MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
A beloved behind-the-scenes figure from the University of Alabama's athletic program has died. Eddie Conyers spent more than 60 years as a referee at Crimson Tide football practices, working under such legendary coaches as Bear Bryant and Nick Saban. He was 97 years old. NPR's Debbie Elliott has this remembrance.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Even up until last season, you'd find Eddie Conyers roaming the sidelines of 'Bama football practice in his black-and-white striped official's jersey.
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EDDIE CONYERS: Hey, where's my flag?
ELLIOTT: He'd thrown that flag on some of football's biggest names. Think Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Jalen Hurts and Derrick Henry. The practice ref is a role he helped pioneer after being recruited by coach Paul "Bear" Bryant more than six decades ago. Here's what he told NPR last fall.
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CONYERS: And I remember I asked Coach Bryant, what do you want me to do? I didn't have a clue. Coach Bryant talked low and he mumbled. He said something like, (imitating Coach Bryant mumbling). I didn't have a clue what he's saying (laughter). And I just said, OK.
ELLIOTT: Quick with a joke or a story that might be half-true, Conyers brought levity into the grueling full-contact practice sessions.
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ELLIOTT: At one practice last year, he was greeted like a celebrity by Mark Ingram, Alabama's first Heisman winner and former NFL running back, who's now a TV sports analyst.
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MARK INGRAM: You know, you know what you mean to us? You know what you mean to us down here? You the legend.
CONYERS: Oh, my God (ph).
INGRAM: You the GOAT, man.
ELLIOTT: At the time, Ingram told NPR that Conyers made an impression on players like him.
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INGRAM: Happy, always joyful. Made all of us happy to see him.
JEFF ALLEN: There was never a time that you saw Eddie that you didn't smile.
ELLIOTT: That's Jeff Allen, the head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at Alabama, reacting to Conyers' death.
ALLEN: I can't think of a day in the 19 years that I was around him that he was having a bad day. I mean, he was a remarkable human being.
ELLIOTT: Allen says Conyers was a link to the storied history of Alabama's football program.
ALLEN: You know, there's a saying that they use here at the University of Alabama - it's a place where legends are made. And Eddie walked among a lot of legends. But not only did he walk among them, he was one of them. And that's what is going to be dearly missed.
ELLIOTT: Conyers was there for 12 of Alabama's college national football championships, and he loved every minute of it.
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CONYERS: Unbelievable (laughter). Unimaginable. It's very nostalgic, of course.
ELLIOTT: Eddie Conyers died Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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