WATCH: Nick Saban delivers heartfelt comments at service for Alabama superfan Walt Gary
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Alabama superfan Walt Gary recently passed away at the age of 36, but the impact that he had on the Alabama football program will not soon be forgotten.
On Wednesday, at a memorial service for Gary, Alabama coach Nick Saban took the podium and delivered a heartfelt speech.
As you can see below, Saban shared some laughs and also spoke genuinely about just how much Gary meant to him personally:
.@AlabamaFTBL coach #NickSaban on Bama super fan Walt Gary, who passed away a few days back at age 36.
Walt delivered game predictions to UA coaches for nearly 25 years.
Saban: “Here we were about to face Johnny Manziel and Walt predicts 45-0 Bama.”@SEC @SECNetwork @finebaum pic.twitter.com/8l172m5cak
— Rick Karle (@RickKarle) June 12, 2019
“There have been so many days where Walt’s family has said, ‘Thank you for all you did for Walt,'” Saban starts. “But Walt did way more for me than I ever did for him. There were many Thursdays where I came down those stairs and there was something on my mind — practice didn’t go the way it was supposed to, I was really worried with the opponent we had, how we were preparing that week, or something went wrong in my personal life, whatever it was — and when I got to the bottom of those stairs and I saw Walt and I saw that smile and I got that card. Incidentally, for 12 years, we were never the underdog.
“Sometimes the predictions were (shrugs), like, we’d be playing Johnny Manziel and the No. 1 offense in the country and it’d be 45-0, Alabama. The optimism was fantastic.”
Gary will certainly be missed in Tuscaloosa, especially by Saban. QB Tua Tagovailoa also stopped by to share his condolences with the family:
.@Tuaamann delivered his condolences to the family of #WaltGary today.
From left:
Walt’s brother-in-law Zack Drake, father Walter, mom Betsy, Tua & sister Allison.
Beautiful service, great memories shared of Bama’s super fan.@SEC @SECNetwork @finebaum @JalenHurts @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/BpCThQHseB— Rick Karle (@RickKarle) June 12, 2019
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
