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Lowry recalls Bear’s impact
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
Neil Lowry, a former Ursuline High School standout who spent four of his five seasons at the University of Kentucky under Paul “Bear” Bryant’s watchful eye, will again serve as emcee for this year’s “Bear Bryant Reunion” in Lexington, Ky.
The reunion is scheduled for June 21-22 at the Hilton Suites Hotel.
The event is not so much to celebrate the successes that Bryant’s players enjoyed on the field but to honor the man they call the greatest college football coach of all time, simply because of the respect he showed them during their collegiate careers.
For the past 30 years, many of Bryant’s remaining UK football players have gathered in Lexington, Ky., for the annual reunion.
Sadly, Lowry feels that it will be the last time they will all be together as a group.
“Coach [Bear Bryant] died in 1983 and we all know the mark that he left on the game while coaching at the University of Alabama,” Lowry said. “While at Kentucky, however, he provided us with many fond memories as well, both on and off the field.
“Those that played for him during his tenure with the Wildcats wanted to stay in touch with each other, all the while honoring ‘coach’ during those weekend festivities,” Lowry said.
“We’re all getting a little older now and it’s getting tougher and tougher to get to Lexington with all of our aches, pains and life’s other problems, so this might very well be the last time we get together.”
Lowry has served as master of ceremonies for the past six gatherings. Last year he pulled double duty as guest speaker.
Three former teammates — Steve Mylinger, Jim Proffitt and Lee Truman — will share speaking duties this time.
“When we started this, well over 50 former players made their way to the reunion,” Lowry said. “This year, however, fewer than 20 will attend.”
Long before Bryant became college football’s all-time winningest coach and the most recognizable name associated with the University of Alabama, he was formulating game plans at the University of Maryland, Kentucky and Texas A&M University.
Bryant spent just one season with the Terrapins — in 1945 when he led them to a 6-2-1 overall mark and fifth-place finish in the Southern Conference.
After that campaign, the challenge of turning the nation’s top basketball school into a football power was too good to pass up, so he left for Kentucky’s greener pastures.
For the next eight seasons, he led the University of Kentucky to a 60-23-6 record. That mark included an 11-1 record and Southeastern Conference title in 1950, and 13-7 victory over then top-ranked Oklahoma in the 1951 Sugar Bowl.
Bryant went on to post a 323-85-17 overall mark with seven national championships. But the impression that he left and life’s lessons forged on those Wildcats players from 1946-53 were indelible marks never to be forgotten.
“He knew how to handle people — a coach who was able to convince you that you could be the best you could be both on the gridiron and in life,” Lowry said.
A past president of the K Club and Football House, Lowry was team’s most valuable player his senior year en route to honorable mention All-America honors.
That senior season, he helped the Wildcats to a 13-6 upset of Georgia Tech, earned player of the game honors during their 7-6 win over LSU and set up two touchdowns with a blocked punt and fumble recovery of a fair catch in a win over Vanderbilt.