What we havent used up that day is forever lost. It happens slowly but clearly. A man looks up and he's 76 years old, with memories he can't touch and not much else. The Paul W. Bryant Museum has put together a special video honoring legendary Alabama football coach, Paul Bear Bryant. All he has to show for two decades of service are his memories, and even those often hang just out of reach. And yet they don't, and they almost certainly won't. Set your priorities according to Matt 6:33 and you will spend wisely. As always, Varner stood in the background. UFC 285's Shevchenko by the numbers: It all adds up to domination, A battle for No. Bear Bryant had a poem that he read every day. Most afternoons, Bryant would slip into the bar and play cards with friends. Alabama Coach Paul Bear Bryant Carried a Prayer in His Wallet-Truth! Amen. "He's young all the time here," Billy says. They reached the end together, sitting in a 14th-floor suite of the Memphis Holiday Inn. Leaving something in its place I have traded for it. Barra wrote the best biography of Bryant, "The Last Coach," and even in his book, there is a Paul-sized hole at the center of the narrative. Billy told her not to worry about Coach. Billy was worried, and maybe that's why he offered a rare piece of insight to a local reporter. The lights are low, and the house sits in cool darkness. You miss a lot of things you shouldn't miss.". In his hospital room, Bryant was joking with the nurses. Required fields are marked *. Paul "Bear" Bryant, kept this poem in his pocket and read it every day! This is the beginning of a new day. You must log in or register to reply here. usie Varner answers the door. His philosophy of leadership was often referred to as peopleology, a term loosely defined at he art of seeing things from someone elsess perspective, and in the world of sales, his mantra was to sell Jim Brown what Jim Brown buys and see Jim Browns needs through Jim Browns eyes., I also personally think now that Coach Bryant carried that poem as a gut check or a reminder to balance his leadership style every now and then away from being a total dictator and a chronic, often punishing, masochistic football coach with exercising encouragement and positive praise of a players strengths rather than constantly harping on his weaknesses. Billy always walked a few feet in front of Bryant, for reasons he's trying to recall. You are using an out of date browser. As Billy's memory fades, that knowledge disappears with it, widening the gulf between truth and imagination. WVUA 23 is a competitive professional commercial television Bryant got the name right; "Susie" was scrawled on the outside. Buy what you want, he told her, not what you need. Rutledge played for Bryant's first team and was an assistant on his last, and when he realized that he would be sharing new information, he clammed up. Bryant's family and friends fiercely guard his legacy, but this omerta brings with it an accidental cost. "I wish I'd read this 30 years ago," he told a friend, "I wouldn't have wasted so much valuable time." Robert Allen's Multiple Streams of Income, Real Estate Investor Training by Dennis J. Henson, How To Get Started Investing In Real Estate. She'd always ask: "When y'all coming back?". Knowles and Varner cleaned out the real version of this office after Coach died. That's been scrubbed for posterity. He worked security at games, no longer inside the circle. Billy was Bear Bryant's driver, bodyguard and valet, one of the few remaining people who knew him as a human being. Sign up today to receive FREE e-books, special reports, and other great information on real estate investing. Once, when a state trooper clocked Varner speeding, Bryant stuck his houndstooth hat in the back window. He told me one time, if somebody comes up and shoots me, they're gonna shoot you first. "I keep trying to call that the Indian Hills football team. Just Why Does The Mardi Gras Season Start On January 6th? ", "You didn't play no football," she says. His voice becomes higher-pitched, quick but not rushed, with confidence in the direction of the words, without the long pauses to read the maps inside his mind. Real Estate InvestingUsing Notes to Purchase Prop Quote by George Allen, American Football Coach. "Don't tell me he's dead.". Is Being A Football Fan Bad For Your Health? Thirty years after his last season, Bryant's humanity lives only in his family and a few aging friends, in former employees such as Knowles, in 72-year-old assistant coach-turned-athletic director . I'd park the car. "That's him up there," he says. Why Premier League clubs are no longer hiring as many top ex-players as managers, 329m goal: Felix the only men's contender for Chelsea's Goal of the Month. Four loud slaps. Billy was always just around, in the office, on the road, on the sidelines. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. William Cullen Bryant - 1794-1878. They watched the moon landing together, hung out with Bob Hope together. Twenty-eight days later, on a Tuesday night, Billy's phone rang. Even for people you dont know, because you couldnt possibly spend it all on yourself, right? The Beatles Are Playing in Mobile! After the game, on Dec. 30, Varner drove Bryant back to Tuscaloosa. Yes, I Am Still Living In The Dash He was with him almost 24 hours a day.". Close friend Jimmy Hinton died a year ago; former assistant and confidant Clem Gryska died last month. They sat in the kitchen down the hall and ate and laughed. NFL draft questions for teams in the top 10: Will the Colts trade up? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Inside she found $500 and a note. station in the nations top 40 market where students and Knowles cries every time. Dennis Henson is President of Vanguard Marketing and Investments and the AREA (Arlington Real Estate Association of Investors. Success, not failure, It holds a great message regardless our lot in life. Success, not failure in order that I shall not forget the price I paid for it.\" I can waste it or use it for good. 1.1M views, 7K likes, 1.4K loves, 363 comments, 19K shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Paul W. Bryant Museum: Paul "Bear" Bryant, kept this poem in his pocket and read it every day. That's a no-no.". It was the first and only time he heard Bryant talk like that, and he realized that maybe his boss was a lonely man. 33K views, 446 likes, 151 loves, 20 comments, 728 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Paul W. Bryant Museum: Paul "Bear" Bryant, kept this poem in his pocket and read it every day. "He's there in the black," he says. (LogOut/ Billy sits in his big brown chair and looks at an oddly familiar man. He'd eaten some sausage, and it upset his stomach is all. The number of people left alive who knew that Paul is small. IT WAS FOUND IN THE BILLFOLD OF COACH PAUL BEAR BRYANT,ALABAMA, AFTER HE DIED IN 1982. he man Billy Varner is remembering has very little in common with the Bryant who is beloved by so many Alabama fans. On the worst, Billy, who is 76, doesn't recognize Susie. God has given me this day to use as I will. His clarity comes and goes. "I ended up playing football.". His eyes get wide, bulging, like they do when he's confused. Paul never forgot the middle-class kids pointing and laughing at his mother. She shot back: "I thought all my cornbread was good!" Are PSG better off without Neymar in big games? That's where he met Alabama's new football coach, and when Varner took the same job at the Indian Hills Country Club, where Bryant lived off the third fairway, they became close. Fans stand and cheer. He looks back at the Liberty Bowl photograph. Considered one of the finest sales consultants of that automotive industry, he was one of the most respected motivational speakers of his time. We went to the dressing room. That led to jobs, bartending at parties and running errands, and by the late 1960s, around the same time the coach traded his brown fedora for a hat with black-and-white checks, Billy began working for Bryant full time. Well, almost. There is certainly regret in Bryant's choice of devotional. When Bear Bryant passed away in 1983, a folded-up hand-written note was found in his pocket with those words on it. He'll dress in the middle of the night and try to leave, his pajamas rolled up in his hand. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Jack Rutledge asked carefully. He got his bartender a badge and a gun. "Bear" Bryant pocket knife. "There's not much really you can talk about Billy," Rutledge said. Sure did. "He never told me anything personal about Coach Bryant," she says. The Paul W. Bryant Museum has put together a special video honoring legendary Alabama football coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant. He shared this poem (some call it a prayer) to The Quarterbacks club in 1981. Billy deflates, his voice and his body sinking back down into the chair. Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Bear Bryant used to carry the poem around in his wallet and was known to read it to his players. Like his boss before him, Billy Varner has come to the place where he must consider what he did with his time. Croakies to hold sunglasses, cuff links, purses, both the kind with handles and clutches. The perfect complement to this mornings message. He's an honorary assistant coach for the 1975 season. Across the street, Miles, Davis denied bond in Jan. 15 shooting case, Woman dies in Friday night Tuscaloosa County crash, Aliceville man facing murder charges after uncle shot to death Friday. And no one knew Coach Bryant better than Billy. Standing before the exhibit, she can hear his voice all around her, literally, from the museum's video displays. Susie is short, 77, with gray hair and a walker she pushes around. Each day brings its own reality. Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. They put him on night traffic, and that first winter, he caught pneumonia. After successful coaching stints at Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M, he won six national championships over 25. I can waste it or use it for good. God has given me this day to use as I will. We know Lombardi from David Maraniss' biography, "When Pride Still Mattered," and he comes across as smaller and therefore larger in the retelling, because his humanity is on every page. He's a 1978 national champion. Paul, who rode in a mule-drawn cart from Moro Bottom, Ark., and in the back of Billy Varner's crimson Buick LeSabre, struggled, season after season. He shared this poem (some call it a prayer) to The Quarterbacks club in 1981. When an assistant coach told him in 1970 that Vince Lombardi had died, Bryant spoke of regrets, and it shocked his friend. Was a Texas Man Caught Eating a Teen Boy in a Haunted House? He says something else, his voice deep, the sentences trailing off. "That's him," she says, standing so he can sit. likes, 234 loves, 24 comments, 1,7 . This is the beginning of a new day. I am an Alabama native, living in Missouri. Do You Need Some Motivation To Get Moving? Four years later, Billy was bartending at the Tuscaloosa Country Club. I was a big guy " -- Billy sits up in his chair, and his face becomes menacing; he bows up his shoulders and arms -- " and by the time those bullets go through me, he's gone. a video of Bryants former players reading the poem.