Sad career endings.

[37bamagrl]

I too remember watching galloway on the sidelines crying, we were sitting right behind him. it was SOO sad, because you knew it was over for him.

Prothro's would be the next saddest..although while at the game i didn't realize it would be CAREER ending....

I was at the game when Marvin Constant got hurt too...his was sad...but what a way to go out! SAVING the game against LSU!

then you look at someone like Chris Lett...who never even had a chance for his career to get started. that's sad.

 

[Troy Chimes]

Kerry Goode, is the first one that comes to mind. Such a talent.

 

[Crimson Hawk]

I don't think I'd put Ray Hudson on the list. Yes his senior season was cut short, but he still played three and one-half years for Alabama, not to mention a redshirt year. He ended up with a situation very similar to what we saw with Ahmad Galloway.

Just a few I would go with:

Tyrone Prothro
Marvin Constant
Chris Lett
Antonio Carter
Donnie Lowe
Pierre Goode

I put Ray in there because he epitomized what I was asking for. Played back-up & paid his dues until his senior season, & when he finally got his chance to start, fell to injury.

BTW, Pierre Goode? Did you mean Kerry? Didn't know Pierre ever had an injury.

 

[jthomas666]

I say to this day that Kerry Goode would have won the Heisman trophy if he had never been hurt.

No question. Good size and lightening quick. The commentators were all stunned at his first half performance.

 

[JDCrimson]

My memory is a little funny so correct me if I am wrong

DT - I know its outside of college but his career ended while he was the most feared pass rusher in the NFL since LT. Probably would have broken the sack records standing at the time. It is still a shame that he has not been inducted into the HoF.

Craig Sanderson - Fastest white guy I ever saw and very tough. The knees just wouldnt hold up.

Seems like some guy died on us during the Curry years from a car accident or heat stroke - I cant remember his name.

Kareem McNeal - Did his injury happen before or after his career ended at UofA.

Steven Harris/Chris Hood - did not one of these guys fail to academically qualify his senior year?

Lane Bearden - I know he was a senior and it was gutty what did for us but it was still kind of sad too.

 

[CoachThomas]

Kerry Goode,Prothro and Johns.

 

[FitToBeTide]

My memory is a little funny so correct me if I am wrong

DT - I know its outside of college but his career ended while he was the most feared pass rusher in the NFL since LT. Probably would have broken the sack records standing at the time. It is still a shame that he has not been inducted into the HoF.

Craig Sanderson - Fastest white guy I ever saw and very tough. The knees just wouldnt hold up.

Seems like some guy died on us during the Curry years from a car accident or heat stroke - I cant remember his name.

Kareem McNeal - Did his injury happen before or after his career ended at UofA.

Steven Harris/Chris Hood - did not one of these guys fail to academically qualify his senior year?

Lane Bearden - I know he was a senior and it was gutty what did for us but it was still kind of sad too.

I believe it was shortly after he left. Could be wrong.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Bobby Humphrey had stress fractures in his foot in the spring before his senior season. Played some that year, but was never quite right, then broke it again. He never really had a senior season.

In my personal memory, we've had three Heisman-quality backs who were never fully up to speed their senior years: Kerry Goode, Bobby Humphrey and Shaun Alexander.

 

[BigEasyTider]

BTW, Pierre Goode? Did you mean Kerry? Didn't know Pierre ever had an injury.

That's right. Typo on my part.

Bobby Humphrey had stress fractures in his foot in the spring before his senior season. Played some that year, but was never quite right, then broke it again. He never really had a senior season.

That's right. He was on his way to a huge season, even with the stress fracture issues from the Spring, and many had him as the Heisman frontrunner when he broke his foot later that Fall.

Personally, I think he was the greatest tailback we ever had, ever better than Shaun. Had he stayed healthy as a senior, he may have won the Heisman, and even so he was a first round pick, the NFL Rookie of the Year, played in a Super Bowl, and made a Pro Bowl... all in his first two NFL seasons. It's just a shame the drugs ended his career the way they did.

 

[Bama Torch in Pcola]

No question. Good size and lightening quick. The commentators were all stunned at his first half performance.

Bama sure wouldn't have gone 5-6 in '84 if he'd stayed healthy. And Humphrey and Jelks may have never had the chance to play as much as they did in '85. He would have taken many votes away from Bo Jackson, he wasn't quite as fast, but he was plenty fast, and he had better vision than Bo.

 

[Cowtown Bama]

It wasn't career-ending, but I remember Tarrant Lynch having blazing speed as a tailback his freshman year. He blew his knee out and eventually became a good fullback. I don't remember Vantriese Davis playing any more after getting injured against Notre Dame in 86 either.

 

[Bama1970]

No question. Good size and lightening quick. The commentators were all stunned at his first half performance.

KG's first half against BC was one of the greatest performances I've ever watched.

On a side note, a guy that sadly never made it to the Capstone had all the potential in the world for a great career: Deon McCleod.

 

[Troy Chimes]

Vernon Wilkerson, was in a terrible car wreck which also killed one of our players. Can't recall his name. Vernon, was a starter and hardly saw any playing after his accident. I think the same year about 1986 a player died in practice of a heat stroke. Willie something?

 

[Bama1970]

Vernon Wilkerson, was in a terrible car wreck which also killed one of our players. Can't recall his name. Vernon, was a starter and hardly saw any playing after his accident. I think the same year about 1986 a player died in practice of a heat stroke. Willie something?

George Scruggs was the player killed in the car accident. Willie Ryles(sp) is the other player you are referring to.

Vernon came back and ended his career in '87 I believe. He was the last CPB recruit to suit up for the Tide.

 

[Troy Chimes]

That's it!! Thanks. That was one tough off season for the TIDE.

 

[jthomas666]

My memory is a little funny so correct me if I am wrong

DT - I know its outside of college but his career ended while he was the most feared pass rusher in the NFL since LT. Probably would have broken the sack records standing at the time. It is still a shame that he has not been inducted into the HoF.

Sounds like Derrick Thomas

Craig Sanderson - Fastest white guy I ever saw and very tough. The knees just wouldnt hold up.

I've never seen a receiver as good as getting one toe in bounds as Sanderson.

Kareem McNeal - Did his injury happen before or after his career ended at UofA.

No, the injury ended his career. He played well as an underclassman, really had a down year as a junior, IIRC, and then was injured in a car accident.

 

[GrandBayTider]

I know he has already been mentioned but Marvin Constant was something special. He met the LSU QB in mid-air at the goal line and kept him out to win the game for Bama. In the process, he shredded his knee and never played another down. He had the size and skills to be mentioned among our other great LBs eventually, but he never really got that chance. He truly gave all he had for the tide!

:BigA:

 

[P. C. Pachyderm]

Personally, I think he was the greatest tailback we ever had, ever better than Shaun.

Agreed ... I still consider Humphreys to be, with the possible exceptions of Bo Jackson and Herschel Walker, the best college tailback I've ever seen.

One of the Penn State players, after he ran all over them his junior year, called Humphreys the "Cadillac of running backs" and said if they didn't give him the Heisman they should stop giving it. Later that year Humphreys sustained the injury that more or less squelched the rest of his college career.

 

[BEATtutorsee]

Prothro's has got to be at the top or dang near it IMO. So much talent, so much heart, and so much potential to be ended on such a gruesome injury.

 

[CrimsonEyeshade]

One that stands out in my mind is Gary Rutledge. He separated his shoulder before the 1974 season opener against Maryland and never really played in 1974, his senior year.

Jack O'rear is another one that had his career cut short because of injury.

What an amazing junior season Rooster had.

I remember the Orange Bowl his senior year (when Todd through two fourth quarter picks deep in Notre Dame territory). Rutledge came off the bench, with his bum shoulder. On at least one play, his ball fakes (much superior to Richard's) had the Irish defense bamboozled, but because of his injury he couldn't get enough on his throws to hit wide-open receivers.

Perhaps the most frustrating football game in my four years on campus.