As a child, playing football for The University of Alabama was my dream. However, as a gangly sophomore and junior, I didn’t exactly look like an SEC-caliber player. So I just kept working as hard as I could towards my goal and eventually grew into that player.
I remember my first day at practice vividly. It was close to 100 degrees. We only had 12 guys in our signing class, so we didn’t even have enough bodies to run a real freshman practice. When the rest of the upperclassmen came out for the first full varsity practice, I got my first real dose of what the phrase “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” really meant. I thought, “What have I got myself into?” But I eventually acclimated and figured out how to survive.
My first game at Bryant-Denny Stadium was a blur of excitement and nerves. Running out of that tunnel and hearing the roar of 90,000 fans cheering was something you can’t explain or replicate. It was an adrenaline rush like no other.
The teams I played on during those years faced many highs and lows. We were saddled with probation from rules broken years before we arrived. This meant scholarship limitations and penalties, making it hard to win many games early on. But we tried to forge ahead and make the most of our opportunity.
In 1998, we had an unexpectedly decent year and qualified for a bowl game. With all the success we’ve had in the last 17 years, this seems like a minor accomplishment today. But coming from where we were in 1997, it was significant for our team.
The 1999 year was a Cinderella story. Nobody expected much from that team, but we expected more. We defeated the #3 Florida Gators in The Swamp in double overtime; it was a game no one in America gave us a chance to win. We beat LSU in Bryant-Denny Stadium on a last-second goal-line stand and became the first Alabama team to beat Auburn at Jordan-Hare, clinching the SEC West.
Again facing the #5 Florida Gators in the SEC Championship Game, everyone said we couldn’t beat a team like this twice. But we did and claimed Alabama’s 21st SEC Championship, earning a berth in the FedEx Orange Bowl vs. Tom Brady’s Michigan squad. Although we ultimately lost in overtime, the 1999 season culminated in a string of successes that nobody outside our locker room expected.
The 2000 season ended unceremoniously amid major fractures in the coaching staff and Athletic Department. Everything seemed to spiral, and we couldn’t keep the wheels from coming off. It was a very disappointing follow-up to the 1999 campaign, but life sometimes throws you tough lessons. This was one of them.
In retrospect, when the average fan looks at the Ws & Ls for Alabama football between 1997-2000, they might say, “What a sad time for Alabama Football.” But I disagree. We brought our team from the lowest of lows to highs that nobody thought we could.
For me personally, I lived my dream of playing for The University of Alabama. I earned more starts and played more plays than I ever thought possible. I played in the last Iron Bowl ever played in the Old Gray Lady. I was part of the Rally in Death Valley, which kept our win streak alive in Baton Rouge dating back to the 1960s. I was on the first team to beat Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium and beat the unbeatable Gators twice in the same season. I forged friendships with players, coaches, managers, fans, and classmates that still run strong to this day.
Looking back, it might not have been the best in terms of winning percentage. But aside from my wedding day and the birth of my children, it was the most memorable part of my life. I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.
After my playing days at the Capstone were over, my mom famously said in her reflection of those early days, “We just never got around to telling him he couldn’t do it. Then he did it.”
Roll Tide
Photos by Al Blanton and Courtesy Griff Redmill
