I was 19 when I first felt 92,000 people praying for one common cause. I watched with clenched hands, fingers locked and propped over my mouth so my hands could easily cover my eyes if the situation called for it.
It was the third Saturday in October and I was in Bryant-Denny Stadium with the rest of the Tuscaloosa faithful. We were seconds away from a championship season ending against the Tennessee Vols. Tennessee set up their field goal with four seconds left on the clock. I realized, along with everyone else with an Alabama shirt, I was not ready to see this season end. We were meant for bigger things and this field goal wouldn’t stop us. The snap came and everything went into motion. Before I knew it the stadium erupted along with my nerves and I knew right then I had either witnessed the power of people believing or a miracle.
Right there I knew we would at least see the chance to play for a national championship. I hugged strangers, we high-fived, we yelled Rammer Jammer at the top of our lungs and we reveled in how close we were from losing everything. We were happy and we were untouchable in the face of an almost untimely end.
If you fast forward to now, the days following the historical April 27th storm, so much seems irrelevant from the past. After a tragedy the people of Tuscaloosa still remain the same as the ones I saw in the stadium that fall afternoon. Faithful and refusing to surrender to the idea of a loss, no matter how close we were to one, Tide fans stay strong.
Tuscaloosa has always been a sports town where football is king. Sports never left us even as we faced our most disastrous defeat yet.
In the eve of the 2011 NFL draft, messages of hope came from those that were preparing to leave Tuscaloosa and travel on to bigger games.
“I wish more than anything I could be in Tuscaloosa right now,” McElroy said.
“I can’t believe the pictures and videos I'm seeing of Tuscaloosa,” said Mark Ingram. “My prayer and heart goes out to everybody in Ttown.”
Thursday, as our city was still barely breathing, four of our Crimson Tide family members went on to their professional futures. Even though our attention was on obvious tasks ahead, the show in New York had to go on. In Alabama, those that could turned to the few TV’s that still worked and watched. Tide fans remained true to the tradition of football and Tuscaloosa’s proud process to produce professional athletes.
I watched too. For a while I was lost and reassured in the familiar voice of Roger Goodell and the hopes of our players going to the right teams. I was huddled with 15 other people in the Northport Applebee’s. We all watched the same TV as strangers alike made eye contact and gave small sympathetic smiles. We all knew we had just gone through something unforgettable.
The University of Alabama would go on to make a school record of four players (Marcell Dareus, Julio Jones, James Carpenter, Mark Ingram) selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.
“In the green room with all the guys, all the magic happens here! So happy to experience this with my family and all the guys! It's time...” Ingram tweeted on day one of the draft.
“I can't believe it. I'm a Jet!” McElroy declared from Twitter. “This is such an incredible honor and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Awesome organization!”
“Happy to be a saint!!! #WHODAT!!!!” Ingram proclaimed.
And just like that Marcell would be a Bill, Julio a Falcon, Mark a Saint, Carpenter a Seahawk and McElroy a Jet. Elation and success swirled from the news out of New York in the midst of Tuscaloosa’s somber reality.
But we all knew who they really were. They were part of our Crimson Tide.
Other parts of our Crimson Tide family showed up little by little. Javier Arenas came bearing donations from Kansas City. Le’Ron McClain lending a hand and bringing help from Baltimore to aid in the damage done by the monster storm. Finally, Ingram, Jones and McElroy came back home. “Spending some time with some tornado victim families!!” Ingram tweeted. “So glad I can brighten their days!!”
“Winning the Nat. Title in ‘09 was great and getting drafted by Atlanta was amazing, but giving back to the fans today was PRICELESS!!#RTR” Julio Jones described on his Twitter account. “It feels so great to give back to the people that have been so supportive of you.”
Just when the sun began to shine a little brighter The University of Alabama and those that love it were tested once again.
Fifteen days after the tornado Alabama suffered another devastating blow. The UA family learned of offensive tackle Aaron Douglas’s death. A 21-year-old’s life was gone in the blink of an eye. It didn’t even take something as big as a tornado to bring him down.
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| Alabama OT Aaron Douglas |
Alabama has taught me many things. The first thing is that people are resilient and are never ready to be defeated. Alabama also taught me that the lessons of the football field can ring true in life when you’re fighting for the most relevant of victories. Even when you’re trying to trump tragedy.
In life, just like football, there’s a lot to fight for. Perhaps this season the reasons to fight won’t get any worse. When tragedy brings you together you play for the ones you love, the proud memories of others and the love of an organization people live and breathe for. Reasons don’t get much better than that.
Alabama fans that have not seen the damage ask almost immediately, “How is the stadium?” Those that know answer with a small smile. “Bryant-Denny is fine, thank God.” Because every Bama fan knows life can be hard and times can seem hopeless, but if there’s football there will always be light at the end of the tunnel.
Just like that day in October when I thought I watched the unthinkable happen, I said to myself. “There is something special about this place.” I knew that early, but I had no idea that it would be after a catastrophe that the real will to be champions wouldn’t be a fight on the field but a struggle in the streets.
Outsiders don’t have to go to Bryant-Denny Stadium to find the passion people of Tuscaloosa have for sports here. Pre-tornado they could hear it in the stranger’s conversations over the secondary or new quarterback prospects.
Now, all the outsiders have to do is walk the war-like streets of Tuscaloosa. They can see the hand painted ‘roll tide’ signs, makeshift beacons of hope painted on the few pieces left of a proud sports town. Outsiders, I pray, can see what we have always seen. A proud sports town fighting to make sure hope never loses.
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