Supporters of UAB football insist that the now-scrapped football program played an important role in helping the university attract students and build campus life. Paul W. Bryant Jr. Net Worth in 2021. He is survived by his wife Sylvia Mohamed-Bryant, parents Paul Dean Bryant Sr.. "I host the family holidays here at my house in Tuscaloosa, and we have so many Pauls and Marys and Mays that I have to draw up place cards for everyone and I have to use a very sophisticated system of last initials. I enjoy those, have a lot of them around the house. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Billy always walked a few feet in front of Bryant, for reasons he's trying to recall. The scope of the collection highlights the day to day activities of Kentuckians. 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. Alabama-They began gathering in the early morning fog at Elmwood Cemetery today. Did Paul Bryant Jr. really kill football at UAB? - Saturday Down South Paul W. Bryant, Jr. Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org Bryant entered Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa on January 25, 1983, after feeling chest discomfort. I looked at him like, 'What the hell you think I'm here for?'". The John C. Wyatt photographs (LHL) consist of an estimated 2 million unique photographic negatives spanning the years 1939-2001. 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 tells Susie that he talks to the coach. ", As Chase Bryant's father nodded proudly, another teen, Bryant Wilson, shouted "Same! My passion is the dogs, really, he said. Bryant's image. And no one knew Coach Bryant better than Billy. 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. 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. 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. Paul Bryant Jr., a banker and the coach's only son, says his father established the fund in 1973. . 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. Susie would come home -- she worked with mental patients in a local hospital -- and see Billy's traveling bag gone. "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. After an hour and a half, Bryant, looking tired and old, walked into his bedroom. The lights are low, and the house sits in cool darkness. He collapsed once from nervous exhaustion, chain-smoked cigarettes, ripped the filters off ones he bummed, passed out on couches, checked into alcohol rehab. (AP Photo). 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. My dad wanted to set me on the right path as soon as I was born! re: Help me understand the power of Paul Bryant, Jr. Posted on 12/2/14 at 9:47 pm to weagle99. Billy was Bear Bryant's driver, bodyguard and valet, one of the few remaining people who knew him as a human being. "I ended up playing football.". But it appeared they had leaned toward quickness instead -- only two of the pallbearers weighed over 200 pounds, although all were remarkably muscular. Other sports notables at the funeral included New York Jets quarterback Richard Todd, Jets defensive lineman Marty Lyons, former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, former Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Dodd, Duke Coach Steve Sloan, former Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes, Florida Coach Charlie Pell, former Arkansas Coach Frank Broyles and Auburn Coach Pat Dye. Mr. Bryant was Chairman of the Crimson Tide Tradition Fund, the organization that preceded the Crimson Tide Foundation. 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'. "I said, 'Why would you name him after the greatest coach of all time when he could be named after the two greatest coaches of all time? 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. * This list only holds up to 10 photographs. "[1] He is worth "hundreds of millions of dollars. [2] He serves as its chairman.[6]. 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. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. His first job was as general manager of the Birmingham A's of the Southern League. His voice becomes higher-pitched, quick but not rushed, with confidence in the direction of the words, without the long pauses to read the maps inside his mind. "I don't ever talk to him now," Billy says. 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. [13], He is married, and has three daughters. 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 . 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. [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. OBITUARIES - Daily Press John C. Wyatt established and maintained the collection's original organizational scheme. "What is?" "Yes, sir, we've got Paul and Bryant covered right there in one house.". Having football competitive and doing well, and so much more than that is (when) we're maintaining at a championship level every year, it makes it easier on businesses around the state, I promise you. I'd park the car. 'And not just the leader of Alabama football players, but of the whole nation.'. He was appointed to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in 2000 . ", You think Paul "Bear" Bryant is dead? BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Eight husky players carried Paul 'Bear' Bryant to his grave under a bare hickory tree and more than 8,000 mourners in two cities said goodbye Friday to the man they called the greatest football coach who ever lived. "Then," he added, "I'll do the same with Paul.". Paul W. Bryant Jr. - Wikipedia Other Members of the class of 2016 2016 Robert Witt 2016 Beverly Phifer 2016 "Bryant." Not yet anyway. Bear Bryant dies of heart attack - UPI Archives A half-hour or more has passed. That's the man I'll always remember.". Everyone gifted with some version of Coach's moniker wears a nametag, so as to keep them all straight. Bryant said he was invited by the board members to fill the vacant seat. "That's him up there," he says. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Air view of cemetery at "Bear" Bryant's funeral. Bryant's first high-profile public venture, joining the UA board of trustees, was controversial. Paul William Bryant Jr. was born circa 1945. Bryant's family and friends fiercely guard his legacy, but this omerta brings with it an accidental cost. According to Social Security records, since 1959 there have been 1,403 Bryants born in Alabama -- so many that it piqued the curiosity of the Bear's original namesake, Paul William "Bear" Bryant Jr. After a lifetime of hearing "I was named for your daddy," it was Junior who approached the museum that honors his father with the idea of compiling a database of those whose names do the same. Given that fact, it was not a surprise that phone calls to his office were not returned. [1] [2] That's what I like when I've got a chance to get away.. Wilson's father added his own nod of approval, replying loudly, though muffled by a bite of hot dog, "Rollf Tfide! Paul Bryant | Facebook 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. Paul never forgot the middle-class kids pointing and laughing at his mother. The collection also contains associated newspaper clippings, job sheets, and hand-written photographers' notes. He laughs at himself when he recenters. I'm probably better evaluating them than running them, I'll say that, he said. Paul Bryant Jr. Profiles | Facebook #RollTide pic.twitter.com/C5wakg73d7. She picks back up the conversation about Bryant, and Billy sits across the narrow room, listening. To shoot him, they had to get me first.". YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Some wore Alabama caps and others were seen in houndstoothcheck hats, which Bryant always wore on the sidelines on game day. Sometimes his mind is clear as a crystal. 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. Place kicker Peter Kim is at top right. She was 19. He saw him cry. Bryant grew reflective. Behind the casket is present Alabama coach Ray Perkins, his wife Carolyn and son Mike. 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. He's following me. Whatever order was brought on by the photographs disappears. Trump avoided . Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. I have evidence to the contrary, from @bryantmuseum today. 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. The extended family includes about a. They made small talk in the car, nothing about the life's work that had just ended. There are actions that tell of unseen turmoil and doubt, but Bryant is never revealed. He spends a long minute staring at the remote control, trying to figure out how to turn up the volume. ph, Casket of Alabama coach Paul Bear Bryant at the Elwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Ala. Friday Jan. 28, 1983. 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.". Bryant, a member of the University of Alabama board of trustees since 2000 and president pro tempore of the board since 2011, said his business secret as president of Greene Group, a privately-held holding company, has more to do with being able to identify profitable enterprises. He was 18. He was with him almost 24 hours a day.". [2] He went on to establish more tracks in Texas (for example in La Marque, Texas), Idaho, and Iowa. His voice might be what affects her most. These ties received national press attention when the board of trustees made the shocking decision to kill UAB football. 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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. I remember all of them. Even Mrs. Bryant didn't know him as well as Billy did. Tobacco industry -- Kentucky -- Lexington. He's a 1978 national champion. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Mourning fans at Paul "Bear" Bryant's funeral. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. mitataksemme sivustojemme ja sovellustemme kyttsi. 2004av001. "What do you know about the story where Coach Bryant and Billy met?" Bryant, at the time less well-known, lived in the historic Redmont home shortly after he married Mary Harmon in June 1935. Others cried openly. 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. But unlike the others at the namesake reunion, his name wasn't merely a tribute. Bryant, who was born in Birmingham when his mother was living there with her parents while his father was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, is a 1966 graduate of UA with a degree in finance. Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224. I'd drive him. The Leader was a Republican, society-based evening edition, and the Herald a more political, heavily Democratic morning edition. Stewart. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. City Editor Ken Roberts contributed to this report. Paul W. Bryant, Jr. - The Alabama Business Hall of Fame Hundreds of others gathered silently outside the Methodist church to wave goodbye when Bryant's body was loaded into a hearse for the trip to Elmwood Cemetery. PAUL BRYANT OBITUARY Paul Dean Bryant Jr., 47, of El Mirage, Arizona, passed away on April 15, 2006. He is a man. "He's young all the time here," Billy says. "It was so quiet. We had some guys behind us. In his hospital room, Bryant was joking with the nurses. 1983 Press Photo Alabama-Fans watching T.V. In 2012, Bryant Bank was awarded the Revitalizing Your Community Award by the American Bankers Association, in large part for the bank's work after the April 27, 2011, tornado that devastated the community. Alabama Media Group, University of Alabama head football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant is lifted onto the shoulders of his players after Alabama defeated Illinois 21-15 in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday night, Dec. 30, 1982. "Coach Bryant used to be the coach at Alabama," he says. 2023 www.tuscaloosanews.com. The roots of this bond, like many things with Bryant, are full of mystery, myth and misinformation. T She answers for him when he seems lost. He remembers his mother,. "You was at the hospital when he died," she says. A houndstooth car is just the beginning. You start thinking about what you could have been doing. She liked Bryant, thought he had a good heart, even if he did almost always call her Sally. 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. He died on Jan. 26, 1983, only a few weeks after his final game on the sideline, the '82 Liberty Bowl. February 22, 1991 to January 2, 1993. It happens slowly but clearly. 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. 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. 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. ear Bryant surrounded himself with people he could trust, and he trusted nobody more than Billy Varner, a tough, barrel-chested African-American. 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. But many mourners wore crimson and white, the colors of the Crimson Tide. "What do you mean, I didn't play football? Is the Alabama board of trustees finally ready to kill UAB football? Arrangements by Crocker Funeral Home. ", As high school student Cameron Bryant Collier mingled with incoming Alabama freshman Bryant Edward Rich (as you've likely figured out, the reunion crowds skew very young), Leonard Bryant Jackson joked that he was going to yell out "Hey, Bryant!" 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. 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. 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. Member since Sep 2010. 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? "We hear about people really almost exclusively through word of mouth," explained Ken Gaddy, director of the Paul W. Bryant Museum, located in the heart of the University of Alabama's campus. (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. 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. 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. "I never did hear about him dying.". You had more fun on that job. From 2000 to 2015, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama System. He drove him to Birmingham one year before Christmas because Bryant got a letter from a sick girl and he wanted to surprise her. By mid-day, with the sun shining brightly, several hundred waited for the start of the graveside service for Coach "Bear" Bryant. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. The university had been spending about $20 million a year on football and the years ahead would only see that number grow and Watts pulled the plug causing a firestorm of protests from players and fans. All rights reserved (About Us). Miss Mae Martin Bryant, daughter of Couch and Mrs. Paul Bryant, gives holiday tea. You miss a lot of things you shouldn't miss.". On the worst, Billy, who is 76, doesn't recognize Susie. 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. The database includes around 700 names, and the museum manages to track most of their whereabouts via both old-school correspondence and newfangled social media. The price for memories is regret, and somewhere in the middle of all this, Billy considers how he spent his life. 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 . 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. "I know I've made this journey," he told a reporter just before his final season. Behind the University of Alabama's football resurgence is a Little Bear 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. Before every Alabama home game, the big video board plays clips of Bryant talking, sounding like he ate a carton of Chesterfields. She settles in front of the exhibit of his office, the soft black-and-white couch players hated because they'd sink further and further down, the white telephone, the wide wooden desk. [2] By 2011, he sold it to Cemex, a Mexican construction corporation, for US$350 million. "His life is as concealed as Coach Bryant's life. 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. Paul William Bryant Jr. (born c. 1945) is an American banker, investor and philanthropist from Alabama . ", She stands still, surrounded by the strangers who've come to genuflect, and she thinks, "If they only knew." She was accompanied by her son, Paul Bryant Jr., and daughter, Mae Martin Tyson. Knowles cries every time. Mrs. Bryant was dressed in a simple black dress and veil. That's what the annual namesake reunion is all about, bringing the living tributes together to create a sense of crimson-blooded community among those linked by their labels. Alabama-"Bear" Paul Bryant funeral. Kobe Bryant Announces Fourth Daughter on the Way with Wife Vanessa In January, the retired basketball star, 40, rung in the new year with a special announcement featuring a gold, sparkling . The number of people left alive who knew that Paul is small. 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. The Bear, the rough-faced legend on the video board, was predestined to be great. He was 69. Somebody comes up to do something to Coach Bryant, they're gonna have to get me first. Bryant served as the chairman of the Civil War Trust. ", The official records show Varner started working for the university police in February 1976, but he'd been around for a decade or more by then, floating in the shadows. "But unlike his dad who was a larger than life figure, the son is among the most private of men, largely a mystery to many, despite leading the public board of the state's largest public university, a position that creates a spotlight. 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. "I'm not sure I've enjoyed all of it. Bryant realizes his business career got off to a quick start, and that his family ties were an asset. Thirty years after his last season, Bryant's humanity lives only in his family and a few aging friends, in former employees such as Knowles, in 72-year-old assistant coach-turned-athletic director Mal Moore, and, perhaps most of all, in Billy Varner. Varner went home to rest, and that's where he was when the phone rang again. The bird dogs are German shorthaired pointers and English pointers. He led efforts to upgrade and expand the football stadium which bears his dad's name. "So little coming out of it. "No kidding, it's my daughter's first name, too!" Being unable to play football, he said, would have made it impossible for him to have the standing to coach the game. They know you've been vetted pretty well.. Our bank that we've got now, he said, we started to try to be in communities where my family lives and will live and have it kind of be a legacy thing to be involved in the community stuff that your community banks do. The Birmingham News, Bear Bryant funeral at First Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, AL. S Several red and white banners reading 'We Love You, Bear' flapped from interstate overpasses as the motorcade rolled by. So why change the dog's name? [2] He also served as general manager of minor league baseball's Birmingham Barons. The source of her name was Mary Harmon Bryant, the wife of Bear and First Lady of Alabama Football. They hoped that through him they might better understand the coach. Paul Bryant has stepped up for this project like he . One grandmother introduced her preschool-aged grandson, Hayden Bryant Kennedy, this way: "If I'd had my way, he'd be Nicholas Bryant Kennedy." Roll Tide!" This isn't a celebration. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Fans stand and cheer. It follows the changing urban landscape of Lexington, the agricultural, tobacco and horse racing industries, key national events such as World War II and Vietnam, as well as notable regional and national figures. "Do you remember?". "We had a dog named Bear as a puppy, but then we changed it to Bryant," confessed a family from Huntsville that also has two human Bryants on the roster. Who were the fastest defensive backs? . 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." (AP Photo/Joe Holloway Jr.), College football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, wearing black coat, observes his team Alabama Crimson Tide after they defeated Illinois 21-15 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tenn., on Dec. 30, 1982. When Paul took his grandson fishing, Billy came along. Oh, s--- $50 wasn't worth it. Sitting with Paul Murray was his cousin, Mary Harmon Hilburn, granddaughter of Bear. Finally, he asks for help. Susie can tell you what she saw, but that's it. Nobody ever has a plan. "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. Knowles and Varner cleaned out the real version of this office after Coach died. 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.. (AP Photo/Tannen Maury), Football star Joe Namath talks with the widow of Alabama coach Paul Bear Bryant at the Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham on Friday, Jan. 28, 1983. Help me understand the power of Paul Bryant, Jr. | SEC Rant