Alabama Football: An homage to fathers and grandfathers

There is nothing better than a father or grandfather sharing their love of Alabama football with their children and grandchildren.

Just this past week was Father’s Day. For most Alabama football fans it is a time of celebrating that special man in your life be it your birth father, your step-father, grandfather, adopted father, or the mother that had to take on both roles in your life.

Unfortunately for my family, Father’s Day will now always have a small gray cloud hanging over it. On June 21st at 1:30 in the afternoon my grandfather left this world and took with him his love for us, his friends, and Alabama football.

He was one of the reasons I fell in love with Alabama football from a young age. His wife, my step-grandmother, was a Tennessee fan and I remember the fun ribbings we would always share with her even as young as 7 or 8. Those are the memories of him I will carry on from now until my time is also up.

Share your love for Alabama football.

I don’t want this to just be an article about the death of my grandfather though. I want to use this event to inspire other fathers and grandfathers to share their love of Alabama football with their children. Tell them the stories of watching George Teague run down Lamar Thomas for “The Strip” or Antonio Langham reading the mind of Shane Matthews to secure Alabama’s trip to the Sugar Bowl.

Perhaps you want to share stories of watching the greatest coach of all time patrolling the sidelines and striking fear into the hearts of opponents. (Take your pick for which coach I’m talking about) Maybe you, like me, are a relatively new father and would rather share stories about Tyrone Prothro’s catch or Terrence Cody’s blocks against Tennessee.

The stories I share with my daughter are those of Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Greg McElroy, Jalen Hurts, and Derrick Henry. She is fortunate enough to be old enough to watch and remember Tua, Jeudy, and Ruggs.

She isn’t as much into football yet as I am, but that is ok by me. I will still share with her the things I am passionate about and find joy in the things she is passionate about. Which right now includes things like LOL dolls, JoJo Siwa, dancing, and soccer. She may not care as much about Alabama football as I do, but she still knows what “Roll Tide” means and sits with me to watch the games. I also sit with her to open her LOL dolls and help her practice soccer.

I want to clarify that I don’t want to limit this to just Alabama football. That is just the catalyst for me and my grandfather. Find your catalyst whether it is Alabama football or something else. For all the moms and grandmothers out there don’t think I am deliberately excluding you either. This goes for everyone with kids and grandkids.

Enjoy the time you have with your family and share with them the things that make you tick. Even if they don’t share the same joy about those things as you, it will be those things that they carry with them once you are gone.