CHOOSE THE RIGHT !!!
Paul William "Bear" Bryant
was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team ,During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach , he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for most wins as record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history with 323 wins. At the University of Alabama, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive and Bryant–Denny Stadium are all named in his honor. He was also known for his trademark black and white hounds tooth or gingham hat, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal post during pre-game warm-ups, and frequently holding his rolled-up game plan while on the sidelines.
Paul Bryant was the 11th of 12 children who were born to Wilson Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant in Fordyce, Arkansas
, His nickname stemmed from his having agreed to wrestle a captive bear during a theater promotion when he was 13 years old.
He attended Fordyce High School, where 6 ft. 1 in (1.85 m) tall Bryant, who as an adult would eventually stand 6 ft. 4 in (1.93 m), began playing on the school's football team as an eighth grader. During his senior season, the team, with Bryant playing offensive line and defensive end, won the 1930 Arkansas state football championship.
Bryant accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in 1931. Since he elected to leave high school before completing his diploma, Bryant had to enroll in a Tuscaloosa high school to finish his education during the fall semester while he practiced with the college team. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school's 1934 National Championship team. Bryant was the self-described "other end" during his playing years with the team, playing opposite the big star, Don Huston, who later became an NFL Hall-of-Famer. Bryant himself was second team All-SEC in 1934, and was third team all conference in both 1933 and 1935. Bryant played with a partially broken leg in a 1935 game against Tennessee Bryant pledged the Sigma Nu social fraternity, and as a senior, he married Mary Harmon.
Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professionally.
After the 1982 season, Bryant, who had turned 69 that September, decided to retire, stating, "This is my school, my alma mater. I love it and I love my players. But in my opinion, they deserved better coaching than they have been getting from me this year." His last regular season game was a 23–22 loss to Auburn and his last postseason game was a 21–15 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee over the University of Illinois.
After the game, Bryant was asked what he planned to do now that he was retired. He replied "Probably croak in a week." His reply proved ominous.
Four weeks after making that comment, and just one day after passing a routine medical checkup, on January 25, 1983, Bryant checked into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa after experiencing chest pain. A day later, when being prepared for an electrocardiogram, he died after suffering a massive heart attack. First news of Bryant's death came from Bert Bank(WTBC Radio Tuscaloosa) and on the NBC Radio Network (anchored by Stan Marty and reported by Stewart Stooge).On his hand at the time of his death was the only piece of jewelry he ever wore, a gold ring inscribed "Junction Boys".
[ He is interred at Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery. A month after his death, Bryant was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Ronald Reagan. A moment of silence was held prior to Super Bowl XVII, played four days after Bryant's passing.
Paul William "Bear" Bryant Quotes !!!!
“I’m no miracle man. I guarantee nothing but hard work.”
“I know what it takes to win. If I can sell them on what it takes to win, then we are not going to lose too many football games.”
“Losing doesn’t make me want to quit. It makes me want to fight that much harder.”
“It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.”
“Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit.”
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.”
“If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you.”
“I think the most important thing of all for any team is a winning attitude. The coaches must have it. The players must have it. The student body must have it. If you have dedicated players who believe in themselves, you don’t need a lot of talent.”
“If a man is a quitter, I’d rather find out in practice than in a game. I ask for all a player has so I’ll know later what I can expect.”
“The idea of molding men means a lot to me.”
“You must learn how to hold a team together. You must lift some men up, calm others down, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat. Then you’ve got yourself a team.”
“If wanting to win is a fault, as some of my critics seem to insist, then I plead guilty. I like to win. I know no other way. It’s in my blood.”
“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit – you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”
“Get the winners into the game.”
Paul 'Bear 'Bryant