Alabama Kickoff Return
September 25, 2024
That long Bring 'Em Young punt return reminded me of a kickoff return from back in 1916 when Alabama hosted Sewanee College of Tennessee in an early SEC matchup. Alabama dominated the game but Sewanee kept on stopping the Crimson Tide just shy of the end zone (reminds me of dates I had in college). Finally, after a short Alabama punt, Sewanee punched it in for a touchdown but missed the extra point and led 6-0. Alabama drove down to the Sewanee 1 but got stopped. Then they drove to the 5 and got stopped again.
Finally, with maybe a minute left in the game, Alabama punched the ball in for a touchdown. Fred Harrison Gage came on for the extra point and he was shaking with nervousness. But he booted the ball through the uprights for a 7-6 lead. The game wasn't over as there was still about 10 seconds left. Alabama still needed to kick off and Gage booted it deep. Sewanee's Neil Edmond ran the ball back from his own 5 and found a lane. He was flying down the western sideline, well past any Alabama defenders, but as he crossed midfield he slipped and fell ass over applecart as the clock ran out.
You see, like BEY's Parker Kingston, Fred Gage was both excited and exhausted after his key special teams score, and, as he returned to his bench he barfed all over the 50 yard line near his sideline. Edmond slipped in the vomit and that was the ballgame.
Excited reporters referred to the incident as the "$50,000.00 Upchuck" due to the money made by the gamblers and one of the bookies used some of his winnings to build a statue of Gage on the Alabama campus. That's why, next to the statues of Coach Bryant in his hat and Coach Nick Satan with his head spinning 360 degrees, you'll see a statue of a leather helmeted football player doubled over. And now you know the rest of the story.
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