![]() "And when the refs signaled the kick was good, I went running onto the field right when the kick went through.After the first payment, our system automatically transfers the domain to our own holding registrar to keep it safe and available for you. "If you watch the video of Philip Doyle kicking the game-winning field goal that day, you can see Big Al under the goalpost," Southern said. And after being kicked off the field once, he made sure he got back on the field one more time as time expired in a 9-6 UA win. His trip to Neyland, however, is a hard one to beat. He's got more Big Al memories than he can count, and cherishes every one. "I might have to steal my mom's newspaper off her driveway," to keep her from finding out, he joked. He nurtured a strong dislike for UT right from his formative years, so it's little wonder that he went a little over the edge in what was his only Big Al appearance at Neyland Stadium. When he first inquired about trying out for the role, he went directly to a fully-suited Big Al, who didn’t speak (Big Al never does), but wrote down a name and a phone number for him. Southern, a Tuscaloosa native who now works as a regional sales representative in the pharmaceutical industry, had wanted to be Big Al since he was a little kid. "I have suspended the student for two weeks, which includes the Homecoming game, and Penn State." "Big Al was told not to come near your performance," the letter read. 23, 1990, apologizing that Big Al stepped onto the field while the UT band was playing. Days later, Alabama sent a letter to UT, dated Oct. Surprisingly enough, that got him in more hot water than an OJ-stained end zone did. UT security had been watching, and pulled him off the field by the trunk. But with no intention of interfering with the UT band, he unwittingly ventured a few yards onto the field around the 5-yard line while entertaining the Alabama section. Although he'd just stained the end zone with orange juice a short time earlier, Southern intended to fully comply with that directive. So before the 1990 game, UT sent a letter to UA making it clear that Big Al wasn't to be on the field when the Vols band played. If the crowd loved his act, forgiveness was usually available on tap.Ī year earlier, Southern's Big Al predecessor, an avid Elvis Presley fan, had joined the Tennessee band's tribute to the King with a few Elvis-like gyrations − as Elvis-like as an elephant can be, anyway − during the performance. #Iguard security 1990 license#But in those days, Big Al had a little more of a license to entertain, which meant a little more freedom to test behavioral boundaries. Now beyond the point of no return, Southern went ahead and finished the job, dumping out the remainder in the end zone and then stomping on the empty jug a few times.īig Al has always been a family-friendly hit, and some of Southern's best memories in the suit are from charity events when he could make children smile. The juice stained the white check orange, distorting the pattern. The jug flew over the goal line, and landed on a white check in the Volunteers' orange-and-white checkerboard end zone. My adrenalin's flowing, and all that noise just overcame me and I kicked it as hard as I could." Even though it was on the road, they sounded like 50,000 people," Southern said. "I start hearing this 'Roooooolll' noise from the Alabama section, which was right in front of me, like they do before kickoffs. ![]() well let's just say the Big Al persona took over and refused to be Charlie-Brown clowned. ![]() He raised a hand in the air like a kickoff specialist, and after that. He took two methodical steps back, and one more to the side, just like a kicker. The original plan was to simply do a "Charlie Brown", missing a kick of the OJ and falling down like the "Peanuts" character was known for. ![]() But then he grabbed his half-gallon of OJ, top off, and set it down around the 10-yard line. He'd already stomped a few whole oranges near the Volunteers' warm-ups with his massive elephant feet − no big deal. "It's something about that elephant suit, it just takes over your body." "She had said, 'Don't take orange juice,' but all I heard was 'Take orange juice,'" Southern said. CT, CBS) with similar anticipation and what will surely be a tamer Big Al. It was Alabama-Tennessee, after all, and 32 years later, the Crimson Tide will visit Knoxville Saturday (2:30 p.m. A Tuscaloosa native with a strong, lifelong dislike for UT, Southern refused to have anything orange in his wardrobe, and felt compelled to defile the color in some way. Purifoy Greenwell had nixed Southern's idea of bringing orange juice onto the field, but the former Big Al, who was one of two who manned the Alabama mascot at the time, couldn't help himself. PREPS: Where Tuscaloosa-area high school football teams rank among state leaders SABAN'S 15 The Tuscaloosa News' special book chronicling Nick Saban's first 15 years as coach makes a great gift! ![]()
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