Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Don McNeal

Need your fix of Alabama sports? BamaCentral has you covered with Don McNeal

Bryant Museum

It somehow seems fitting that when people look for help in dealing with difficulty and adversity, they sometimes turn to former Crimson Tide cornerback Don McNeal.

McNeal was named first-team All-SEC as a junior, and both first-team All-American and team co-captain as senior, when Alabama won and defended the national title in 1978-79.

He subsequently was a first-round draft selection by the Miami Dolphins, and during his nine-year National Football League career made 18 interceptions, returning two for touchdowns.

During his college career, McNeal was especially known for one play. During the 1979 Sugar Bowl, the famous goal-line stand wound't have happened if it wasn't for the Crimson Tide defensive back.  On second-and-goal, he came off his man and laid out Penn State wide receiver Scott Fitzkee just shy of the end zone at the 1-yard line. 

However, McNeal’s pro career also had the stigma of one play in particular, during one of his two Super Bowl appearances, when the Dolphins faced the Washington Redskins in January 1983.

Washington was down 17-13 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining and facing fourth-and-one at the Miami 43. The call was an easy one, a handoff to powerful fullback John Riggins, listed at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds.

“We were in goal-line defense at that particular time,” McNeal told ESPN.com. “I was supposed to shadow the receiver in motion, Clint Didier, one-on-one.”

When Didier reversed direction, McNeal spun, but slipped and fell. By the time he recovered, Didier was blocking the defensive end, which left the 5-11, 185-pound McNeal to plug the hole as the only thing between the end zone and a runaway tank. 

McNeal made the mistake of trying to hit Riggins high, couldn’t wrap him up, and was essentially run over by the fullback en route to scoring the game-winning touchdown.

NFL

“I had a chance to make a tackle for a loss and get us off the field,” McNeal said. “I feel I can make every play I’m confronted by, and I should have made that play. I tackled him too high. If I make that play, we probably win the game”

Instead of letting the play overwhelm him emotionally, McNeal’s career continued and he later used it as a teaching tool after becoming the children’s pastor at New Testament Baptist Church in Miami.

“He was the kind of player Coach Bryant loved because he was first class,” Jeremiah Castille said about McNeal. 

On May 31, 2008, McNeal was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. 

His latest challenge has been against multiple sclerosis, which now-Rev. McNeal believes was brought on by numerous NFL concussions. 

“I have MS, but MS doesn't have me," has been his motto. 

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books