On Bryant: "My favorite Bear story was I sitting in his office one day in Tuscaloosa, and he said, 'You see that helmet over there? That's Lee Roy Jordan's helmet. He was the greatest hitter I ever had. You look at that helmet real close, you'll see the color of every team we played on there.'

"There was a little orange for Tennessee, a little maroon for Mississippi State.

"I said, 'Who's your artist, Bear? I know you all polish the helmets after every game. C'mon.'

"He said, 'Goddamn sportswriters. It works on recruits.'"

--Dan Jenkins, the greatest goddamn college football writer ever.