Touchdown Tony by Tony Nathan

Author:Tony Nathan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

CHAPTER NINE

* * *

ROLL TIDE

Once I arrived at the University of Alabama, it didn’t take long for Coach Bryant to put me in my place. During a scrimmage against the second-team defense before my freshman season in 1975, I scored a touchdown on a long run. Once I reached the end zone, I started celebrating like NFL receiver Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, doing the “Funky Chicken” dance. Hey, I was excited about scoring a touchdown in college, even if it was only during an intra-squad scrimmage.

But when I reached the sideline, Coach Bryant pointed at me and said he wanted to see me.

“Son, we don’t have no lightning bugs on this team,” he said. “Just hand the ball to the official and act like you’ve been there before.”

Simple enough. I left the celebrating alone after that experience. Coach Bryant told me to be humble and go to work, which is exactly what my parents taught me while I was growing up. I had a momentary lapse of judgment, and I never did it again. Coach Bryant taught me that you don’t have to show your rear end to be good. He didn’t want any showboats on his team, and I wasn’t about to be one if he didn’t want them. From that point forward, I handed the football to an official after I scored.

I was not raised to consider myself a superstar. I knew that I was only one of many players on a team, a cog in the wheel, and certainly not the key part. Some guys let the notoriety go to their heads, but Coach Bryant, my parents, and my girlfriend, Johnnie, kept me grounded. They weren’t going to let me get carried away about being a running back at Alabama.

Of course, I had to wait my turn to play, which also helped keep me humble. Even though Coach Bryant liked to play a lot of running backs, there were several guys ahead of me in the pecking order. I mostly returned kickoffs during my first season, but I occasionally received some playing time at running back. Coach Bryant also let me line up at safety during a couple of preseason practices. Of course, he told me not to get comfortable on defense because I wasn’t going to play on that side of the ball. It was like he was teasing me.

During my freshman season, I became good friends with Jeff Rutledge. Jeff played a lot as a freshman, and I could tell right away that he was going to be a good college quarterback. He was smart and knew how to play the game. While Jeff and I were rivals in high school, we got along great at Alabama and became good friends. Now, I didn’t like talking with him about the past. The only way we talked about Banks High versus Woodlawn High was if Jeff brought it up. As the reigning football champ, he had the upper hand—no doubt about it. Although Woodlawn teams usually beat his in baseball and basketball, those victories didn’t compare to his wins in football.

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