Last week on National Signing Day Ryan Smith of Cordova High School signed with Auburn University.
There was a column in the Daily Mountain Eagle, the Jasper, Al newspaper about the signing. They wrote that Smith was the first player from Cordova to sign with Auburn since Jimmy Abel in 1958.
My mom called to tell me about it, and Tidefans member Bad Pony wrote to tell me about it.
Both hail from Cordova. And Jimmy Abel is my uncle, my Mom's brother.
He was one of the best football players in Cordova history and possibly the most sought after prospect in the state his senior year.
6' 185 pound running backs who could fly were rare in those days.
Back then, Cordova, even though they were a small 2A school played Walker County High, a 5A power, every year.
In 1958 Walker won the state championship. Going into the final game of the season, against Cordova, Walker was undefeated and had not been scored upon.
Walker was led by Billy Richardson, a vital member of Bama's 1961 Championship team.
The first time Jimmy Abel touched the ball he ran 75 yards for a touchdown on a screen pass. Nobody came close to catching him.
Walker ended up winning the game but Jimmy was very impressive.
Sitting on the Cordova bench that night were Paul Bryant and Shug Jordan.
Recruiting restrictions were a bit less stringent than they are now....lol
They both wanted Jimmy bad.
The next day, My Dad and my Uncle Oxford took Jimmy to meet with Coach Bryant before a Bama game. Jimmy's three year old nephew(me) tagged along.
I didn't get to go into to the meeting but my Dad did. He said Coach Bryant pointed to pictures of past All-Americans on the wall and said to Jimmy, "Son, if you come here, your picture will be on that wall".
Jimmy was a die hard Bama fan and wanted to play for Bama more than anything.
One problem. He and Billy Richardson had developed a heated rivalry during their high school careers. Not so much personally, because they barely knew each other. But the local media was constantly comparing them and debating who was the better player. An innocent and totally unfounded dislike developed.
So when Billy signed with Bama, Jimmy signed with Auburn.
Before he could report to the Plains Jimmy became an unexpected Father.
He married. Goodbye football career.
There was no opportunity to make a living in Cordova, so Jimmy joined the Navy. When he left for service his wife left him. He's never seen his child.
It devastated him for years.
After his service, Jimmy returned to his roots and has been a huge Bama fan for all of his adult life.
A few years ago he had a heart attack and was thought to be gone.
He was literally brought back to life on a table in a Birmingham Hospital.
The doctor was Billy Richardson.
In his room a few days later Billy walked in to check on Jimmy. He said "I thought we'd lost you". Jimmy thanked him for saving his life and they talked for a few minutes about football.
As he left Billy turned and said, "By the way, you were the best football player I ever played against".
All my young life I asked Jimmy to talk to me about his football days and he never would. My Mom had told me how good he was but Jimmy simply wouldn't talk about it. I'm sure there was a certain amount of bitterness about the way things turned out for him and a promising football career.
But after that conversation with Billy Richardson something changed in Jimmy. He called me to come over one day. He said "I want to show you something".
He pulled out a VHS tape. An old friend had transfered the film of the 1958 Cordova-Walker game to the tape. Jimmy played it. We watched it together and I was mesmerized. When I saw Jimmy's long touchdown run I was amazed at how fast he was.
He smiled and kinda laughed. He said, "Know what's funny about that play?"
I said "What"?
Jimmy said...."I think they thought they could catch me".
After many many years, Jimmy found his peace with football.
And it was all because of his biggest rival, Billy Richardson.
Roll Tide!
sip
There was a column in the Daily Mountain Eagle, the Jasper, Al newspaper about the signing. They wrote that Smith was the first player from Cordova to sign with Auburn since Jimmy Abel in 1958.
My mom called to tell me about it, and Tidefans member Bad Pony wrote to tell me about it.
Both hail from Cordova. And Jimmy Abel is my uncle, my Mom's brother.
He was one of the best football players in Cordova history and possibly the most sought after prospect in the state his senior year.
6' 185 pound running backs who could fly were rare in those days.
Back then, Cordova, even though they were a small 2A school played Walker County High, a 5A power, every year.
In 1958 Walker won the state championship. Going into the final game of the season, against Cordova, Walker was undefeated and had not been scored upon.
Walker was led by Billy Richardson, a vital member of Bama's 1961 Championship team.
The first time Jimmy Abel touched the ball he ran 75 yards for a touchdown on a screen pass. Nobody came close to catching him.
Walker ended up winning the game but Jimmy was very impressive.
Sitting on the Cordova bench that night were Paul Bryant and Shug Jordan.
Recruiting restrictions were a bit less stringent than they are now....lol
They both wanted Jimmy bad.
The next day, My Dad and my Uncle Oxford took Jimmy to meet with Coach Bryant before a Bama game. Jimmy's three year old nephew(me) tagged along.
I didn't get to go into to the meeting but my Dad did. He said Coach Bryant pointed to pictures of past All-Americans on the wall and said to Jimmy, "Son, if you come here, your picture will be on that wall".
Jimmy was a die hard Bama fan and wanted to play for Bama more than anything.
One problem. He and Billy Richardson had developed a heated rivalry during their high school careers. Not so much personally, because they barely knew each other. But the local media was constantly comparing them and debating who was the better player. An innocent and totally unfounded dislike developed.
So when Billy signed with Bama, Jimmy signed with Auburn.
Before he could report to the Plains Jimmy became an unexpected Father.
He married. Goodbye football career.
There was no opportunity to make a living in Cordova, so Jimmy joined the Navy. When he left for service his wife left him. He's never seen his child.
It devastated him for years.
After his service, Jimmy returned to his roots and has been a huge Bama fan for all of his adult life.
A few years ago he had a heart attack and was thought to be gone.
He was literally brought back to life on a table in a Birmingham Hospital.
The doctor was Billy Richardson.
In his room a few days later Billy walked in to check on Jimmy. He said "I thought we'd lost you". Jimmy thanked him for saving his life and they talked for a few minutes about football.
As he left Billy turned and said, "By the way, you were the best football player I ever played against".
All my young life I asked Jimmy to talk to me about his football days and he never would. My Mom had told me how good he was but Jimmy simply wouldn't talk about it. I'm sure there was a certain amount of bitterness about the way things turned out for him and a promising football career.
But after that conversation with Billy Richardson something changed in Jimmy. He called me to come over one day. He said "I want to show you something".
He pulled out a VHS tape. An old friend had transfered the film of the 1958 Cordova-Walker game to the tape. Jimmy played it. We watched it together and I was mesmerized. When I saw Jimmy's long touchdown run I was amazed at how fast he was.
He smiled and kinda laughed. He said, "Know what's funny about that play?"
I said "What"?
Jimmy said...."I think they thought they could catch me".
After many many years, Jimmy found his peace with football.
And it was all because of his biggest rival, Billy Richardson.
Roll Tide!
sip
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