http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/08/13/sports.20040813-sbt-MICH-SS8-A_really_tough.sto
A really tough Neighbors-hood 'Bama tackle found success
COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME ENSHRINEMENT 2004
By STEVE WILTFONG Tribune Staff Writer
Billy Neighbors was an anchor of the Alabama offensive and defensive lines.
Photo provided
Billy Neighbors "lived, dreamed and worked football" his first 2 1/2 years at the University of Alabama.
He had no choice.
It was 1958 and Alabama had just been through three terrible seasons under nice guy coach J.B. Whitworth. In a drastic change of leadership, the university fired Whitworth and hired 44-year old Paul Bryant.
Neighbors was already committed to play for the Tide before Bryant was hired. That fall, Neighbors, a two-way tackle, and 107 other players arrived on campus for their freshman year.
"I never heard of him before," Neighbors said of Bryant. "It didn't take long to find out who he was."
Football was never so hard.
Neighbors' father passed away when he was 6. He remembers listening to stories his dad would tell about Alabama football, and he dreamed of playing for the Crimson Tide.
Those dreams became a nightmare under Bryant.
"Coach Bryant was rough as the devil when he first got there," Neighbors said. "He worked us unmercifully."
Neighbors was ready to quit early into his freshman year.
"I just didn't have anywhere to go," Neighbors said. "That's what my momma told me. I called her and told her I was coming home, and she said there is nothing here. You better stay there."
Neighbors was just one of nine guys who stuck it out in the class of 1961.
Freshman weren't the only guys who couldn't hack it. The day Neighbors arrived on campus, his brother, a senior, quit. Bryant asked him to lose two pounds and he refused.
Neighbors' senior year, Alabama won the first of six national championships under Bryant. That season Neighbors was an all-Southeastern Conference and consensus All-America selection. He was named the top lineman in the SEC, as well as most valuable player of the Senior Bowl.
Those credentials solidified his spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I never thought (earning a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame) would happen to me," said Neighbors, who went on to play eight seasons in the NFL. "I was lucky I played on a great football team at Alabama. I played with some great players, and played for a great coach."
"He was a quiet guy but a good, terrific player," teammate and 1983 Hall of Fame inductee Lee Roy Jordan said. "He was one of the main reasons we won a national championship in 1961."
Neighbors can only recall two conversations with Bryant during his four years at Alabama. Once for skipping class and another for a bad game against Tulane.
"He chewed my (butt) out," Neighbors explained. "I thought I played well.
"I was so afraid of coach Bryant. He never said anything to me. He never got on me. Every time I saw him coming, I stayed out of his way."
October 15, 1960 was the day Alabama last lost a game in which Neighbors played. The Crimson Tide were beaten by host Tennessee, 20-7.
"That was the coaches' fault," Neighbors said. "Bryant admitted that. He chewed us out first, then the coaches, then himself."
Alabama was 8-1-2 that year, and 11-0 the following campaign.
In the middle of the 1960 season, Bryant stopped working the team so hard.
"We got good and I guess he saw that," Neighbors said. "We stopped doing drills and didn't scrimmage more than 10 minutes."
There was still running to stay in shape. Other than that, the team walked through new plays without pads and watched film.
During the national title year, Neighbors and the Alabama defense allowed just 25 points the entire season. The Tide posted six shutouts.
"It was magic," Neighbors said. "We knew we were going to win because we knew they couldn't score on us."
Alabama played Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl that year. A lot of the guys on the team came down with the flu that week.
"Probably the reason why we won was because of Billy Neighbors play," Jordan said. "It was just one of those deals that he took on himself. He hadn't been sick and that he could do some extra things."
In a 10-3 win, Neighbors and the defense kept Arkansas on its own side of the 50 in the first half.
In the summertime, Neighbors and Jordan, who was one class younger, worked in a paper mill together for extra money. The two are still good friends.
Neighbors now lives in Huntsville, Ala., with his wife. He is in his 37th year as a financial advisor at Wachovia Securities.
Staff writer Steve Wiltfong:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(574) 235-6332
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