UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA           FCA NEWSLETTER                  October 23, 2002

 

TOMMY FORD, TIDE PRIDE DIRECTOR, TELLS HIS STORY

OF PATIENCE AND FORGIVENESS TONIGHT AT FCA AT 9

 

            When he was a freshman at Alabama, Tommy Ford got a phone call telling him that his father had been murdered. That call, another phone call in later years and a letter forever changed his life.

 

            Tonight he will share an incredible story of patience that led to unspeakable joy and forgiveness that lifted a heavy burden that lingered for 25 years. Tommy’s story of two phone calls and a letter is one every college student should hear. For the past year, Tommy has been telling his story to church congregations and other groups. It was also written in the book, Faith of the Crimson Tide.

 

            There are some heart rendering messages in Tommy’s talk that will cause every listener to take serious notice in their relationship with their parents, and to learn to cope with unexpected trial in one’s life through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

            From Gadsden, Tommy graduated from Alabama in 1978 and was sports editor of The Crimson White his senior year. He wrote about Coach Bear Bryant and the great teams of the 70’s. For four years, he worked in Gadsden and returned to Alabama in the Alumni Office. In 1987 he was named Alabama’s Athletic Ticket Manager before moving into his current role as TIDE PRIDE Director in 1993. He and his wife Robin have one son, John Michael, 5.

 

            Be inspired and encouraged at FCA tonight at 9 at the Calvary College Annex.

 

THOUGHTS

 

            “You never know what a football player is made of until he plays against Alabama”…Tennessee Coach Bob Neyland in the 1930’s

 

            “Every time I stepped on the field, I believed my team was going to walk off the winner, somehow, someway”…Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboys

 

            “If you could tell the mental attitude of a team before a game…that’s the whole thing – attitude – which team wants to win more”…Jimmy Snyder

 

            “Only a man knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even”…Muhammad Ali

 

            “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible to you”…Matthew 17:20