Reggie Jackson: Bear Bryant told me 'This is just the kind of n..... we need...'
While in Birmingham, the Hall of Famer openly shared the pain from racism he felt while playing in the city in 1967. One story shed light on the marsh language of the time used even by one of the state's most revered icons.
Again, Jackson paused. He began talking about a game where he hit a couple of triples. Paul (Bear) Bryant was in the stands that day, he remembered. After the game, Jackson said the Alabama coach came into the locker room and spoke with him.
“He put his hand on my shoulder,” Jackson began and placed his hand on my left shoulder. “He said, ‘This is the kind of n..... we need to beat…” Bryant began naming other top college football coaches of that era: Michigan’s Bo Schembechler, Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian, and others.
Since Bryant was in the stands at a leisure activity, there's a good chance he was seven sheets to the wind when he uttered the racial slur.
