Jersey Countdown to Gameday

10 days away and we celebrate number 10.
Steadman Shealy the All- American, Vince Sutton with the rifle arm, (Please pray for Vince, his health is really bad and he needs the Bama Nation), Darren Greenwood and Tommy Johnson defensive standouts and AJ McCarron the man with the most hardware…which includes 3 National championships.
Today I salute a guy that show me the ropes as a freshman. I had a front row seat to things most people never saw or heard of…#10 Walter Lewis from Brewton, Alabama
Walter Lewis' place in Alabama football history is secure as he was the first black starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide. He also was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy in 1983 although his chances of winning it were slim having thrown for 1,991 yards and 14 touchdowns (as well as 15 interceptions). Not to mention, that yours truly came on the scene and took a lot carries away from Walter.
He was, without a doubt, the most dangerous man to take a snap on any given play that I have seen in Crimson. His skill-set most resembled Michael Vick, during a time when mobility was not considered a particularly important trait. Today, Lewis would be considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.
Lewis was the starting quarterback when Alabama handed Penn State a stinging 42-21 defeat at Birmingham in week five in 1982, Bryant's last season. The Lions were ranked No. 3 and 'Bama No. 4.
Lewis tells a fascinating story about his team's preparation leading up to that 1982 showdown. He calls it "the tie game."
"There's a story behind that game that people don't know," Lewis said. "Coach Bryant, that whole week we were practicing, we hadn't played anybody and were ranked [in the top five]. But the coaches were very tight, and that made us tight as players. The whole week, you couldn't laugh, you couldn't kid around. Everybody was just so tight.
"Coach Bryant did something that actually loosened us up."
He always told the players to make sure and wear a tie on Fridays when going to a game, but on this particular week ...
"That day he didn't say a word, and that was a big deal for us," Lewis said. "Every player was running off the field, and some of them said to me, 'Walter, what are you going to wear?' I told them I'm just going to wear a polo shirt and a pair of slacks."
Of the 85 players on the team, about 75 ended up going without a tie. And nothing was said by Bryant.
"But the next morning, we went to our pregame meal," Lewis said. "Coach Bryant just walked in and said, 'I want you, you, you and everybody in this room that doesn’t have a tie to get the hell out. If you don't have one, go get one for the team meeting.'"
Alabama's players were in a panic. Most of them didn't bring a tie on the hour-long drive from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, so they were scrambling to find one.
"I called back to Tuscaloosa and asked some people to bring a tie so I could get back to the meeting," Lewis said.
Players and coaches were borrowing ties from waiters at the hotel, but ultimately, some 40 players couldn't attend the meeting because they didn't have one.
The whole thing, Lewis believes, was a stroke of genius by Bryant.
"That totally diverted our attention away from the game," he said. "And that's why we won, 42-21. I'm telling you, it was masterful in terms of what he did. He didn't say anything about it, but I knew in the back of his mind he knew exactly what he was doing on Friday.
"He knew the heartbeat. Even at the age of 69, he knew the heartbeat of the team, and he knew how to push the buttons in order to get you to do what you need to do to perform well on Saturday."
"It's a great rivalry with Penn State," said Lewis, who's now a Vice President of a financial firm in Birmingham.
Walter played for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL) and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

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9 days
Condolences to the late Victor Ellis. Step aside Freddie Kitchens, Mike Smith, Alvin Hope and all of the other 9’s. There’s a new sheriff in town that wore number 9. If Bo Scarbrough and Da’Shawn Hand can be half as good, together we’ll be great.
Have you ever stop to wonder if Landon Collins, TJ Yeldon and Amari Cooper had stayed for their senior year? How deadly last year’s National Champions would have been? Scary Huh?
Amari “Coop” Cooper attended Miami Northwestern High School in Miami, Florida, where he played as a wide receiver. As a junior, he missed much of the season with an injury but still managed to be one of Teddy Bridgewater's primary targets. Cooper was dominant on the 7-on-7 circuit at various college campuses before his senior season. He had a show-out performance at Alabama's summer camp, and that quickly led to an offer from Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
He was also invited to play at the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game, where he had a 75-yard touchdown grab and a 93-yard punt return for a score. In addition to being a standout in football, Cooper also starred in basketball and track at Miami Northwestern.
Cooper earned consensus Freshman All-American honors and was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team by the league coaches. He became Alabama's all-time leader in receptions (229), receiving yards (3,463) and receiving touchdowns (31). Cooper was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, finishing third behind Marcus Mariota and Melvin Gordon. He won the Biletnikoff Award that season and was also named a unanimous All-American. The Oakland Raiders selected Cooper with the 4th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Cooper became the first Oakland Raider rookie in franchise history to reach the 1,000-yard mark and the only receiver in the club to reach that same mark since Randy Moss. He was selected as an alternate for the 2016 Pro Bowl,
The Raiders hope Wide Receiver Amari Cooper Come Out Of His Shell In 2016. His first game of his rookie season found him on the receiving of dirty action by one, Adam “Pacman” Jones. Jones rips Coop’s helmet off and slam it against the helmet. Coop didn’t retaliate, instead he went to work punishing every defensive back on his way to the Pro Bowl and never forgetting who gets the glory.
As a rookie, “Coop” got in and out of his media sessions nearly as quickly as he got out of his breaks, and while that’s not a bad thing at all for a rookie trying to focus on his craft, it did create a sense of intrigue from media and fans alike who wanted to know more about the dynamic receiver.
However, heading into Year 2, Cooper is coming out of his shell and becoming more vocal, and it’s a difference that quarterback Derek Carr is noticing.
“Yeah, man, he [Cooper] is talking more,” said Carr. “He is more talkative, you can just see. Like any rookie, he did it right. He came in and he probably did it on purpose a little bit too. You just come in, shut your mouth and go to work and that’s exactly what he did. Everyone respected him. No one could ever say anything about his work ethic besides, ‘Man, he’s quiet.’ That’s the only negative thing you could say, and that’s not even a bad thing. He’s definitely more talkative this year and he’s just being himself.”
“Probably just being around the guys for a longer amount of time,” Cooper explained. “I’ve never been the type of person who just walks into a building or a place that I’ve never been before and just be this outspoken person. I just like to chill out first. See how things are going.”
The old adage is “actions speak louder than words,” and while that’s true, if the Raiders get a more vocal Cooper, Watch Out NFL in 2016 and beyond. If not, I’ll brag on him….and he’ll continue cutting up the defense.
Here’s a song tribute to Amari Cooper because he’s a Bad Man!! Sing with me…..
When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That's Amari
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine
That's Amari
Great Job Coop!
Pacman
https://youtu.be/1VJBmfyEg10

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8 Days from kickoff

And the number traditionally has been dominated by kicker. Paul Trodd, Butch Worley, and Alan Ward to name a few. Freddie Roach shifted the trend and our honoree took the number and became a Bama legend.
Julio “ WHO” Jones /ˈhulioʊ/ attended Foley High School in Foley, Alabama, where he played wide receiver and defensive end for the Foley Lions high school football team from 2004–2007. In addition to football, Jones was also a starter on the basketball team and was a standout track athlete. He was the state champion in the long jump (24-2 or 7.40m) and triple jump (47-5 or 14.52m) in both 2006 and 2007. He was named the 2006-07 Gatorade T&F Athlete of the Year in the state of Alabama. He was the state champion in the high jump (6-6 or 1.98m) during the 2007 indoor season. He was named All-county selection in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He won Mr. Alabama Track & Field athlete of the year in 2007. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com

, Jones was listed as the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation in 2008. Urban Meyer, Tommy Tuberville, and Nick Saban all attended Jones’s spring game his senior season in 2007, and as ESPN’s top-ranked recruit, Jones managed to draw the network for Foley’s rivalry game against nearby Daphne High.
WHO quickly became an impact player and fan favorite. Jones became the first true freshman receiver to start in a season opener for the Crimson Tide. Jones was named to the second team All-SEC, SEC Freshman of the Year. His performance in only his freshman year drew comparisons to NFL greats.
"This guy is a unique, rare prospect for the wide receiver position with his supreme blend of size, power, speed and agility. He reminds us of a high school version of Michael Irvin, but at this stage Jones is more explosive and faster." An NFL scout put Jones in the same category as Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who at the time was the second-leading receiver in the NFL During his sophomore season with Alabama in 2009, Jones helped lead the Tide to an undefeated 14–0 season including a victory in the 2010 BCS National Championship Game.
The story starts like this: While playing Hide and Seek, Robert Lester maybe 5 or 6 years old at the time. Who also went on to play with Jones at the University of Alabama — had just been spotted. He bolted the other way, eventually reaching a 6-foot wooden fence.
As he scaled it, a push sent Lester hurtling to the ground. The fence was often lined with bottles and cans for slingshot target practice, and Lester landed on a jagged shard of glass. Blood and tears flowed. When Lester finally climbed to his feet, Jones stood alone on the other side of the fence.
“I did not do that,” Jones says now. “[Our friend] Freddy ran off. I stayed there, so Robert assumed that I pushed him. To this day, he’s been saying that.”
Lester says that it had to have been Jones who pushed him — because Julio was the only one fast enough to catch Lester during the chase — and, more than two decades later, this is the first time anyone has disputed his account. The legend of Julio Jones is full of mythmaking stories that lend to exaggeration and half-truths. Some have persisted from his childhood to a national championship run at Alabama to an All-Pro career with the Atlanta Falcons that has established him as arguably the most talented receiver alive. Jones is everything a pass catcher can be, all at once: smoother than big receivers, more powerful than small ones, a centaur in a helmet.
By the time Jones was 16, tales of his otherworldly feats of strength had made their way across the state. By the time he was 17, ESPN had ranked him as the best high school player in the country. People knew of Julio not only in the South, but everywhere.
“How many people do you know as a high school and college player who go by one name, and you know exactly who he is?” says former Alabama assistant and ace recruiter Lance Thompson. “It’s like Prince.”
Or, for that matter, like LeBron.
Julio graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 17-year-old prodigy in 2002 — Jones has been saddled with the greatest of expectations since he was a teenager. Nick Saban shaped a program around him. Thomas Dimitroff bet a franchise on him. Neither has regretted it.
Many athletes have crumbled beneath the weight of their potential. Jones has shrugged at it. “He didn’t get caught up in hype. I don’t think he ever went into the game thinking he had to perform at his best because this huge persona had been developed.” Says Tom Luginbill, ESPN’s national recruiting director.
Neither Julio nor LeBron have relinquished the status they earned in youth, but whereas James has always appeared at home in the spotlight — often to the point of relishing it — Jones has long been uneasy with attention.
The word humble is brought up in almost every conversation about Julio, but he says that isn’t quite right. Humility connotes a virtue. He sees no reason he should be commended. “It wasn’t about being humble,” Jones says. “It’s just how I am.”
“Everybody telling me, ‘You’re going to come in and you’re going to start,’ didn’t know they were telling me the wrong thing,” Jones says. “Young kids want to hear that: ‘You’re going to come here, and you’re going to play.’ I didn’t want that. I want to come and earn my spot.” When Saban famously told Jones, in his Foley living room, that the Crimson Tide would win “with or without him,” the wideout knew. He belonged in Tuscaloosa.
That approach is what struck John Parker Wilson. Jones was the most talented player on the roster from the moment he set foot in Tuscaloosa, but the senior quarterback was stunned by the way the freshman’s presence rippled through the program. “He changed the way everybody on the team felt about Alabama football,” Wilson says. “He’s the no. 1 recruit in the nation, and he comes and works harder than everybody else. Now we’ve got senior guys looking at this true freshman, 18 years old, and thinking, ‘Damn, I better get my .... together quick.’”

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