Hall of Fame Inductee E.J. Junior Pays Tribute to Bear Bryant, Says Alike to Nick Saban
Former Alabama defensive lineman E.J. Junior has done a lot of reflecting of late, which often happens when someone receives a high honor.
Earlier this week, Junior was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, where his name will always be linked with someone else already enshrined, former Crimson Tide coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant.
“They’re too numerous to name," Junior said about the impacts Bryant made on his life. "He was a father figure. He was a philosopher, always guiding me through good things and bad things. Always teaching me things beyond what I would know in college. A lot like my father, he was my father away from home.
“How to make it through tough times and overcome adversity, and that's one of the standards I use when I try to coach or teach young men today, because I get a lot of that from my father and close brother.”
Junior was part of the Class of 2020, which had to wait an extra year for enshrinement due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic resulting in last year's ceremony being cancelled.
He also had to wait until this year for the corresponding on-campus salute, which Alabama paired with his home-state team as an opponent.
"It was very heartwarming," he said. "I mean it's been a long time since I've been on that football field it's changed the stadium has grown another 50,000 seats, but just to be there for the Tennessee game, which is where I'm from, from Nashville, Tennessee, and play against Tennessee.
"It was good to be home and it's time for me to come home. It was wonderful."
Alabama won the game, 52-24,
Of course, as part of his press events leading up to the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner, which was held in Las Vegas on Tuesday night, Junior was asked about the current Crimson Tide coach, Nick Saban, and how he compares with his mentor.
"Very much alike," he said. "A little bit different as far as philosophy in my opinion. Coach Saban has a lot more to deal with. There's, you know, other schools who are able to recruit. They’ve got the transfer portal. They’ve got the name, image and likeness now. They’ve got guys who wanna transfer because they don't like the school. You're recruiting against other schools just as much as a Coach Bryant did back in the day. Philosophies of the same.
"I think the mentality of how they work their players is the same. I think maybe, I don't know, I'm not in Coach Saban’s wheelhouse of what's going on behind closed doors, but Coach Bryant I think was more of a father figure to us he guided us and still had things to help us with once we got through playing the game. I'm sure Coach Saban is the same way, I just don't know it."
The Class of 2020 also included Lomas Brown (Florida), Keith Byars (Ohio State), Eric Crouch (Nebraska), Eric Dickerson (SMU), Glenn Dorsey (LSU), John Elliott (Michigan), Jason Hanson (Washington State), E.J. Henderson (Maryland), Steve McNair (Alcorn State), Cade McNown (UCLA), Leslie O'Neal (Oklahoma State), Anthony Poindexter (Virginia), David Pollack (Georgia), Bob Stein (Minnesota), Michael Westbrook (Colorado), Elmo Wright (Houston) and coaches Dick Sheridan (Furman, North Carolina State) and Andy Talley (St. Lawrence, Villanova)
The Class of 2021, which was enshrined the same night, had Harris Barton (North Carolina), David Fulcher (Arizona State), Dan Morgan (Miami), Carson Palmer (Southern California), Tony Romo (Eastern Illinois), Kenneth Sims (Texas), C.J. Spiller (Clemson), Darren Sproles (Kansas State), Aaron Taylor (Notre Dame), Andre Tippett (Iowa), Al Wilson (Tennessee) and coaches Rudy Hubbard (Florida A&M) and Bob Stoops (Oklahoma).
