Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

FORDYCE — The incredible lightning show and line of storms were still several hours away. An early September football night felt more like a July evening, hot and sticky. As excited fans arrived, some dressed in Alabama Crimson Tide attire, a few yards away a train, and then another, roared past heading toward the northeast. The smell of a charcoal grill being fired up perked the nasal senses.

An hour away at Pine Bluff's Grider Field, Paul Bryant Jr. was surprised when he stepped off his airplane when he asked an attendant if he knew of Don Hutson, a Pine Bluff native who starred at the University of Alabama and then went on to NFL greatness for the Green Bay Packers in the 1930s.

"He said he'd never heard of him," Bryant said.

Hutson, the one-time Pine Bluff Zebra, was a teammate at Alabama of Paul "Bear" Bryant, who had grown up 40 miles or so to the southwest of Pine Bluff. While Hutson became the first great NFL receiver in the first half of the 20th century, Bryant went on to college football coaching greatness. His biggest success was at Alabama, but Bryant nearly became Arkansas' football coach in early December 1941 — that is, until Pearl Harbor happened and America entered World War II. Instead of the Hogs, Bryant coached what was known as Georgia Pre-Flight in 1942.

And while some around Pine Bluff may not know of Hutson, the infants in their moms' arms and the youngsters running about on Friday night here at what had been known for nearly 100 years as Red Bug Field will know who Bear Bryant was.

Red Bug Field, where Bryant excelled on a state championship football team in 1929-30, will now be know as Paul "Bear" Bryant Stadium.

Those four words are in big block letters on the back of a brand new, red press box atop the west stands, in full display for Fordyce fans arriving before every game. In the south end zone, the 25-year-old field house had a fresh coat of red paint and new red roof, along with a new, large placard describing Bryant's playing and coaching accomplishments, as well as a couple of familiar photos of "The Bear."

The entire stadium, relocated to this eastern side of town in the 1910s, had a fresh, clean look about it.

Bryant's son flew in from Birmingham to be part of the dedication, along with former Arkansas State head coach and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Larry Lacewell, a native son of Dallas County.

Coincidentally, the opponent for the dedication night last Friday was Crossett, which produced another legendary head football coach, Barry Switzer.

Bryant grew up about eight miles southeast of where the stadium sits, in Moro Bottom. Were Bear Bryant alive today, he would be 99 (as of Sept. 11). Trees that were mere pine seedlings when he played now tower around all sides of the stadium. His descendants in the Fordyce area include a great nephew, Ray Bryant, a second cousin to Paul Jr.