By: @LivingCrimson
There are no jerseys in a ring at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
No numbers that cannot be had …
Each number represents an expectation,
a challenge that only a championship tradition can issue …
59 Bowl Appearances • 33 Bowl Victories
22 SEC Championships • 14 National Championships
It is an endless passing of the torch
that urges the wearer to enrich its legacy …
Because at Alabama, tradition is not retired, it is BUILT.
To have a tradition like ours means that you always have to show class …
Tradition is that which allows us to prevail in ways that we could not otherwise.
F. David Matthews
Former University of Alabama President
11th United States Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare
From the 2012 Alabama Football Media Guide, the University of Alabama’s first football team in 1892 included William B. Bankhead, future U.S. Speaker of the House, and Bibb Graves, future governor of Alabama. Initially known as the “Crimson White,” the team officially became the “Crimson Tide” in 1907. Led by Brown University alum Wallace Wade to its first national championship in the 1926 Rose Bowl, the dynasty quickly began to roll with two more national championships under Wade’s tenure. Following tradition, Coach Frank Thomas, a former quarterback for Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne, brought home two more national championships. Numbered among the Tide greats that played for Thomas were Harry Gilmer, Don Hutson (a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame) and Paul “Bear” Bryant. Bear Bryant became Coach Bryant and went on to win another six national championships for the Tide, retiring as the winningest coach in college football history. A former Bryant player (Texas A&M) and defensive coach, Coach Gene Stallings led Alabama to its 12th national championship. Coach Nick Saban has brought home another two national championships in three years, and is the national-title-winningest head coach in the BCS era with three (two at Alabama, one at LSU).
The Crimson Tide team motto for 2012 is “Be Legendary” as it seeks to win a third national championship in four years, a would-be historical feat in the annals of college football history.
Tradition. Built by Bama.
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