Story told by Paul Bear Bryant......
I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player and I was havinā trouble finding the place. Getting hungry I spied an old cinder block building with a small sign out front that simply said, āRestaurant.ā I pull up, go in and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems Iām the only white āfellaā in the place. But the food smelled good so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a t-shirt and cap comes over and says, āWhat do you need?ā I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today? He says, āYou probably wonāt like it here, today weāre having chitlins, collared greens and black eyed peas with cornbread. Iāll bet you donāt even know what chitlins are, do you?ā I looked him square in the eye and said, āIām from Arkansas, Iāve probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like Iām in the right place.ā They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, āYou aināt from around here then?ā And I explain that Iām the new football coach in Tuscaloosa at the University and Iām here to find whatever the boyās name was and he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach. As Iām paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay.
The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show that Iād been there. I was so new that I didnāt have any yet. It really wasnāt that big of a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him Iād get him one.
I met the kid I was lookinā for later that afternoon and I donāt remember his name, but do remember I didnāt think much of him when I met him. I had wasted a day, or so I thought.
When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldnāt forget it. Heck, back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. And the next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, āThanks for the best lunch Iāve ever had, Paul Bear Bryant.ā
Now letās go a whole ābunchaā years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and Iām back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Heās got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me heās got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on to see some others while Iām down there. Two days later, Iām in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and itās this kid who just turned me down, and he says, āCoach, do you still want me at Alabama?ā And I said, āYes I sure do.ā And he says o.k. Heāll come. So I say, āWell son, what changed your mind?ā And he said, āWhen my Grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasnāt going nowhere but Alabama, and wasnāt playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since yaāll met.ā Well, I didnāt know his granddad from Adamās housecat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, āYou probably donāt remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that heās had hung in that place ever since. That pictureās his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him. My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to send that picture to him, but you kept your word, and to Grandpa, thatās everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess Iām going to.ā
I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mamma taught me were always right. It donāt cost nuthinā to be nice. It donāt cost nuthinā to do the right thing most of the time and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breakinā your word to someone. When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and heās still running that place, but it looks a lot better now; and he didnāt have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that wouldā made Dreamland proud and I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and donāt think I didnāt leave some new ones for him too, along with a signed football. I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when theyāre out on the road. And if you remember anything else from me, remember this ā it really doesnāt cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable.
