Gaps open between the words, and sentences turn staccato. The local paper interviewed him, and Billy cried. A funeral procession three miles long, consisting of more than 300 cars and six buses carrying Bryant's last University of Alabama team and many of his former players, drove the 60 miles to Birmingham behind the white hearse after funeral services in Tuscaloosa. The pitch of his voice starts to drop again, wavering between the treble of here and the deep bass of gone. Otherwise, we'd have no idea what was what and who was where.". Alabama-Man mourns at Coach "Bear" Bryant's funeral site. His first job was as general manager of the Birmingham A's of the Southern League. 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.". nyttksemme sinulle kohdennettuja mainoksia ja sislt kiinnostusprofiileiden perusteella, mitataksemme kohdennettujen mainosten ja sisltjen tehokkuutta. Yes, Bear died, but He is risen. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. just to see how many people would turn around. The pictures seem to anchor him. 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. Billy was always just around, in the office, on the road, on the sidelines. Sanders Memorial at The University of Alabama honoring alumni who served the Confederacy. One of Bryant's companies, Alabama Reassurance or "Alabama Re", was implicated in at least nine counts of the Stewart indictment, relating to a "wire fraud scheme to deceive state insurance regulators involving reinsurance." "We hear about people really almost exclusively through word of mouth," explained Ken Gaddy, director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, located in the heart of the University of Alabama's campus. He collapsed once from nervous exhaustion, chain-smoked cigarettes, ripped the filters off ones he bummed, passed out on couches, checked into alcohol rehab. The history of it kind of came up with lobbyists who worked for UAB at the time, some other people opposing my being on the board and it got to be kind of, sort of, a fight.. 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. Despite his famous name, business success and longtime influential role at the University of Alabama, Paul Bryant Jr. has stayed out of the spotlight. Is the Alabama board of trustees finally ready to kill UAB football? She plays it sometimes. That's nothing. As always, Varner stood in the background. (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. Before every Alabama home game, the big video board plays clips of Bryant talking, sounding like he ate a carton of Chesterfields. He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. Fans stand and cheer. "My dad says he named me Bryant so that I wouldn't grow up to be an Auburn fan. Bryant's image. Coach Bryant died Wednesday. He laughs at himself when he recenters. Because of the overflow crowd, the service also was piped into the nearby First Baptist Church, which seated 1,300, and the Presbyterian Church, which accommodates 600. Being unable to play football, he said, would have made it impossible for him to have the standing to coach the game. He'd eaten some sausage, and it upset his stomach is all. Simply stated, Paul Bryant cares deeply for the university.. It's a cult. Each rising sun takes a little more from the couple who live in the small brick home southwest of downtown. Paul Bryant has stepped up for this project like he . ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. Miss Mae Martin Bryant, daughter of Couch and Mrs. Paul Bryant, gives holiday tea. Edit Now. He's been on the board for 13 years or so. Paul never forgot the middle-class kids pointing and laughing at his mother. Currently, Bryant is president of the privately held holding company, Greene Group, Inc. which has operated a multi-state business engaged in reinsurance, finance, leasing, par-mutual racing, casino management, cattle ranching, aquaculture, catfish processing and distribution, fuel distribution, outdoor recreation, wildlife management, and concrete/aggregate construction. "[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. Unnamed sources later said if Bryant had the votes he would kill the football program. That's the man I'll always remember.". "Then," he added, "I'll do the same with Paul.". "Paul 'Bear' Bryant was my great-grandfather," the eighth-grader said with pride as he sat in his great-grandfather's museum, in a conference room decorated with oil paintings, bronze busts and even a marionette of the man behind his name. The 68-year-old son of late football coaching legend Bear Bryant has had successful business ventures in everything from catfish farming to concrete, from dog tracks to casinos and from banks to reinsurance. "He's young all the time here," Billy says. John C. Wyatt established and maintained the collection's original organizational scheme. The family had asked that cameras be barred from the services. [2], In 2005, Bryant founded the Bryant Bank. "I'm not sure I've enjoyed all of it. "If you're gonna be in, be all-in," explained James Turner, Bryant Denny Turner's father. After services in Tuscaloosa, Bryant was brought to Elmwood Cemetery for interment. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Paul Bryant Jr., a native of Tuscaloosa, current trustee of The University of Alabama and graduate of the class of 1966, has given another $10 million gift to The University of Alabama, this time to the recently announced Crimson Tradition Fund Campaign for Athletics. He has also commissioned two books by Delbert Teed honoring Alabama alumni who served in World War II: When Winning Was Everything: Alabama Football Players in World War II and All of Us Fought the War. He only serves on one committee, but he does carry some influence with other board members. We know Lombardi from David Maraniss' biography, "When Pride Still Mattered," and he comes across as smaller and therefore larger in the retelling, because his humanity is on every page. Since then, Moore says, daughters of Joe Namath and Ken Stabler have attended Alabama on . Billy's voice drops back down, and the words press together, a slurry of confusion and rearranged thoughts, part truth, part fiction. He focuses on the shot from the Liberty Bowl. Any William needs to be prepared to really make his or her case to be included, but many have successfully done so. "The white hat. Alabama-Funeral-Young man gives final salute to Coach "Bear" Bryant. But unlike the others at the namesake reunion, his name wasn't merely a tribute. Today his memories seem to orbit around the idea of protecting Bryant from some unseen enemy. he man Billy Varner is remembering has very little in common with the Bryant who is beloved by so many Alabama fans. "He's there in the black," he says. Next fall, another great-grandson, Paul William Bryant Tyson, will be on Nick Saban's roster as a freshman quarterback. I'm probably better evaluating them than running them, I'll say that, he said. At home, she keeps the microcassette of the last letter he dictated, the day before he died. "What is?" Collection is open for research by appointment only. Bryant established two dozen operating companies and over 50 real estate ventures and syndicates. For his philanthropic efforts, Bryant became the inaugural recipient of the Racing Commissioners Humanitarian of the Year Award by the organization of State and Canadian Racing Regulatory Commissions. "Well, that's my middle name!" "I wish I'd read this 30 years ago," he told a friend, "I wouldn't have wasted so much valuable time." Kobe . (File Photo/ The Huntsville TImes) The Huntsville Times. 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 . The walls are covered with certificates and mementos of his service. I have evidence to the contrary, from @bryantmuseum today. City Editor Ken Roberts contributed to this report. Bear Bryant looks down from four or five different places. A few weeks ago, as Linda Knowles took the elevator up to the fourth-floor office where she works for the Alabama faculty senate, a car with a houndstooth paint job drove past her building on Paul W. Bryant Drive, past Bryant-Denny Stadium, past the Paul W. Bryant Museum, which is filled with what can only be called relics, then past the Bryant Conference Center. ", They'd known each other for more than 20 years by then. "Too many football games," he says. Bryant has been called by critics "Little Bear" or "cub," terms which seemed aimed at diminishing him compared to his legendary father, who Bryant calls "Papa. 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. 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. He poured a drink and chatted with guests. The Leader was a Republican, society-based evening edition, and the Herald a more political, heavily Democratic morning edition. Alabama-"Bear" Paul Bryant funeral. Bryant announced last week that he was retiring after this game, which marks his 323rd victory. The extended family includes about a. She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. A diamond of belly shows through the puckered front of his shirt. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? Jack Rutledge asked carefully. They hoped that through him they might better understand the coach. According to the state Department of Insurance, Alabama Re had $240 million in admitted assets, a five person board headed by Bryant, and just two full-time employees. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. In 2012, Bryant Bank was awarded the Revitalizing Your Community Award by the American Bankers Association, in large part for the bank's work after the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated the community. In his late 20s, Bryant helped organize Peoples Bank of Tuscaloosa, which was merged into AmSouth in the early 1980s, with AmSouth later merging with Regions Bank. Mrs. Bryant was dressed in a simple black dress and veil. ", These are the stories she can tell. In the Yellowhammer State, they've been giving 100 percent to the Bear Bryant name game for a very long time now. T Inside she found $500 and a note. "I met a lot of business people through my parents," Bryant told Bloomberg, acknowledging the obvious connections his famous name brought. Members of the 1982 football team carry the casket of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant from the Tuscaloosa First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday, Jan. 29, 1983. You miss a lot of things you shouldn't miss.". Bryant's family and friends fiercely guard his legacy, but this omerta brings with it an accidental cost. It is the most extensive, single collection of still photographic images documenting Lexington's 20th Century history in existence. Four loud slaps. 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. His clarity comes and goes. According to Social Security records, since 1959 there have been 1,403 Bryants born in Alabama -- so many that it piqued the curiosity of the Bear's original namesake, Paul William "Bear" Bryant Jr. After a lifetime of hearing "I was named for your daddy," it was Junior who approached the museum that honors his father with the idea of compiling a database of those whose names do the same. They were traveling, and Billy said he needed to get home for supper. Once, when a state trooper clocked Varner speeding, Bryant stuck his houndstooth hat in the back window. His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13 years old. When then-Gov. Her voice sounds exactly like that of comedienne Wanda Sykes, and Susie, in real life and in the pictures around the house, wears a little smirk, as if she knows something you don't know. 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. Bryant, at the time less well-known, lived in the historic Redmont home shortly after he married Mary Harmon in June 1935. As of 2015, seven trustees were executives or directors at Bryant Bank. 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. "Nothing.". ", As high school student Cameron Bryant Collier mingled with incoming Alabama freshman Bryant Edward Rich (as you've likely figured out, the reunion crowds skew very young), Leonard Bryant Jackson joked that he was going to yell out "Hey, Bryant!" His voice becomes higher-pitched, quick but not rushed, with confidence in the direction of the words, without the long pauses to read the maps inside his mind. Sitting with Paul Murray was his cousin, Mary Harmon Hilburn, granddaughter of Bear. [3][7] He also served on the boards of trustees of the Alabama Heritage Foundation and the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. 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. Sometimes it cloud up and rain.". Paul W. Bryant's income mostly comes from and basic source is being a successful American businessman. Paul Bryant Jr. loaded his family wife Cherry and daughters Stella Gray (14), Mae Martin (13) and Anna Laurie (10) on his private plane for the trip to Memphis. Bryant's first high-profile public venture, joining the UA board of trustees, was controversial. A houndstooth car is just the beginning. Often, Coach read the paper aloud. It's lunchtime. 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. Getty. 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. But many mourners wore crimson and white, the colors of the Crimson Tide. Your account has an invalid email address. he 1982 Liberty Bowl was to be the last game of Bryant's career, and when the college football media arrived in Memphis, Tenn., Billy became, for a brief moment, a reflected celebrity. It's been a good experience and I've made a lot of very close friends on the board, he said. Billy deflates, his voice and his body sinking back down into the chair. 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.. He looked out the window at the river and the bridge to Arkansas, which led eventually to the place where his journey began: a four-room house without electricity or running water. 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.
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