Backhoe unearths football at UA site for Bear statue
11/7/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Contractor John Hutt was surprised when a backhoe unearthed a football at a Bryant-Denny Stadium construction site. It's not just any construction site. This site is being prepared for a plaza that will include a statue of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Finding the buried football Thursday stirred talk about the Bryant legend. Hutt, a former Crimson Tide player, said the football was buried beneath four feet of solid dirt, so it had been there a long time. A fraternity house once stood on the site, but it's unclear how the football got there. Gray Garrett, a spokesman for Bryce Building Company, was present during the discovery.
After digging up pipes, rocks and sticks, to find a football in that exact location, he said, "everyone thought that was real neat," possibly a good omen for the next football season.
