This year's reunion was the first to feature a carnival theme, complete with cotton candy, county-fair-style games and -- wait for it -- a teddy-bear-building station. It happens slowly but clearly. Twenty-eight days later, on a Tuesday night, Billy's phone rang. A decade ago, speaking of efforts by UAB to decrease its athletics department deficit, Bryant offered: "You can put any spin you want on it, but if you aren't selling tickets, the money isn't there.". I was a big guy " -- Billy sits up in his chair, and his face becomes menacing; he bows up his shoulders and arms -- " and by the time those bullets go through me, he's gone. They sat in the kitchen down the hall and ate and laughed. He can be almost painfully shy in public and has an intent dislike of seeing himself on television or having his photo made. Later he started other tracks in Idaho and Texas and made millions in the process. He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. "I don't know whether he died or what" is what it sounds like he says. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. The extended family includes about a. When Paul took his grandson fishing, Billy came along. This photograph was published on Feb 24th, 1948 (1948-02-24), 1.03-1497.01. ", "You didn't play no football," she says. S People contact us all the time, and we ask them to fill out a form with their birthdate, a little family history and a specific section to fill out that starts with, 'This is the story of me or my child being named for Coach Bryant ' That allows us to do a little research and verify it. Growing up, everyone called Bear Jr. "Papa," except for Hilburn, who called Papa's daddy "Papa" while everyone else called him "Grandpapa." It was the first and only time he heard Bryant talk like that, and he realized that maybe his boss was a lonely man. [2] In March 2015, The Birmingham News revealed that many UA trustees worked or had relatives who worked for the Bryant Bank. Paul Bryant Jr., at this time 38 and an established businessman with concerns in real estate, agriculture and dog racing tracks as well as a new reinsurance company, which insures insurance. Bryant realizes his business career got off to a quick start, and that his family ties were an asset. I remember all of them. "It was so quiet. In 1977, Bryant opened GreeneTrack, a dog racing track in Greene County. Like his boss before him, Billy Varner has come to the place where he must consider what he did with his time. $1 Million - $5 Million. Joe Elmore said. The scope of the collection highlights the day to day activities of Kentuckians. [2] Bryant is also the President of Greene County Greyhound Park. The extended family includes about a dozen hunting dogs, who are kept at Bryant's farm in Greene County. Business districts -- Kentucky -- Lexington. He was appointed to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2000 . 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. 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. She plays it sometimes. 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. KATIE J. BUSH SUFFOLK -Katie Jane Bush, 74, died. "It's really important to the state that we have a successful football program. What I would suspect, and it's only a suspicion, but I think he wouldn't want people to think he was trading on his father's name. Alabama-Fans climb tree to watch "Bear" Bryant's funeral. All rights reserved (About Us). But I got outvoted. Bryant established two dozen operating companies and over 50 real estate ventures and syndicates. 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. She liked Bryant, thought he had a good heart, even if he did almost always call her Sally. Bryant also has a keen interest in the Civil War, and serves as chairman emeritus of the Civil War Preservation Trust, a national historic battlefield preservation organization. I'm a pretty good risk-taker, I guess. Roll Tide!" John C. Wyatt established and maintained the collection's original organizational scheme. "He won't make it without coaching.". He's following me. Barra wrote the best biography of Bryant, "The Last Coach," and even in his book, there is a Paul-sized hole at the center of the narrative. I didn't do either of those. Some images' dates are unknown and cannot be searched by date. There's the framed photograph of Bryant on a football field for the final time, with a "Thanks for the Memories" sign in the background. 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. It is unknown how much, if any, of his money has gone to UAB over the years, although it is common place for many of the board's wealthier members to give substantial gifts to all three schools in the system. Who were the fastest defensive backs? Stewart. A crowd of 5,000 -- many dressed as though for an Alabama football game -- watched in eerie silence as the grim-faced young pallbearers carried Bryant's flower-blanketed casket to the grave. Barra found himself attacked for describing one bender at the 21 Club in New York City. At the request of Bryant's wife, Mary Harmon Bryant, the motorcade passed Bryant-Denny Stadium, the Crimson Tide's home field, and drove within sight of Legion Field in Birmingham, scene of many of his greatest victories. (AP Photo), Press Photo Woody Hayes At Bear Bryant Funeral, Woody Hayes - Bear Bryant Funeral. Somebody comes up to do something to Coach Bryant, they're gonna have to get me first. Sometimes it cloud up and rain.". Paul Bryant Jr. loaded his family wife Cherry and daughters Stella Gray (14), Mae Martin (13) and Anna Laurie (10) on his private plane for the trip to Memphis. Earlier this month, a retired Alabama assistant coach sat at his kitchen table and gauged how much he could reveal. 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. "Bryant." Miss Bryant, Martin Folmar, Paul Bryant Jr., Mrs. Folmar, Mary Dillard Marr and Mrs. Bryant. Bryant is a family man: He has been married to his wife, Cherry, since 1966, and they have three daughters all UA graduates and three grandchildren. ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. I enjoy those, have a lot of them around the house. Bryant did play high school basketball in Tuscaloosa, but in interviews he has said he was part of a great team and played only sparingly. 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. Knowles and Varner cleaned out the real version of this office after Coach died. Sitting with Paul Murray was his cousin, Mary Harmon Hilburn, granddaughter of Bear. Paul William Bryant Jr. (born c. 1945) is an American banker, investor and philanthropist from Alabama. I had a lot of help starting out.. Sometimes his mind is clear as a crystal. "My dad says he named me Bryant so that I wouldn't grow up to be an Auburn fan. ", There were also no Sabans at the reunion. "I went and bought me one of those. But that's how it goes with family, and all those people out there today with Papa's name, that's what they are: family. I'd park the car. omething remarkable happens when Billy figures out where the den is located -- at first, he stood in the living room confused while Susie called his name over and over -- and inches down the hall, through the kitchen where Coach sat one time for supper, into a room decorated with photographs of Bear Bryant. As of 2015, seven trustees were executives or directors at Bryant Bank. There he is. His voice is deep and trails off when he's unsure. They were traveling, and Billy said he needed to get home for supper. Knowles began canceling the next two weeks of Coach's schedule. Regularly, he refuses to believe that his old boss isn't at home waiting for a ride. QB Bennett addresses off-field issues at combine, Stroud says he's top player, defends run ability, Alabama QB Young undeterred by size questions, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. Rutledge played for Bryant's first team and was an assistant on his last, and when he realized that he would be sharing new information, he clammed up. He has also commissioned two books by Delbert Teed honoring Alabama alumni who served in World War II: When Winning Was Everything: Alabama Football Players in World War II and All of Us Fought the War. "Yes, sir, we've got Paul and Bryant covered right there in one house.". By mid-day, with the sun shining brightly, several hundred waited for the start of the graveside service for Coach "Bear" Bryant. Sometimes Bryant visits. 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. -- Kentucky -- Lexington. The magazine quoted Bryant, who owned GreeneTrack in Greene County at the time, as saying that the dog track was frequented by low-class, welfare blacks.. Sometimes they talked. [1] He was described by The Birmingham News as "among the most private of men, largely a mystery to many."[1]. He forms his right hand into a pistol and Susie laughs, but then he starts to get lost again. But I got it. He also was elected president of C&BA students. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Paul Bryant Jr., a native of Tuscaloosa, current trustee of The University of Alabama and graduate of the class of 1966, has given another $10 million gift to The University of Alabama, this time to the recently announced Crimson Tradition Fund Campaign for Athletics. XFL Week 3 preview: Can AJ McCarron, Battlehawks continue their fourth-quarter heroics? They know you've been vetted pretty well.. His voice ticks up a few notches. It was a hand-me-down. When the bar was empty, the two men talked. From its body of 6.500 member banks, the American Bankers Association presented its Revitalizing Youth Community Award for outstanding community service efforts to Bryant Bank in 2012. [8], He has donated millions of dollars to the Alabama Crimson Tide football program. They put him on night traffic, and that first winter, he caught pneumonia. Bryant announced last week that he was retiring after this game, which marks his 323rd victory. Accessed March 4, 2023. https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, Researchers are required to have an SCRC Researcher Account in order to request or order digital copies of materials. We can't just have anybody who is named Paul or William or even Bryant showing up and trying to sneak into the group. Robert Witt has worked with Bryant for the last 10 years, first as UA president and more recently as chancellor of the UA system. 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. Billy is asleep. "At the University of Alabama it's really important," Bryant told Deas. Paul W. Bryant Jr. was running a minor league baseball team before he was 25 years old. The farm spans hundreds of acres and has catfish farms, cattle and grounds for quail hunting. Billy was always just around, in the office, on the road, on the sidelines. "My favorite part is meeting all the folks and hearing all the different name combinations they come up with," explained Curtis Paul Parker of Anniston. They are retired ones that mostly just get loving, pets.. 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. The house--a classic Tudor-style--was owned by Harmon's family. This was Bryant's last game as the head football coach at the University of Alabama. All rights reserved. Over the years, various accounts have given him different titles, but essentially, he was a fixer. Persistent Link for this Record:https://lhlphotoarchive.org/ark:/16417/th71m0q2fr6vl, University of Kentucky LibrariesSpecial Collections Research Center. Member since Sep 2010. The Bear, the rough-faced legend on the video board, was predestined to be great. She'd always ask: "When y'all coming back?". Always, Coach Bryant, just like Mary Wilkes or Sarah Catherine: Coachbryant. coverage of "Bear" Bryant's service. Joe Namath - Bear Bryant Funeral. ", You think Paul "Bear" Bryant is dead? Paul Bryant Jr., a banker and the coach's only son, says his father established the fund in 1973. . We had some guys behind us. Mr. Bryant was Chairman of the Crimson Tide Tradition Fund, the organization that preceded the Crimson Tide Foundation. 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. 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 . He pauses. Paul, who rode in a mule-drawn cart from Moro Bottom, Ark., and in the back of Billy Varner's crimson Buick LeSabre, struggled, season after season. 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." There's even a song . [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]. "The white hat. Bryant has also had a couple of Labrador retrievers, but they passed away last year. Bryant. He looked out the window at the river and the bridge to Arkansas, which led eventually to the place where his journey began: a four-room house without electricity or running water. (AP Photo). TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- There is a scene in the 1985 comedy "Spies Like Us" in which Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd, posing as doctors, enter a tent full of actual doctors. He took care of business, and he kept everything to himself, even after Bryant died. It grows smaller all the time. Which non-quarterback group will define each top-25 team's season? Facebook gives people the power. [5] He also serves as the President of Green Group, Inc.[6], Bryant invests in "dog and horse racing, the insurance industry, cement making, catfish farming and banking. He focuses on the shot from the Liberty Bowl. They watched the moon landing together, hung out with Bob Hope together. The bird dogs are German shorthaired pointers and English pointers. Alabama-Man mourns at Coach "Bear" Bryant's funeral site. As always, Varner stood in the background. He said he asked Esquire for a retraction, but William M. Adler, the freelance writer of the article, said he stood by the story. Married with three daughters, Bryant is known to be a student of American history, especially the Civil War. Getty. Finally, he asks for help. 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. When an assistant coach told him in 1970 that Vince Lombardi had died, Bryant spoke of regrets, and it shocked his friend. 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). Some wore Alabama caps and others were . Voit muokata valintojasi milloin tahansa napsauttamalla tietosuojan hallintapaneelin linkki sivustoissamme ja sovelluksissamme. [3], Bryant founded the People's Bank in the late 1960s,[1] and later sold it. Although Bryant never served in the military, he is a lifelong scholar of American military history and active in battlefield preservation. Sure did. . Paul Bryant's dedicated service and leadership have been invaluable to the board of trustees and to the University of Alabama System, Witt said. [2] In 1999, he acquired a stake in Harvest Select Catfish Inc., a company which raises catfish in Alabama and Mississippi. He says he's asked. Four years later, Billy was bartending at the Tuscaloosa Country Club. He worked security at games, no longer inside the circle. On the worst, Billy, who is 76, doesn't recognize Susie. A story last year from Bloomberg News, mostly about his extensive business dealings, shows a man who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, a fortune gained through a variety of businesses and investments spanning dog and horse racing, the insurance industry, cement making, catfish farming and banking. Historic buildings -- Kentucky -- Lexington. Lexington (Ky.) -- History -- 20th century. When he came back, he was a regular campus policeman. "My name is Chase Bryant Duncan," said a teenager, proudly pointing to his nametag as he stood in the food line on the lawn of the Paul W. Bryant Museum with his family. A lot of them we've got don't hunt because they're older. 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. "Well, that's my middle name!" That's the number of IDs it would have taken to make the rounds at an invitation-only picnic in Tuscaloosa two weekends ago, before Alabama's home opener versus Arkansas State. In real life, biographer Allen Barra reports, Bryant had a copy of Philip Roth's masturbation-heavy literary masterpiece "Portnoy's Complaint" on his shelf. 2/28/2023 6:52 PM PT. They reached the end together, sitting in a 14th-floor suite of the Memphis Holiday Inn. The Bear wore houndstooth. The board elected Bryant president pro tempore in September 2011. His eyes get wide. The pictures seem to anchor him. "Uh, uh. "We knew he'd been offered a lot of money to write a book or help make a movie," says Linda Knowles, Bryant's longtime secretary, "and he would have none of that.
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