College playing career
Bryant accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Alabama in 1931. Since he elected to leave high school before completing his diploma, Bryant had to enroll in a Tuscaloosa high school to finish his education during the fall semester while he practiced with the college team. Bryant played end for the Crimson Tide and was a participant on the school\'s 1934 national championship team. Bryant was the self-described \"other end\" during his playing years with the team, playing opposite the big star, Don Hutson, who later became a star in the National Football League and a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Bryant himself was second team All-Southeastern Conference in 1934, and was third team all conference in both 1933 and 1935. Bryant played with a partially broken leg in a 1935 game against Tennessee.[2] Bryant was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, and as a senior, he married Mary Harmon, which he kept a secret since Alabama did not allow active players to be married.
Bryant was selected in the fourth round by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1936 NFL Draft, but never played professional football.
Honors and awards
Inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa at the University of Kentucky in 1949
12-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year
The portion of 10th Street which runs through the University of Alabama campus was renamed Paul W. Bryant Drive.
Three-time National Coach of the Year in 1961, 1971, and 1973.[1]: 517 The national coach of the year award was subsequently named the Paul \"Bear\" Bryant Award in his honor.
In 1975, Alabama\'s Denny Stadium was renamed Bryant–Denny Stadium in his honor. Bryant would coach the final seven years of his tenure at the stadium, and is thus one of only four men in Division I-A/FBS to have coached in a stadium named after him. The others are Shug Jordan at Auburn, Bill Snyder at Kansas State and LaVell Edwards at BYU.
Was named Head Coach of Sports Illustrated\'s NCAA Football All-Century Team.
He received 1.5 votes for the Democratic Party Presidential nomination at the extremely contentious 1968 Democratic Convention
In 1979, Bryant received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. His Golden Plate was presented by Awards Council member Tom Landry.[31]
In February 1983, Bryant was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan.
Bryant was honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 1996.
Country singer Roger Hallmark recorded a tribute song in his honor.
Charles Ghigna wrote a poem that appeared in the Birmingham-Post Herald in 1983 as a tribute to Bryant.
Super Bowl XVII was dedicated to Bryant. A moment of silence was held in his memory during the pregame ceremonies. Some of his former Alabama players were on the rosters of both teams, including Miami Dolphins nose tackle Bob Baumhower and running back Tony Nathan, and Washington Redskins running back Wilbur Jackson. Also, at the end of Leslie Easterbrook\'s performance of the National Anthem, several planes from Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama did the traditional missing-man formation over the Rose Bowl in his memory.
The extinct shark Cretalamna bryanti was named after Bryant and his family in 2018, due to their contributions to the University of Alabama and McWane Science Center where the type material is held.
