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We in Arkansas have become somewhat comfortable knowing that one of our state’s most honored college athletes and successful coaches earned his fame in Alabama. Crimson Tide fans just ignore the small inconvenience of Paul William Bryant’s birth. He was and always will be their guy, their “Bear,” and the symbol of Alabama football. At the University of Alabama, the school colors are crimson, white, and houndstooth.
The University of Alabama campus is worth a trip to drive among the beautiful old and new buildings that reflect the pride of a prestigious Southern university. A few blocks down Bryant Avenue, just past Bryant-Denny Stadium, is an impressive tribute to the Crimson Tide’s favorite coach and one of Arkansas’ most famous sons, a gangling country boy from the Moro Bottoms named Paul William Bryant. Surprisingly, the Bryant story is not the only Arkansas/Alabama connection to be found at the Paul “Bear” Bryant Museum.
A bust of Coach Bear Bryant stands at the entrance to the Bryant Museum.
Paul William Bryant was born on September 11, 1913, in the Moro Bottoms, a few miles from Fordyce, Arkansas, where he attended school. A tall, wiry youngster known for his toughness, 13-year-old Paul earned his nickname when he volunteered to wrestle a bear at the county fair for a dollar he never received.
After the 1930 high school football season, he received a scholarship offer to attend the University of Alabama without a high school diploma. Upon his arrival in Tuscaloosa in the fall of 1931, Bryant had to attend to the small detail of finishing high school before he suited up for the Crimson Tide. Bryant was part of a National Championship in 1934, but he was known as the “other end,” playing opposite All-American Don Hutson of Pine Bluff.
Later, as a coach, Bear Bryant’s record at Alabama was a remarkable 232-46-9. Known for his discipline and lofty expectations, Bryant won six national championships. His Alabama teams played in a bowl game for 24 straight years. When the Crimson Tide beat Auburn on Nov. 28, 1981, it was Bear Bryant’s 315th win, a total that surpassed Amos Alonzo Stagg’s 314 wins, making Bryant the all-time winningest coach in college football at the time.
Many years before that historic victory, a young Paul Bryant may have been on his way to becoming the coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The story goes that in December of 1941, Bryant was on his way to Fayetteville to interview for the football coach’s job at the University of Arkansas, when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Reportedly, Bryant turned around and returned home to join the Navy, not only changing his life but also altering the futures of both universities.
Although the museum bears the name of the most honored coach in college football history, Bryant is not the only Arkansan to become a sports star at Alabama. According to the staff at the Bryant Museum, one of the namesake’s first stipulations when the museum was in the planning stages was that the museum would recognize individual athletes and teams from all eras and all sports. Surprisingly, dozens of these honorees were born in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Tech Connection
Foots Clement and John Tucker
When the undefeated 1930 Alabama football team took the field for the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day 1931, the team Captain was Charles Clement from Rover, Arkansas. His hometown, a community in Yell County, was so obscure that the Alabama media guide still lists Clement as from Rohwer, Arkansas.
Clement had been a stalwart for the Tide for three years, after playing five seasons for Arkansas Tech. Known as “Foots” because of the size of his feet, Clement is a member of the Arkansas Tech Hall of Fame, the University of Alabama Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
The starting quarterback for the Alabama team that would shut out the Washington State Cougars 24-0 in that 1931 Rose Bowl and claim a share of the National Championship was John Edward Tucker of Russellville, Arkansas. Bear Bryant later recalled that John Tucker and his wife Willie were assigned to “take care” of the impulsive young Arkansas teenager when he arrived in Tuscaloosa.
Tucker had been a star at Arkansas Tech for six seasons from 1919 to 1924. After losing the first game he played for Tech, known then as the Second District Agricultural School, Tucker’s Aggies did not lose to an Arkansas school for the remainder of his six-year career. The Arkansas Gazette called Tucker the “Wonder Boy,” a name that not only became the mascot of the Russellville college but also a symbol for the proud culture of the institution.
Willis Hewes, of Russellville, Floy Leach, of Siloam Springs, and Hayward Sanford from rural Yell County would soon follow their Wonder Boy teammates to Alabama and become key players in the Tide’s success.
Alabama Pro-Football Hall of Famer Don Hutson from Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff
All-American Don Hutson came to Alabama from Pine Bluff High School in 1931. Known as the “Alabama Antilope,” Hutson was part of two conference championship teams and the National Championship team of 1934. Hutson went on to play 11 years in the NFL. An eight-time All-Pro, Hutson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Like Foots Clement and Bear Bryant, Hutson is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and the Alabama Hall of Fame.
Outstanding Pine Bluff graduates like All-SEC lineman Charles Marr and future Alabama coach Tilden Campbell followed Hutson to Tuscaloosa and became part of the Arkansas tradition at Alabama.
ArkansanJ. B. “Ears” Whitworth preceded Bear Bryant as head football coach.
Blytheville
From the late 1920s until World War II, Blytheville, Arkansas, sent eight players to the University of Alabama. Among those was J. B. Whitworth, who later became the head football coach at Oklahoma State. He preceded Bear Bryant as head football coach at the University of Alabama.
Nashville Scrappers
Howard County Hall of Famers Jim and Joe Dildy at Alabama
Jim and Joe Dildy, brothers from Nashville, Arkansas, were part of Alabama’s first success in the SEC. Younger brother Jim played on the Tide’s first SEC championship team. He was followed by his older brother Joe, who was the starting center on the National Championship team of 1934.
Pine Bluff
Arkansas Tech
Blytheville
Others
Joe Causey
Willis Hewes
Gene Blackwell
Kenny Reese, El Dorado
Hal Hughes
Floy Leach
Jess Eberdt
Jim Cain, Eudora
William Young
Hayward Sanford
Norman Mosley
Hughes Howard, Little Rock
Don Hutson
John Tucker
Russ Mosley
Billy Pierce, Crossett
Charles Marr
Charles Clement
Gene Newberry
Jim Dildy, Nashville
Tilden Campbell
James Roberts
Joe Dildy, Nashville
Jim Tipton
Calvin Frey, Arkadelphia
J. B. Whitworth
Paul Bryant, Fordyce
A Baseball Story from Hector to Tuscaloosa
Veo Story, Hector, Arkansas, and Arkansas Tech
A little detective work before leaving the museum produced the story of a young man from the foothills of the Ozarks and Arkansas Tech named Veo Story.
Story was an All-AIC infielder at Arkansas Tech before finding his way to Tuscaloosa in 1939. Story made the All-SEC baseball team in 1940 and 1941. One of the most nationally recognized baseball players in Alabama history, he was also named to All-America teams in both of those seasons. Story later became the most valuable player in the National Semi-Pro Tournament in Wichita, Kansas.
Road Trip Recommendations: Discover Arkansas Sports History in Alabama
Start with a morning drive down US 65 to Lake Village, a perfect place for a lunch stop. US 82 from the Mississippi River bridge to Tuscaloosa is a scenic drive through Mississippi and Alabama, with light traffic, small towns, and sights beyond I-40 exit signs.
Be sure to allow a day for visiting the Bryant Museum, the University of Alabama campus, and old Rickwood Field. Rickwood was built in 1910, and the old baseball field played itself in “42,” the popular movie about the life of Jackie Robinson.
Special thanks to the Bryant Museum for the warm reception and private tour.
Jim Yeager is a baseball historian who resides with his wife, Susan, in Russellville. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research and the Robinson-Kell Arkansas Chapter of SABR, Yeager is a frequent presenter on the history of rural baseball in Arkansas. His books titled Backroads and Ballplayers and Hard Times and Hardball feature stories of Arkansans who played professional baseball in the first half of the 20th century. More information on Backroads and Ballplayers, Hard Times and Hardball, and other publications – www.backroadsballplayers.com
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