What It Means to Be Crimson Tide: Gene Stallings and Alabama's Greatest Players
"To be Crimson Tide is an honor because of the history and tradition. I never felt I did anything except be with a great bunch of guys. But being any part of it makes you humble because of the greatness that was there. And to be a small part of it makes you want to know about it, to learn about it. And you appreciate what other people have done." —Joe Namath, quarterback, 1962–1964   "I think coach Bryant, at the heart of things, was a teacher. He wanted to impact young men, and I think he understood the greater worth of the game. His motivation was to win. That was his highest motivation. But his second was to have a positive impact on players, and I think he did a good job of that." —Johnny Musso, halfback, 1969–1971   "It may be that the reason I was so comfortable here was that the people were themselves. No one was trying to put on a face for you. It was, ‘This is Alabama. This is what we are about.’ It was so natural and made you feel real, real comfortable. You’d go to other places and people were going out of their way to impress you. Think about it in terms of people you meet. Would you rather be with someone who was trying so hard to impress you, or someone who was just himself, natural?" —Mike Shula, quarterback, 1984–1986, and head football coach