Oh my Sweet Lord in Heaven, I love Gene Stallings. When I was pregnant and found out that it was a boy, we SERIOUSLY considered naming him Griffin Stallings Martin. I loved the name, I loved where (who) the name came from, and I figured that I was the one carrying around the blessed miracle so I should have final naming rights. In the end, we named him after my brother, Griffin Christopher Martin. Obviously there is really something to choosing a name, bc Griffin now acts an awful like dear Uncle Chris. Anyhoo, I love me some Coach Stallings. LOVE HIM. I love him because he is old school. I love his gravely voice. I love that he gave us our last National Championship. More than anything - I love the way he loves his son Johnny.
Reading his book Another Season was seriously a major factor in my becoming a Special Education teacher. If you haven't read it...go to amazon RIGHT NOW and order it. One of my most favorite students, Rand, was born with Down Syndrome. When he was born, someone contacted Coach Stallings. He took time from his busy schedule to call Randy and Shannon (Rand's parents) at the hospital and congratulate them. Phenomenal. He told them that their path wouldn't be easy, but that it would be worth it. And he knew firsthand what he was talking about.
When I was a sophomore in high school, UA still played some games in Birmingham at Legion Field. In 1992, we all knew that something was different about this team. When Bama played in Birmingham, they would stay at the former Sheraton on hwy 280, and they would see a movie at the Colonnade on Friday nights. SOOOOO....on many occasions, Amy and company would also go to the movies on Friday nights. We would wait outside in the cold until we saw our team descending down the hill coming our way. Amid the "Roll Tides" and "Hey Jay, will you marry me's" were smiles and nods from the players. It was obvious, Coach Stallings had laid down the law, there was no "hot-dogging" (as my dad would say) or no "show-boating." (another Haroldism) In all honesty, we came out to see Jay Barker, David Palmer, and George Teague. Seeing them was the goal, but it wasn't the highlight. The best part of these trips was always seeing John Mark Stallings.
He and his Pops were always the last in line. Coach Stallings was always stoic, serious. Very gracious and cordial, but very business like. Not John Mark. He was grinning from ear to ear. He was pumping his right fist in the air, all the while he was holding onto his Pops with his left hand. He made eye contact with everyone he passed, and gave us all a big "ROLL TIDE!" He was just so happy, so proud. It was a victory parade and he was the grand marshall. He was content to follow behind, reveling in the accomplishments of those before him. He was happy, he was proud to cheer for the team that he loved dearly. If the truth be known, he would have been just as proud had we never won a game. What an awesome devotion.
I was "going to get my nails did" this past Saturday when my cell rang. My ringtone? "Yea, Alabama" of course. I answered to hear Shawn quietly say, "Amy, I just heard that John Mark Stallings died." I teared up. Right there in the nail place, I got teary. I said, "Let me go, I've gotta call Chris." Like it was a family member or something. I called my brother and told him, "Chris, John Mark Stallings died." It was heartbreaking.
I am well aware that John Mark is in Heaven, probably looking for Coach Bryant and other Bama people. He is strong, and whole, and fine. His sweet dad, however, is devastated. I watched a clip on youtube tonight from about 12 years ago. The woman doing the interview asked Coach Stallings, "Can you imagine life without Johnny?" Coach Stallings quickly replied, "No...no and I don't want to."
We Alabama fans love tradition. We love stories, the line of statues outside our beloved Bryant Denny are prime examples of the grandeur of our program. These statues cast shadows that are reminders of the exploits and impact these giants of our tradition cast upon our program. While the men who are immortalized in stone appear larger than life, I believe that the greatest shadow cast belonged to a man who was small in stature but who lived life in a giant way. He loved his Crimson Tide unconditionally. Standing beside his father, John Mark Stallings was physically much smaller. But standing together, they were a shining example of love, devotion, and pride. To quote the stadium jumbotron - THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL.
I have read many moving pieces written about John Mark and his passing, from BAMA fans, Auburn fans, Tennessee fans, etc. Their beautiful story transcended team factions. People looked at Coach Stallings and Johnny and didn't see Alabama, per se, they saw love. And you know what the Good Book says...Love Never Fails.
In all the things I've read online about the Stallings family, 1 theme seems to reoccur; I've read it countless times. It is simply this, "God Bless the Stallings Family." I will close my tribute to Johnny by giving my opinion - He already did. He blessed them with the incomprehensible gift of John Mark. What a blessing indeed.
Today, as ALWAYS - so proud to say ROLL TIDE!!!
Reading his book Another Season was seriously a major factor in my becoming a Special Education teacher. If you haven't read it...go to amazon RIGHT NOW and order it. One of my most favorite students, Rand, was born with Down Syndrome. When he was born, someone contacted Coach Stallings. He took time from his busy schedule to call Randy and Shannon (Rand's parents) at the hospital and congratulate them. Phenomenal. He told them that their path wouldn't be easy, but that it would be worth it. And he knew firsthand what he was talking about.
When I was a sophomore in high school, UA still played some games in Birmingham at Legion Field. In 1992, we all knew that something was different about this team. When Bama played in Birmingham, they would stay at the former Sheraton on hwy 280, and they would see a movie at the Colonnade on Friday nights. SOOOOO....on many occasions, Amy and company would also go to the movies on Friday nights. We would wait outside in the cold until we saw our team descending down the hill coming our way. Amid the "Roll Tides" and "Hey Jay, will you marry me's" were smiles and nods from the players. It was obvious, Coach Stallings had laid down the law, there was no "hot-dogging" (as my dad would say) or no "show-boating." (another Haroldism) In all honesty, we came out to see Jay Barker, David Palmer, and George Teague. Seeing them was the goal, but it wasn't the highlight. The best part of these trips was always seeing John Mark Stallings.
He and his Pops were always the last in line. Coach Stallings was always stoic, serious. Very gracious and cordial, but very business like. Not John Mark. He was grinning from ear to ear. He was pumping his right fist in the air, all the while he was holding onto his Pops with his left hand. He made eye contact with everyone he passed, and gave us all a big "ROLL TIDE!" He was just so happy, so proud. It was a victory parade and he was the grand marshall. He was content to follow behind, reveling in the accomplishments of those before him. He was happy, he was proud to cheer for the team that he loved dearly. If the truth be known, he would have been just as proud had we never won a game. What an awesome devotion.
I was "going to get my nails did" this past Saturday when my cell rang. My ringtone? "Yea, Alabama" of course. I answered to hear Shawn quietly say, "Amy, I just heard that John Mark Stallings died." I teared up. Right there in the nail place, I got teary. I said, "Let me go, I've gotta call Chris." Like it was a family member or something. I called my brother and told him, "Chris, John Mark Stallings died." It was heartbreaking.
I am well aware that John Mark is in Heaven, probably looking for Coach Bryant and other Bama people. He is strong, and whole, and fine. His sweet dad, however, is devastated. I watched a clip on youtube tonight from about 12 years ago. The woman doing the interview asked Coach Stallings, "Can you imagine life without Johnny?" Coach Stallings quickly replied, "No...no and I don't want to."
We Alabama fans love tradition. We love stories, the line of statues outside our beloved Bryant Denny are prime examples of the grandeur of our program. These statues cast shadows that are reminders of the exploits and impact these giants of our tradition cast upon our program. While the men who are immortalized in stone appear larger than life, I believe that the greatest shadow cast belonged to a man who was small in stature but who lived life in a giant way. He loved his Crimson Tide unconditionally. Standing beside his father, John Mark Stallings was physically much smaller. But standing together, they were a shining example of love, devotion, and pride. To quote the stadium jumbotron - THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL.
I have read many moving pieces written about John Mark and his passing, from BAMA fans, Auburn fans, Tennessee fans, etc. Their beautiful story transcended team factions. People looked at Coach Stallings and Johnny and didn't see Alabama, per se, they saw love. And you know what the Good Book says...Love Never Fails.
In all the things I've read online about the Stallings family, 1 theme seems to reoccur; I've read it countless times. It is simply this, "God Bless the Stallings Family." I will close my tribute to Johnny by giving my opinion - He already did. He blessed them with the incomprehensible gift of John Mark. What a blessing indeed.
Today, as ALWAYS - so proud to say ROLL TIDE!!!
5 comments:
OK...I thought I was done crying about this until I read your blog!! It is amazing how touched we are by someone else's incredible life on this earth...and his passing!!
OMG I'm in a heap. I remember the days of actually being in the same movie w/ that fantastic team at the Colonade, too! I thought I was sitting in Heaven (in my world you know of course that's pretty dang close). John Mark touched so many lives and I, too, adore me some Coach Stallings more than words can say and I haven't been the same since he left UA, despite my undying devotion to my school/team, he was the legend of our generation. GREAT BLOG!!! BTW, the Bama fight song is my ringtone, too. LOL
Amy, I hope you don't mind that I passed this on. It is too beautiful not to share!
http://gilesfamilyof5.blogspot.com/2008/08/i-couldnt-of-said-it-this-well-so-i.html
I found you thru Kele's blog. What a great tribute. I can only hope that my daughter who has T21 has teachers along her journey that have your heart and insight. Thanks for serving our community in such an important way!
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