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Bear Bryant, an Alabama Crimson Tide and college football legend, would have turned 107 on Friday, resulting in many stories about him relayed to the masses.
The best the bunch? Maybe the time Bear Bryant was on his way — like, literally on the road — to become the head coach of Vanderbilt, but heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio, resulting in him turning his car around and joining the United States Navy instead.
Today's Bear Bryant's birthday
My favorite Bear story:
When he was an assistant at Vanderbilt, he took the HC job at Arkansas
As he's driving to Fayetteville, he heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. It was December 7, 1941
He turned around & joined the Navy pic.twitter.com/eI0Z8Ihwxb
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 11, 2020
It's a rather neat anecdote, especially given the story was told on September 11.
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During his quarter of a century with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Bear Bryant led the college football power to six national titles (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979) as well as 13 SEC Championships. For those unaware of how math works, that's a lot of winning, especially during that era of the sport.
College football, now in the early portion of the weirdest season on record, remembers its legends as well as any other sport. Legends like Bryant, other Alabama stars, and the like, are all preserved in glass cases and put on the fanciest of fancy pedestals.
One day, hopefully not too soon, when Nick Saban calls it a career, he'll likely join Bear Bryant not only in Alabama Crimson Tide lore, but in college football history as one of the best the sport has ever seen.
