Summary Of Rising Tide Bear Bryant, Joe Namath - 1181 Words

The title of my book is Rising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie s Last Quarter it is a biography written by Randy Roberts Ed Krzmienski. Throughout the years of the civil rights movement, this story took place in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1957, where Bear Bryant was announced as the new head coach of the University of Alabama. The two main characters are Joe Namath and Paul Bear Bryant. The theme of this book is about the legendary coach Paul Bryant and how he helped Joe Namath overcome the struggle of segregation on and off the football field. Considering the relationship of the athlete and coach during golden era of the game, it addresses the losses, the commitment, and the determination in becoming one of the nation s elite.†¦show more content†¦Despite him playing in the southern conference Namath kept his distances from that pelage conditions of segregation in the south. Meanwhile, he did not look, speak or behave like Bryant s other boys, and it was not just because he was a northerner. Even though his head coach Bear Bryant acknowledged Namath s greatness, Bryant was no coddler, frequently drawing Namath from games after bad performances. Coach Bryant told all of his players that no starting spots were given based on reputation. Bryant had a gaze that was challenging to meet, the penetrating intensity that made a man terrified to look into his eyes directly because it might be defined as a challenge, and afraid to look away because it might be considered as a lack of resolve. There was nothing about Coach Bryant that showed a sign of softness or suggested he couldn t kick the ass of any man within hollering range. Bear was in a foul state of mind and had been for quite a while. Coming to Alabama had taken a toll on Coach Bryant significantly, and cash was the slightest of it. The chain occasions that incited his turn from Texas AM started a long way from the football field. In February 1956, following a three-year court fight, Autherine Lucy, a college alum from Shiloh, Alabama, became the first African American student to go to the University of Alabama. Her appearance on campus incited a progression of dissents, going from marches and addresses to savagery. Despite the fact that she got