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Mike Clements in 1979 Sugar Bowl Goal Line Stand Video

Most everyone from the class of 1976 will remember Mike Clements, who played football for the Erwin Eagles. What everyone might not know is that he also went on to play for the Alabama Crimson Tide under legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.

This video shows the famous goal line stand from the 1979 Sugar Bowl, when No. 2 ranked Alabama beat No. 1 Penn State for the National Championship.

I recently ran into Mike on Facebook, and found this video for the site. He was No. 43 in Alabama’s defensive secondary. I just remember he was a hard guy to tackle : )

He was also written up recently in the Birmingham News. Here’s the link to the article.

The other tackler: Barry Krauss’ Sugar Bowl stop in Alabama’s Goal-Line Stand will live forever, but time has obscured another defender

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 3rd, 2011 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Blasts of the Past, Class Member Updates, Erwin Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  1. #1 by Glynn Wilson on January 3rd, 2011 - 1:49 pm

    Interesting find. Hope y’all like it…

    RE Q

  2. #2 by Scott Moor on January 8th, 2011 - 2:24 pm

    Good to see Mike finally getting the props he deserves. Mike was GREAT player at Erwin and I am proud to say I was able to play with him at Erwin. This couldn’t have happen to a nicer guy. Congrads to Mike and his family. Go Eagles and ROLL TIDE!

    RE Q

  3. #3 by Brian Lee on April 27th, 2011 - 7:03 pm

    The only Alabama-Auburn game I attended sported Mike in the secondary at Legion Field under the Bear. Having faked my jock off in “P.E.” to score a touchdown, I always wondered why Mike was not a running back at Bama. Plus I still can’t understand why Mike was in “P.E.” in the first place. My top memorable moments of Erwin football were Mike Clements at running back, Craig Carlisle admitting Mt. Brook nose guard was the only one able to beat him at center, Stan Hagood kicking ass always (sacfricing himself head-first) at safety, and Pattie Coker decked out in her sexy patten-leather black and white cheerleader shoes. Is there a 35-year reunion perchance??

    RE Q

  4. #4 by Glynn Wilson on April 27th, 2011 - 9:46 pm

    Good to hear from you Brian. How’s Keith?

    I remember Clements being very, very hard to tackle in the ninth grade. You could not hit him low in the legs or he would beat you to death. You had to grab him by something, like his arm when Mike Vinson broke it in practice that year. Sorry mike. I missed that tackle : )

    RE Q

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