Some wore Alabama caps and others were seen in houndstoothcheck hats, which Bryant always wore on the sidelines on game day. Place kicker Peter Kim is at top right. Welcome to the 23rd annual Paul W. Bryant Namesake Reunion, where the only requirement to attend is that you or a member of your immediate family is willingly and lovingly -- sometimes strategically -- named for the coach known as "Bear." I enjoy those, have a lot of them around the house. Somebody comes up to do something to Coach Bryant, they're gonna have to get me first. He's following me. [2] In March 2015, The Birmingham News revealed that many UA trustees worked or had relatives who worked for the Bryant Bank. Jos haluat muokata valintojasi, napsauta Hallitse tietosuoja-asetuksia. For nearly 44 years the collection was cared for by John C. Wyatt (1928-2005), who became a Lexington Leader photographer in 1946, was the chief photographer for many years, and retired from the Lexington Herald-Leader in 1990. But while the younger Bryant never coached, he has used his personal fortune to support UA to the tune of millions of dollars in donations -- $20 million to the UA football program alone during his time as a trustee. He's been on the board for 13 years or so. S The house--a classic Tudor-style--was owned by Harmon's family. Bryant's family and friends fiercely guard his legacy, but this omerta brings with it an accidental cost. While his portfolio seems diverse, Bryant sees a common thread in some of his most successful undertakings: banking, gaming and reinsurance (basically insurance for insurance companies) are all highly regulated. Eight husky players carried Paul 'Bear' Bryant to his - UPI Football The Birmingham News, By Steve Gates - Fans watch Bear Bryant's funeral procession from the Woodstock overpass on I-59. ", As Chase Bryant's father nodded proudly, another teen, Bryant Wilson, shouted "Same! Sometimes his mind is clear as a crystal. She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Billy was Bear Bryant's driver, bodyguard and valet, one of the few remaining people who knew him as a human being. The daughter of Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, Mae Martin Bryant Tyson, left, and son Paul Bryant Jr., right, attend a memorial service on the campus at Tuscaloosa, Ala., Jan. 27,. In 1937, the owner of the Leader, John G. Stoll, bought the Herald, and both daily papers were published concurrently (the Herald in the morning and the Leader in the afternoon) for the next 46 years. About how Billy left her alone a lot of the time, how he gave up his life like Bryant did and how Billy never got to enjoy his retirement, either. During an extensive interview a year ago with the Tuscaloosa News and executive sports editor Tommy Deas, Bryant talked about what Bama football meant to the university. Sometimes Bryant visits. 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. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway Jr.), Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's widow, Mary Harmon Bryant is helped out of the car at graveside in Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 28, 1983. But I got it. "I'm not sure I've enjoyed all of it. He is a man. I always thought about that. "It's my daddy's middle name!" I spend virtually all my time in Greene County, Bryant said. [9] A CBS story from December 2014 reported that Bryant Jr. was partially responsible for shuttering the UAB Football program, reportedly over a long-standing grudge with Gene Bartow over a 1991 letter to the NCAA[10] - and "out of fear it might one day challenge" the football program his father had built.[11]. Connelly's C-USA preview, part 2: Which returning teams could rule new-look league? Varner drove over, helped get Bryant to the hospital. Today he can. Buy what you want, he told her, not what you need. [3], Bryant founded the People's Bank in the late 1960s,[1] and later sold it. Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224. Paul Bryant has stepped up for this project like he . Three trades in a chaotic top five, The new law changing service academy football, and the coaches pushing back, Realignment chatter: How the Pac-12 holds the key to it all. Billy Varner has been married to Susie for 57 years, and as her life was once spent waiting on him to get home from a job that didn't know hours or days off, now it's spent managing his dementia. PAUL BRYANT OBITUARY Paul Dean Bryant Jr., 47, of El Mirage, Arizona, passed away on April 15, 2006. OBITUARIES - Daily Press Hilburn's mother was Mae Martin Bryant, and Paul Murray's mother is Mae Martin Murray, the daughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant Jr. and, like Mary Harmon Hilburn, the granddaughter of Paul "Bear" Bryant . T He told me one time, if somebody comes up and shoots me, they're gonna shoot you first. 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. coverage of "Bear" Bryant's service. She answers for him when he seems lost. B Health facilities -- Kentucky -- Lexington. Bear Bryant Wife And Family - Mixedarticle In his hospital room, Bryant was joking with the nurses. 'I think Coach Bryant was the greatest leader this country ever had,' said his former All-America and Dallas Cowboy linebacker Lee Roy Jordan. "What do you know about the story where Coach Bryant and Billy met?" Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). [2], In 2005, Bryant founded the Bryant Bank. re: Help me understand the power of Paul Bryant, Jr. Posted on 12/2/14 at 9:47 pm to weagle99. I think he wanted to be his own man, McNair said. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Fans watching T.V. 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. Sometimes they didn't. Paul W. Bryant, Jr. Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Billy shuffles into the room wearing gray pajamas and black slippers. "The white hat. He poured a drink and chatted with guests. [2] He was also the co-founder of Alabama Reassurance Co., later known as Alabama Life Reinsurance Co., a reinsurance company. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. The 69-year-old Bryant -- fairly or not, accurately or not -- is seen by supporters of UAB football, and maybe supporters of UAB period, as public enemy No. She shot back: "I thought all my cornbread was good!" Paul W. Bryant Jr. was running a minor league baseball team before he was 25 years old. Bear Bryant looks down from four or five different places. Former President Donald Trump Saturday insisted his former secretary of state was not taking a dig at him when Mike Pompeo warned conservatives against following 'celebrity leaders'. "Bryant." Lexington Leader (Lexington, Ky. : Daily), [Identification of item], John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, 1936-1990,2004AV001, Special Collections and Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries,Lexington, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. The board elected Bryant president pro tempore in September 2011. All in the family: how three generations of Jaquezes have ruled West Coast basketball, Alonso says Aston 'living a dream,' eyes podium, LIVE Transfer Talk: Bayern still keen on Kane despite new Choupo-Moting contract, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live'. Kentucky football coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant poses with his family, Paul Jr. at center with their pet dachshund, and his wife Mary, right, at their home in Lexington, Kent., Feb. 5, 1954. Paul Bryant Obituary (2006) - Topeka, KS - Topeka Capital-Journal A diamond of belly shows through the puckered front of his shirt. His first job was as general manager of the Birmingham A's of the Southern League. "Bryant." Even Knowles sheepishly admits she has a houndstooth umbrella. Thereafter, he has been chairman of the Crimson Tide Foundation since its inception. When things happened, and you were there ". Facebook gives people the power. The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA star, his 13-year-old daughter and other victims killed in a 2020 helicopter crash, attorneys and court filings said Feb. 28, 2023. He collapsed once from nervous exhaustion, chain-smoked cigarettes, ripped the filters off ones he bummed, passed out on couches, checked into alcohol rehab. 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. mitataksemme sivustojemme ja sovellustemme kyttsi. ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. Alabama won the game against the University of Illinois at Urbana?Champaign, 21 to 15. Persistent Link for this Record:https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, University of Kentucky LibrariesSpecial Collections Research Center. She'd always ask: "When y'all coming back?". Four loud slaps. Not unlike the lawn outside at the reunion, where the Pauls and Paulas and Bryants ate crimson-colored snow cones and craned their necks to read each other's nametags. 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. The Chester County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) honored Sgt. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. All he has to show for two decades of service are his memories, and even those often hang just out of reach. I've had some different ones not work, too, Bryant said recently in a rare and revealing interview. Twenty-eight days later, on a Tuesday night, Billy's phone rang. "Yes, sir, we've got Paul and Bryant covered right there in one house.". ", She stands still, surrounded by the strangers who've come to genuflect, and she thinks, "If they only knew." Coach Bear Bryant at the 1982 Liberty Bowl football game in Memphis, Tennessee. John C. Wyatt Lexington Herald-Leader photographs, https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, This item is 1 of 3716 items in the series ". usie Varner answers the door. 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.. City & town life -- Kentucky -- Lexington. There is, always, a disconnect between the few people who miss Paul and the legion who worship The Bear. Try 100. The family had asked that cameras be barred from the services. He forms his right hand into a pistol and Susie laughs, but then he starts to get lost again. He can be almost painfully shy in public and has an intent dislike of seeing himself on television or having his photo made. She picks back up the conversation about Bryant, and Billy sits across the narrow room, listening. Thirty years after Bear Bryant's final season, the man who knew him "I always did want me the old-timey ice cream freezer," she says. With the nomination tied up in the Legislature, trustee Frank Bromberg decided to resign, which allowed Bryant to fill the sixth district slot in April 2000. Coach was at Jimmy Hinton's house and didn't feel well. kehittksemme ja parantaaksemme palveluitamme sek tuotteitamme. KATIE J. BUSH SUFFOLK -Katie Jane Bush, 74, died. 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. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). My passion is the dogs, really, he said. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? The Leader was a Republican, society-based evening edition, and the Herald a more political, heavily Democratic morning edition. The extended family includes about a. It's certainly not too serious of a process by any stretch, but we really want to know people's stories and give them a chance to share those stories.". There are actions that tell of unseen turmoil and doubt, but Bryant is never revealed. "You was at the hospital when he died," she says. As she talks, there's a noise down the hall, a rattle of movement and the thump-thump of a cane on the floor. Each day brings its own reality. 19572 posts. Susie would come home -- she worked with mental patients in a local hospital -- and see Billy's traveling bag gone. It's difficult to understand if you're not from here, but when football isn't doing well it kind of hurts, the whole state is kind of in a funk. Paul Bryant Jr. Gives $10 Million to UA Crimson Tradition Fund 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. They sat in the kitchen down the hall and ate and laughed. The collection also contains associated newspaper clippings, job sheets, and hand-written photographers' notes. He was born in Birmingham while his father served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. "I never did hear about him dying.". Bryant. He says he's asked. It's been a good experience and I've made a lot of very close friends on the board, he said. "Because my wife's favorite movie is 'Sweet Home Alabama' and what's-his-name [Josh Lucas], his hound dog was named Bryant for Coach Bryant and our dog looked just like the dog from the movie. George Wallace and former Washington Redskins Coach George Allen, representing President Reagan, were among the 400 dignataries, family members and friends who packed the church for the rites. In a brief graveside service, the crowd recited the 23rd Psalm and the Lord's Prayer and then Bryant's family left, with the mourners straggling behind and the simple pine casket still beside the grave. Some images' dates are unknown and cannot be searched by date. That's where he met Alabama's new football coach, and when Varner took the same job at the Indian Hills Country Club, where Bryant lived off the third fairway, they became close. Paul Bryant Jr., the son of the late Hall of Fame coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, has clear ties to a federal insurance-fraud case that netted a 15-year prison sentence for a Philadelphia lawyer . Knowles and Varner cleaned out the real version of this office after Coach died. It happens slowly but clearly. The living room takes up the front of the house, with a television at one end and, on the wall, a poem about footsteps in the sand, which ends with God telling a follower: "The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.". Cities and towns -- Growth -- Kentucky -- Lexington. Nobody ever has a plan. Since then, Moore says, daughters of Joe Namath and Ken Stabler have attended Alabama on . XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? They have three daughters: Stella Gray Bryant Sykes, Mae Martin Bryant Murray, and Anna Laurie Bryant McKibbens, all graduates of The University of Alabama, and three grandchildren. Even with names. "It was so quiet. Early life and family background. They greet one another by saying "Doctor " "Doctor " "Doctor " "Doctor " in a round-robin introduction that ends up with the title being used 24 times. Bryant's image. Half a dozen helicopters carrying news photographers hovered near the cemetery, which lies at the end of a black community in southwest Birmingham. 1; a guy who for years has been hostile to Blazer football out of fear it might one day challenge the thing his iconic father, Paul "Bear" Bryant, raised to the pinnacle of success. The argument clearly did not convince Watts or trustees. "I don't ever talk to him now," Billy says. Jack Rutledge asked carefully. The coverage of the newspaper has grown over the years and while its focus has always been on the Lexington Metropolitan area (including 7 additional counties) it presently circulates in 78 of 120 counties throughout central andeastern Kentucky. * This list only holds up to 10 photographs. To Bryant's right are his daughters Stella Gray and Anna Laurie. The Bear, the rough-faced legend on the video board, was predestined to be great. 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. They watched the moon landing together, hung out with Bob Hope together. It's lunchtime. I didn't do either of those. Married with three daughters, Bryant is known to be a student of American history, especially the Civil War. Lexington (Ky.) -- Politics and government. Breaking down the latest in 2024 football recruiting, from top commits to March visits, The Turnover Luck Index: Rating every 2022 team, from USC to Rutgers, Kiper's updated NFL mock draft: Who's moving up for a QB? 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. Next fall, another great-grandson, Paul William Bryant Tyson, will be on Nick Saban's roster as a freshman quarterback. Paul William Bryant (1913 - 1983) - Genealogy - geni family tree They are retired ones that mostly just get loving, pets.. Coach Bryant died Wednesday. Vanessa Bryant just received a heck of a lot more money from L.A. County after her initial $15 million win last year . "What is?" Regularly, he refuses to believe that his old boss isn't at home waiting for a ride. "It's exactly like that," Hilburn added. He laughs at himself when he recenters. Joe Namath - Bear Bryant Funeral. Billy always walked a few feet in front of Bryant, for reasons he's trying to recall. That's what I like when I've got a chance to get away.. Paul W. Bryant Jr.'s business success as entrenched as his family's name Bryant's inner circle, those who knew the man, is surrounded by reminders of this. 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." The scope of the collection highlights the day to day activities of Kentuckians. This isn't a celebration. ", Overhearing this exchange was yet another teenager, Bryant Denny Turner, whose parents dared to go even a step further and give their son the name of the legendary Alabama football coach and the name of the arena where the Bear did his homework, Denny Stadium. ", "You didn't play no football," she says. To his right is the famous painting "315" that shows Bryant on the sideline as he breaks the all-time wins record, and down the wall from that is a pencil-and-ink drawing of Bryant as a young man. And no one knew Coach Bryant better than Billy. He doesn't seek the limelight, that's for sure, said McNair, who served as sports information director at UA under Bear Bryant and who now publishes Bama Magazine. ph, Casket of Alabama coach Paul Bear Bryant at the Elwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Ala. Friday Jan. 28, 1983. These ties received national press attention when the board of trustees made the shocking decision to kill UAB football. The Birmingham News. He only serves on one committee, but he does carry some influence with other board members. "I don't know whether he died or what" is what it sounds like he says. He co-authored two books about American football in 2013. He's out having lunch and out doing business, so (to say he is a) recluse is maybe a little too strong, but he has certainly guarded his private life as well as anyone could with that name and with the things he has done.. Collection is open for research by appointment only. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Is the Alabama board of trustees finally ready to kill UAB football? No, no. Some wore Alabama caps and others were . (AP Photo), Press Photo Woody Hayes At Bear Bryant Funeral, Woody Hayes - Bear Bryant Funeral. The pitch of his voice starts to drop again, wavering between the treble of here and the deep bass of gone. Former Data Analyst - Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida - Jacksonville. Billy was always just around, in the office, on the road, on the sidelines. University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center. [1] He was described by The Birmingham News as "among the most private of men, largely a mystery to many."[1]. He focuses on the shot from the Liberty Bowl. #RollTide pic.twitter.com/C5wakg73d7. "He could eat pheasant under glass with the president," he said, "or he could eat cheese and crackers with the boys out by the caddie shack, and he'd enjoy it all just the same. 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." Bryant announced last week that he was retiring after this game, which marks his 323rd victory. [2] He also served as general manager of minor league baseball's Birmingham Barons. [3][7] He also served on the boards of trustees of the Alabama Heritage Foundation and the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. It grows smaller all the time. Kobe . Bryant's first high-profile public venture, joining the UA board of trustees, was controversial. "[1] He is worth "hundreds of millions of dollars. [1] [2] To his left, surrounded by the small frames, is a large photograph of Bear Bryant at the 1982 Liberty Bowl, sicker than anyone but Billy and a few others knew, bundled tight against the cold. Bryant, who won 323 games in his 38 seasons -- more than any other college coach -- died Wednesday of a heart attack only 28 days after retiring. For all his business success, Bryant said in the interview that as a young man he had wanted to follow his father into coaching. 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. "I went and bought me one of those. He got his bartender a badge and a gun. Bryant Jr. also has clear ties to a federal insurance fraud case that drew a 15-year prison sentence for Allen W. Alabama-"Bear" Paul Bryant funeral. "Uh, uh. But many mourners wore crimson and white, the colors of the Crimson Tide. Patsy Abbott said it pointedly -- like, literally pointing at her grandson as he waited to build a bear. 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. Historic buildings -- Kentucky -- Lexington. (Fie Photo/ The Huntsville Times) The Huntsville Times, Former Governor George Walalce attends the funeral of Alabama coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant at the First Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa on Friday Jan. 28, 1983. We'd go to the stadium. TideIllustrated - Paul Bryant Jr.: A legacy of his own - Rivals.com The roots of this bond, like many things with Bryant, are full of mystery, myth and misinformation. "Nothing.". Bryant has been married for 50 years to UA classmate Cherry Handley Hicks Bryant. He led efforts to upgrade and expand the football stadium which bears his dad's name. And yes, there are some Bears, but none made an appearance during the first couple of hours of this year's reunion -- although at least two of the families in attendance said they had a dog named Bear. She was 19. Being unable to play football, he said, would have made it impossible for him to have the standing to coach the game. Paul Bryant, Jr., who traveled with his former K-9 partner Azeem to Ground Zero to search for missing persons shortly after the attacks of . If you've been in that, you get looked at close so it helps to do OK in one regulated business you get another one, he said. We can't just have anybody who is named Paul or William or even Bryant showing up and trying to sneak into the group. You want a window into Bear Bryant's power in the state of Alabama? They were traveling, and Billy said he needed to get home for supper. Getty. He said he asked Esquire for a retraction, but William M. Adler, the freelance writer of the article, said he stood by the story. But it appeared they had leaned toward quickness instead -- only two of the pallbearers weighed over 200 pounds, although all were remarkably muscular. Behind the casket is present Alabama coach Ray Perkins, his wife Carolyn and son Mike. Bryant has been married for 50 years to UA classmate Cherry Handley Hicks Bryant. "I wish I'd read this 30 years ago," he told a friend, "I wouldn't have wasted so much valuable time." Age: 68 Birthplace: Birmingham Education: Graduated in 1966 with a degree in finance from the University of Alabama Family: Wife, Cherry; three daughters and three grandchildren Career: President of Greene Group Inc., a privately-held holding company; chairman of Bryant Bank; president pro tempore of the UA board of trustees; chairman emeritus of the Civil War Preservation Trust, a national historic battlefield preservation organization, Tommy Deas Executive Sports Editor | The Tuscaloosa News. Varner went home to rest, and that's where he was when the phone rang again. Coach Pat Dye talks with unknown person. The LHL photographs are an unparalleled source of photographic evidence of the many historical, cultural, and industrial changes that have shaped Lexington and its surrounding region. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. "Too many football games," he says. 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. There are also a ton of Pauls and Paulas. Wilson's father added his own nod of approval, replying loudly, though muffled by a bite of hot dog, "Rollf Tfide! Selected for Beta Gamma Sigma, he received the Financial Executives Institute of America Award for the outstanding student in commerce and business administration as well as the Alabama Bankers Association Award for the outstanding student in banking and finance.

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