Football's Harry Gilmer dies at 90

Harry Gilmer was a Tide superstar

Before there was Joe Willie or Snake, before the Heisman Trophy winners, before television brought University of Alabama football into every living room in the state, there was still a superstar. Harry Gilmer.

There were big names in Crimson Tide history before Gilmer, of course, names like Johnny Mack Brown and Dixie Howell and the incomparable Don Hutson. But for a generation coming out of World War II and hungry for athletic heroes, Gilmer was the big name of Alabama history, a Rose Bowl hero, the No. 1 pick of the 1948 NFL Draft and an icon inside the state.

Gilmer passed away at age 90 on Saturday morning at his small farm outside of St. Louis, the city that became home during his long tenure as an assistant coach and scout for the NFL Cardinals. However, the former Woodlawn High School star in Birmingham and Crimson Tide great never lost his love for Alabama -- and longtime UA fans never forgot him, his dazzling kick returns or his famous jump pass.

"Back then, you didn't have numbers by position," said Hootie Ingram, former Alabama player and athletic director and a longtime friend of Gilmer. "They didn't have it broken down by position and eligible receivers and so forth. So Harry was No. 52. And that's the first time in my life I remember seeing people walking around in shorts and jerseys with a particular number. You couldn't go downtown and buy a jersey in a store like you do today, but your momma would sew a '52' on your sweater, or kids would draw it on in pencil."

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