News Article: Kerry Goode: From football to faith

[BamaNation]

awesome read on one of my all-time favorites:

From Football to Faith

On July 28, 1965, although unknown at the time to all but his parents, a legend was born to a Town Creek family which was destined to produce several legends

www.moultonadvertiser.com

EDIT on 7/23/22 To add the GoFundMe appeal from below

Donate to Kerry's Medical Expenses, organized by KAtrina Vince

Hey guys! I'm sure you all have seen Kerry's latest post about his newest diagnosis. :( (he ca… KAtrina Vince needs your support for Kerry's Medical Expenses

gofund.me

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

He still on my shortlist of favorite Alabama players ever, and not primarily, let alone solely, because of how good he was…

 

[Crimson Steel]

That was one fast dude. Got his autograph years ago. Good guy. All the best to you, Kerry.

 

[crimsonaudio]

That was one fast dude. Got his autograph years ago.

You must be fast.

 

[aerospace_ray]

Loved watching Kerry and Pierre play. Back in the day my friends use to say there is fast and then there is Hazelwood fast. Amazing games between the Courtland Chiefs, Colbert County Indians and "tha Creek" (Hazelwood Golden Bears). Long time ago, good memories. RTR

 

[Saban4Ever]

Kerry is a true leader, not only in football but in life. I love reading his Facebook posts several times a week. He is an inspiration and a witness for the Lord.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I did not know the Goodes were related to Antonio Langham, although I did know they were from the same little place.

I've always thought that Kerry Goode's injury in the 1984 opener was the biggest reason our long bowl streak and consecutive winning seasons mark came to an end. Think about it: the dude had 297 all-purpose yards when he went out with a knee injury against Boston College and the Tide leading, 31-14. While I realize "but that was the defense that gave up the points," our offense suddenly began making turnovers and had no real threat, too. Is it not realistic that with Goode playing we at least beat the Vols, LSU, BC, and probably Vandy, which turns a 5-6 team into a 9-2 team. NO, we were not anything close to national title material that year, but the loss of Goode was probably the biggest rock in that avalanche of unbelievability. (For those who weren't around for it - it was one of those years when it felt like every time we had turned the corner into something decent, we regressed three steps).

I later saw what a good guy Goode is (the whole family really), which is also inspirational.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[BamaNation]

I did not know the Goodes were related to Antonio Langham, although I did know they were from the same little place.

I've always thought that Kerry Goode's injury in the 1984 opener was the biggest reason our long bowl streak and consecutive winning seasons mark came to an end. Think about it: the dude had 297 all-purpose yards when he went out with a knee injury against Boston College and the Tide leading, 31-14. While I realize "but that was the defense that gave up the points," our offense suddenly began making turnovers and had no real threat, too. Is it not realistic that with Goode playing we at least beat the Vols, LSU, BC, and probably Vandy, which turns a 5-6 team into a 9-2 team. NO, we were not anything close to national title material that year, but the loss of Goode was probably the biggest rock in that avalanche of unbelievability. (For those who weren't around for it - it was one of those years when it felt like every time we had turned the corner into something decent, we regressed three steps).

I later saw what a good guy Goode is (the whole family really), which is also inspirational.

Thanks for sharing.

Exactly. That game was hugely impactful on me as a pre-teen. I was devastated when Kerry got hurt. IMHO, he was as dominant in the just over two quarters that he played before he got hurt in the BC game as any player has ever been in my lifetime for Alabama over the course of a half until Tua. (I'm sure others might bring up other players in those 25-30 years but that's my view). Stupid Legion Field turf monster with another takedown .

Here's an article from 2015 talking about his announcement that day that he had ALS:
https://www.al.com/sports/2015/09/kerry_goode_might_have_been_an.html

Watch the video of his 2H opening kickoff return of 99yds. That's Hazlewood Fast

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Exactly. That game was hugely impactful on me as a pre-teen. I was devastated when Kerry got hurt. IMHO, he was as dominant in the just over two quarters that he played before he got hurt in the BC game as any player has ever been in my lifetime for Alabama over the course of a half until Tua. (I'm sure others might bring up other players in those 25-30 years but that's my view). Stupid Legion Field turf monster with another takedown .

Here's an article from 2015 talking about his announcement that day that he had ALS:
https://www.al.com/sports/2015/09/kerry_goode_might_have_been_an.html

Watch the video of his 2H opening kickoff return of 99yds. That's Hazlewood Fast

I don't like to go the "injury excuse" route, but the impact the loss of Goode had on that team was completely devastating. I liked Paul Ott Carruth, but let's face it - he was no Kerry Goode. Combine trying to figure out whether your QB is gonna be Mike Shula or Vince Sutton and a lack of playmakers, a clueless head coach, and years of front-running in recruiting where our pitch narrowed down to, "Come to Alabama, we'll win with you or without you", and failing to sign Bo Jackson, we were in a mess. And that mess had begun to bleed through in Coach Bryant's last year and only got worse.

Alabama had the worst offense in the SEC in 1984. After Goode went down, we only cleared 27 points two other times and those were SW La and Cincy, who were awful at the time. Other than the Vols game, we failed to top 24 points in any of our SEC games and went 2-4 - but we lost games by 9, 10, 1, and 2 points without Kerry.

We lost Bobby Humphrey in 1988, too, and folks forget that while we were 9-3, without Derrick Thomas we were probably 4-7.

 

[rolltd]

Kerry Goode will always be one of my favorite Bama players on and off the field, a great man

 

[deliveryman35]

His injury was a watershed moment in 1984. He avoids that injury and we beat Boston College and that season all of sudden is completely different. Those of us who were alive then and saw that game would understand.

 

[92tide]

Exactly. That game was hugely impactful on me as a pre-teen. I was devastated when Kerry got hurt. IMHO, he was as dominant in the just over two quarters that he played before he got hurt in the BC game as any player has ever been in my lifetime for Alabama over the course of a half until Tua. (I'm sure others might bring up other players in those 25-30 years but that's my view). Stupid Legion Field turf monster with another takedown .

Here's an article from 2015 talking about his announcement that day that he had ALS:
https://www.al.com/sports/2015/09/kerry_goode_might_have_been_an.html

Watch the video of his 2H opening kickoff return of 99yds. That's Hazlewood Fast

i remember that game well.

 

[92tide]

i didn't realize coach hogan had coached kerry goode. he was head coach at haleyville for my last few years there.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

His injury was a watershed moment in 1984. He avoids that injury and we beat Boston College and that season all of sudden is completely different. Those of us who were alive then and saw that game would understand.

It was like hitting an offense with a nuclear bomb and us playing with what was left.


Look at some our points totals in big games post-Goode injury:
0 - Boston College - we had 31 points when he left the game and finished with 31
6 - Ga Tech
14 - Georgia (both Vandy and Ga Tech got 35 against the Dawgs that year.......)
6 - Penn St (but we won)
14 - LSU
17 - Auburn

And while we had 29 points against Cincy, Auburn had 60, Rutgers had 43, and Temple had 42.

National champions? No (although 1984 was a WEIRD year that gave BYU a title).

But an SEC contender? Without question.

 

[BhamToTexas]

I remember that game vividly. I was a devastated young boy that day.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I remember that game vividly. I was a devastated young boy that day.

Blowing that lead helped vault Flutie into the lead in the Heisman race and then Bo went down.
Miami gets the credit because of the Hail Mary, but we helped him get it, too.

Not knocking Flutie (and it's not his fault the Heisman is more of a Hype-man Award), but there must have been ten QBs that were actually better football players than he that year but didn't have the stats.

Look at who else was a QB that year in CFB:
Chuck Long
Bernie Kosar
Kerwin Bell
Frank Reich
Randall Cunningham
Mike Tomczak
Jim Everett
Don Majkowski
Mark Rypien

And for that matter Robbie Bosco of unbeaten BYU had better stats.

It always had the feel in the "living right now" coverage of it that Flutie pole vaulted the others to the front of the race. I honestly wondered if part of that wasn't because Boston was reasonably close to the ESPN studios in Connecticut - because they'd start every CFB update that year with "this is how Flutie did today."

 

[BamaNation]

Hey folks, If you aren’t reading Kerry Goode’s frequent facebook posts and need a word of encouragement in your own life, you need to follow him.

He’s had a rough summer and has just been diagnosed with EPI as a complicating issue with his ALS. He needs some expensive medicine and a gofundme has been set up to help him get it:

Donate to Kerry's Medical Expenses, organized by KAtrina Vince

Hey guys! I'm sure you all have seen Kerry's latest post about his newest diagnosis. :( (he ca… KAtrina Vince needs your support for Kerry's Medical Expenses

gofund.me

 

[Windsortide]

Good article always liked him. One of my favorite players of that era. I had high hopes for him then Gene Jelks.