Paul Bear Bryant

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Running Header: PAUL “BEAR” BRYANT Paul “Bear” Bryant was considered by many to be one of the greatest coaches of all times. He was a legend, a hero and made a fashion statement with his houndstooth check hat. Bryant once stated, “I just have a talent for finding the heart of a football team” and he proved just that. He led several teams to hold winning records before returning to his alma mater, the University of Alabama. Bryant was born September 11, 1913 in Moro Bottoms, Arkansas. He was the youngest son of twelve children. Ida and Wilson Bryant raised their children on a farm right outside Fordyce, Arkansas, population 3,602. Growing up, Bryant always knew he was a winner and would do anything to prove it. When he was twelve years old, he made a bet with some boys in town that he could run five miles in thirty minutes. While his parents told him not to make bets he could not keep, he was determined to “…show both of them...and everyone else…that I’m a winner.” He ran the five miles in thirty minutes with twenty seconds to spare and won $2.00. That next year, at the age of 13, he played football for the first time while wearing boots with cleats attached to the bottom of them. When Bryant was 14, a traveling bear act came through town. The owner offered $1.00 a minute for anyone who could pin down the bear. Bryant jumped up on the stage, fearless and determined, and pinned the bear. This is when he earned his nickname “Bear”. Bryant’s football career began when he played on the Fordyce Red Bug team. He led them to a perfect season and state championship when he was 17. The following year, Coach Hank Crisp, assistant coach for the University of Alabama, came to recruit two of Bryant’s teammates, but left with only Bryant’s name added to the roster. His lifelong dream came true in 1933 when he helped lead the Alabama Crimson Tide team
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