An Ohio State Yankee In Bear Bryant's Court: Read The Room, Son.

I made the rookie mistake of trash-talking the University of Alabama's football team when they faced Ohio State in 1986.

Transcript

00:00An Ohio State Yankee in Bear Bryant's court, read the room, son.

00:04Few people spit in God's eye and live to talk about it.

00:08Professional football was the default setting in the frozen tundra of

00:11Northeast Ohio in the 1970s. We had two decent pro teams to follow

00:16along with whatever Terry Bradshaw was doing in Pittsburgh.

00:20College football was more of an afterthought. We had Ohio State

00:24and others. Ohio State had one legendary rival,

00:27the University of Michigan. It also had one infamous coach named Woody Hayes.

00:33Coach Hayes was no Amos Alonzo Staggs for sure.

00:37So when I moved to Alabama in 1986, I was still filled with childlike

00:41enthusiasm for Ohio State. I failed to realize that college

00:46football is king in Alabama and Paul Bear Bryant was the greatest

00:50head coach of all time. Ohio State happened to be facing the

00:53University of Alabama one weekend and I felt honor bound to start

00:57trash talking at my job. It was the proper thing to do whenever

01:00Ohio State squared off against meat chicken.

01:03The minute I stopped talking smack about Alabama,

01:06I felt the air leave the room and my soul leave my body.

01:11I had just shot Bambi's mother and a posse was forming.

01:15A kind older lady pulled me aside and taught me about the Alabama football

01:18birds and bees. All I can say now is roll tide and thank

01:23you for not murdering me in my sleep.