Bama Central

Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em: Alabama Players Celebrate 14th-Consecutive Victory Over Tennessee

The Crimson Tide continued the decades-old tradition after beating the Volunteers 48-17

Joey Blackwell

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After defeating Tennessee 48-17 for its 14th-consecutive victory over the Volunteers, Alabama football celebrated the same way it's done every year since 1961:

Smoking cigars.

Along with fans, Alabama players and coaches share the tradition of smoking in the locker room after winning the Third Saturday in October. While Tennessee shares in the tradition, they haven't been able to celebrate since 2006.

The tradition started under Paul 'Bear' Bryant's era as head coach of the Crimson Tide. Bryant was well-known for despising Tennessee, as did his team's trainer, Jim Goostree. Goostree was an assistant coach at Tennessee before joining Alabama, and in the fall of 1961 made a bet with his players that if they could beat the Volunteers, he would dance in the locker room naked.

Alabama did win, defeating Tennessee 34-3. True to his word, Goostree did as he promised, adding a victory cigar to the routine.

Fortunately for both Alabama and Tennessee, the cigar was the only part of the tradition that stuck around.

"It's always a great win," Saban said. "It's a great rivalry game. I know it means a lot to a lot of people in the state of Alabama and certainly proud of our players for the effort that they put in and the game we played. It's always good to win."

Below is a compilation of Alabama players and their cigar posts on social media following the Crimson Tide's win over the Volunteers on Saturday night, including some coaches and former players:

Malachi Moore

Landon Dickerson

Marcus Banks

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Thomas Fletcher

Traeshon Holden

Charles C. Huff

Brandon Turnage

Will Lowery

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Joey Blackwell
JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.

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