TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The year was 1984. Legendary Alabama Crimson Tide Football Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant had been dead almost a year, and President Ronald Reagan was arriving in Tuscaloosa for a campaign reelection rally. Thousands gathered in Coleman Colosseum to hear the Gipper speak about his successes as president and his plans for his second term.
“The centerpiece of our administration is one word: freedom. The foundation has been a program aimed at lowering tax rates, revitalizing the economy, and creating opportunity so that every American gets a chance at a good life,” Reagan said. “When I came in here I started thinking about a phrase that you might be familiar with that expresses our philosophy of economic growth. It’s “Roll tide, roll.”
However, towards the end of his speech, Reagan turned away from policy and towards memorializing a good friend of his: Coach Bryant.
In the anecdote, Reagan describes a time when Bryant invited him to come to football practice before the president was scheduled to speak at a black-tie dinner.
I can’t go without talking a minute about a great man that I was proud to call friend—Bear Bryant. He was sort of the essential American. And, you know, a few years back, I set a kind of a record here at the University of Alabama. I was here to go to a formal dinner where I was to be the after dinner speaker. And Bear invited me to come out and visit practice out here—football practice.
Well, the only way it could be worked out and the timing and all was that I had to put the tux on first. So, there I was out on the practice field throwing a ball around with about 65 fellows, and I was in black tie. Bear got quite a kick out of this. But he really started to laugh when it began to rain.
He was a leader, patriotic to the core, devoted to his players, and inspired by a winning spirit that wouldn’t quit. And that’s how he made legends out of ordinary people. He was a true American hero, and he was Alabama’s own.
The full text of Reagan’s address at The University of Alabama can be read here.
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