overhearing this exchange was yet another teenager, Bryant Denny Turner, whose parents dared to go even a step further and give their son the name of the legendary Alabama football coach and the name of the arena where the Bear did his homework, Denny Stadium. "Then," he added, "I'll do the same with Paul.". The scope of the collection highlights the day to day activities of Kentuckians. Varner went home to rest, and that's where he was when the phone rang again. Given that fact, it was not a surprise that phone calls to his office were not returned. Bryant's image. About how Billy left her alone a lot of the time, how he gave up his life like Bryant did and how Billy never got to enjoy his retirement, either. That's just Alabama.". In 1937, the owner of the Leader, John G. Stoll, bought the Herald, and both daily papers were published concurrently (the Herald in the morning and the Leader in the afternoon) for the next 46 years. But it appeared they had leaned toward quickness instead -- only two of the pallbearers weighed over 200 pounds, although all were remarkably muscular. They watched the moon landing together, hung out with Bob Hope together. When things happened, and you were there ". Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? But unlike the others at the namesake reunion, his name wasn't merely a tribute. Tietosuojakytnnstmme ja evstekytnnstmme voit lukea lis siit, miten kytmme henkiltietojasi. I had a little head start on my friends because I didn't get put in the service when I graduated, and a lot of them did that and went on to law school and to graduate school, he said. Standing before the exhibit, she can hear his voice all around her, literally, from the museum's video displays. His voice loses its pitch and clarity, sort of like he's got a mouth full of pea gravel. There's the framed photograph of Bryant on a football field for the final time, with a "Thanks for the Memories" sign in the background. "So little coming out of it. He'd get out. "The white hat. When Alabama football is winning, it's just better. There he is. Kobe Bryant Announces Fourth Daughter on the Way with Wife Vanessa In January, the retired basketball star, 40, rung in the new year with a special announcement featuring a gold, sparkling . The Huntsville Times, Press Photo Bud Wilkinson at Funeral for Bear Bryant, Football Coach, Bud Wilkinson at Funeral for Bear Bryant, Football Coach The Huntsville Times. Like his boss before him, Billy Varner has come to the place where he must consider what he did with his time. Supporters of UAB football insist that the now-scrapped football program played an important role in helping the university attract students and build campus life. "He could eat pheasant under glass with the president," he said, "or he could eat cheese and crackers with the boys out by the caddie shack, and he'd enjoy it all just the same. Bryant is Chairman Emeritus and the longest-serving member of the organizations Board of Trustees. The director of the Bryant Museum approached him about writing a book. "I know I've made this journey," he told a reporter just before his final season. We give 100 percent around here. Bryant's net worth is not public knowledge, but he has amassed enough wealth to donate tens of millions of dollars to the UA. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. Paul William "Bear" Bryant would have turned 100 on Wednesday, and the grandson made famous by photos of him walking off the field with the man he calls "Papa" is now 50. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Later he started other tracks in Idaho and Texas and made millions in the process. 'And not just the leader of Alabama football players, but of the whole nation.'. Some wore Alabama caps and others were seen in houndstoothcheck hats, which Bryant always wore on the sidelines on game day. Bryant's family and friends fiercely guard his legacy, but this omerta brings with it an accidental cost. And no one knew Coach Bryant better than Billy. "I ended up playing football.". "Yes, sir, we've got Paul and Bryant covered right there in one house.". Health facilities -- Kentucky -- Lexington. He collapsed once from nervous exhaustion, chain-smoked cigarettes, ripped the filters off ones he bummed, passed out on couches, checked into alcohol rehab. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Fans watching T.V. Assistant Alabama Coach Kent Johnston said 'The family picked them. A crowd of 5,000 -- many dressed as though for an Alabama football game -- watched in eerie silence as the grim-faced young pallbearers carried Bryant's flower-blanketed casket to the grave. [2] He also served as general manager of minor league baseball's Birmingham Barons. It's a spotlight Bryant works hard to avoid.
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