Alabama Football All-Time Team: The Two Best At Each Position
Nose Tackle – Nose Guard
Terrance Cody
Run‘stuffers’ are hard to measure. Their main job is to clog the middle and require double-teams from the opponent’s offensive line. Doing that job well leads to a lot of tackles, mostly by linebackers.
In the case of Terrance Cody, his contribution was diluted by the fact he rotated as a starter. Players like Josh Chapman were brought in to replace Cody on most passing downs. Plus, Cody only played two seasons for Alabama football, after using two years of eligibility in junior college.
But in the two seasons Cody played for the Tide, the Alabama football program was 26-2 and won a National Championship in 2009.
Speaking of that national championship, it would not have been possible without Terrance Cody. Against Lane Kiffin’s Tennessee Vols, it took two field goal blocks by Cody to survive in a 12-10 win.
Terrance was All-SEC and an All-American in 2008 and 2009. He made a total of 51 tackles in his two season Alabama football career. Again, those numbers do not begin to define Cody’s contribution to the 2008 and 2009 teams.
From 2010 – 2014 Cody played five seasons for the Baltimore Ravens. He made 87 NFL tackles and according to NFL records, Terrance Cody defended two passes as a professional. It would be interesting to know who Cody covered on those two passes because at Alabama he could never outrun Nick Saban.
Jesse Williams
Jesse Williams played two years of junior college football before coming to the Capstone. At Alabama, he played on the 2011 and 2012 National Championship teams.
In 2011, Williams played defensive end and moved to nose-guard for the 2012 season. He excelled at both positions. In 2012 he added fullback to his position resume, bulldozing defenders out of the way in goal-line offensive sets.
As with Cody, his tackle stats do not reflect how well he played as a defensive line stalwart.
Jesse Williams was signed by Seattle and was close to a starting role when a knee injury sidelined his first NFL season. Before he fully recovered from the injury Williams was diagnosed with cancer. He has battled the disease ever since. Williams has never played in a NFL regular season game.
Honorable Mention
Sammy Gellerstedt
Sammy Gellerstedt played one season for Alabama football, in 1968. According to UA Athletic department archives, he was the starting nose-guard at 5′ 8″ and 196 lbs.
Sammy made the most of his physical abilities. As a sophomore in 1968, he earned All-SEC and All-American honors. Paul Bryant loved Sammy as a player but he kicked him off the team for off-the-field issues after the one season.
There were more than a few players during Bryant’s coaching career that the coach hated to cut loose. Ken Hall, the legendary Texas, prep running back was one at Texas A&M. Maybe the two Bryant thought most wasted their college football opportunities at Alabama were Linnie Patrick and Sammy Gellerstedt.