This day in sports history

BY COLIN “BIG C” MACGUIRE

The Greenville Standard

 

Today I will cover another Alabama football player in the College Football Hall of Fame.

E.J. Junior was born Dec. 8, 1959. He played at Maplewood High School in Nashville, Tenn.

He played at Alabama from 1977-1980; the teams’ record he played on was 44-4.

They won three SEC Championships (1977, 1978, and 1979) and two National Championship Teams (1978, 1979).

E.J. was a three year starter at defensive end. He was 6-3, weighed 230 lbs. and ran a 4.48 40-yard dash.

In the 1978 Missouri Game, he blocked a punt with Alabama trailing 20-17 in the third quarter.

Rickey Gilliland returned it for a touchdown and Alabama won 38-20.

In the 1979 Georgia Tech Game, season opener, he returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown of the season.

E.J.’s senior year, he was named All-SEC for the third year in a row, and Consensus All-America.

He was also named in 1980 the SEC Lineman of The Year by The Atlanta Touchdown Club and The Birmingham Monday Morning QB Club.

He played in three Sugar Bowls and one Cotton Bowl.

Junior is a member of the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame (2007), Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Hall of Fame (2010), and the College Football Hall of Fame (2020).