Former Director of Athletic Training Posey Passes Away
7/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | General
Fred Posey, a native of Tuscaloosa, and former Director of Athletic Training at the University of Alabama, the Chicago White Sox and the Denver Broncos passed away in Birmingham July 22 after a brief illness. He was 77-years-old.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Magnolia Chapel Funeral Home located at 6100 Highway 69 South in Tuscaloosa. Funeral services will be held Thursday at Hopewell Baptist Church located at 3800 University Boulevard in Tuscaloosa at 11:00 a.m. Burial will be at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park located at 5434 Old Birmingham Highway.
For the past 36 years, Posey has served as Public Relations Director for Buffalo Rock in Birmingham and was instrumental in sponsoring the first renewal of the SEC Basketball Tournament in 1979 and the SEC Football Championship games that began in 1992 as well as numerous other conference events.
A 1949 graduate of Alabama, Posey began his athletic career as a student manager and trainer for Coach Frank Thomas during the 1945 season, which culminated in the Tide's 34-14 victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl.
After serving as assistant trainer at UA in 1948-49, Posey served as the head trainer for Vaughn Mancha at Livingston State (now West Alabama) from 1949-51. In 1952 he became the trainer for the Miami Beach Flamingos in the Florida International League and served with the same team in 1953 when the club moved to Fort Lauderdale.
During the falls of those years, he would return to Tuscaloosa to serve as the assistant trainer in football. During his time at Alabama, the Crimson Tide competed in the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls, then considered the four major venues for college football.
After serving as the head trainer from 1953-56 at the Capstone, Posey moved on to the Chicago White Sox where he served as the athletic trainer for the next three years. In 1960 he became the first trainer of the upstart Denver Broncos of the American Football League. He served in that capacity for the next six years before moving to Birmingham in 1966.
In 1997, he was inducted into the State of Alabama Training Hall of Fame. Besides earning a degree from Alabama, he also graduated from the Gus Mauch Trainer School (Kissimmee, Fla.), the Dr. Bilik Trainer School (New York City) and National Institute of Physical Therapy (Chicago, Ill.)
He is survived by one son Ted Posey and five grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Larry Posey.
In lieu of flowers, Mr. Posey had requested that donations be made to the Fred Posey Sports Medicine Hydrotherapy Room as part of the Crimson Tradition Fund at the University of Alabama, P.O. Box 870343, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0343.
