Otmj Thursday, August 27, 2015
social
over the mountain journal ❖ otmj.com
sports
Still Super Sullivan Treasures Relationships the Most
By Lee Davis
‘There’s that special bond among my teammates and coaches that’s most important, and it lasts even today. That feeling extends to the guys we played against too. The friendships stay with you forever.’
Pat Sullivan earned a lot of hardware in
Photos courtesy Auburn Universtiy and Samford University
his days as a star Auburn University quarterback and later as a coach. Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s outstanding college football player in 1971. In the 1980s, he directed the Tigers’ offense as Auburn won three consecutive Southeastern Conference championships. But his most prized awards from athletics can’t be put on a mantle or in a glass case. “The best memories aren’t specific games or victories,” Sullivan said. “What I treasure the most are the relationships. There’s that special bond among my teammates and coaches that’s most important, and it lasts even today. That feeling extends to the guys we played against, too. The friendships stay with you forever.” An outstanding athlete from the time of his childhood in the late 1950s, Sullivan first gathered public attention as a brilliant quarterback at John Carroll. By the time of his senior season in 1967, he was being heavily recruited by major colleges across the county. Sullivan said the recruiting process – and the hype around it – was very different in the 1960s than it is today. “Recruiting of course was very important but it had a much lower profile back then,” Sullivan recalled. “At the time, I had a standing time to meet with the Auburn and Alabama coaches who were recruiting and then with the coaches from the other schools that were recruiting me. There wasn’t all the rating services and internet stuff that goes with it today.” Alabama and Notre Dame recruited Sullivan dili-
Pat Sullivan won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s outstanding college football player in 1971. He piloted Samford University to the Southern Conference title in 2013.
See sullivan, page 25
inside over the mountain journal h thursday, august 27, 2015
team profiles key players schedules rosters
touchdown fashion! Show support for your favorite team and dress like a winner every game. Fall fashion Page 17
2015 otm high school
football preview
carson Journal file photo by Bryan Bunch
Late-nights
Homewood QB Has High Expectations for 2015 Season See Story Page 4
Briarwood Page 6
Fighting Childhood Cancer Advocates give families tools to take on disease. life page 10
homewood Page 8
hoover Page 10
john carroll Page 12
mountain Brook Page 14
oak mountain
40th anniversary
Green and Golden Spartans Climb to Top in 1975 See Story Page 2
Page 16
spain park Page 18
vestavia hills Page 20
otm high school football preview Team profiles, schedules, rosters, key players to watch and more. Plus, a look back at Mountain Brook High schools1975 state championhip season. 24-page pullout