Alabama practice referee Eddie Conyers, 96, honored after 62 years with program
Alabama honored somebody who has been with the program since the Bear Bryant Days on Thursday. Practice referee Eddie Conyers, now 96 years old, has been with the Crimson Tide for 62 years after originally being hired by Bear Bryant. Current head coach Kalen DeBoer brought Conyers in front of the entire team to spotlight him during Rare Tide.
DeBoer took some time to list off some of the accomplishments of Conyers before a nice ovation was given by the players. But then Conyers was given the opportunity to speak and made sure to let DeBoer what he thought of Saturday’s incredible game against Georgia.
“Fellas, I’ve called penalties on Heisman Trophy winners, DeVanta (Smith),” Conyers said. “Joe Namath. I’ve called penalties on players for a number of years. And I want you to know the very last penalty I’ll ever call on this field is on Coach DeBoer for the heart attack he nearly gave me last Saturday.”
Conyers then broke down the team for one final moment with the program. You can check out the full video and a couple of videos posted by Alabama here.
DeBoer is the ninth head coach Conyers worked for at Alabama while living through two of the greatest dynasties college football has ever seen. Between Bryant and Nick Saban, Conyers has seen a lot of winning football in Tuscaloosa.
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There was a great relationship between Conyers and Saban, with the two continually joking around with one another off the practice field. Saban even said Conyers was a double agent and did not enjoy throwing flags on offensive players.
“I love Eddie but I’ve tried to fire his ass more times than I can count,” Saban jokingly said about Conyers back in 2017.
Conyers was never fired by anybody and got to be an Alabama practice official for over six decades. As DeBoer put it, “Pretty special guy when it comes to what he’s accomplished, the commitment he has had to this program. We appreciate it.”