Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Ozzie Newsome

Need your fix of Alabama sports? BamaCentral has you covered with Ozzie Newsome

Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns

Except for coaching, there’s not much Ozzie Newsome hasn’t done in football.

He had an exceptional collegiate career, an even better pro career, and has gained entry into four halls of fame: NFL’s Pro Football Hall of Fame (inducted 1999), National Football Foundation’s College Hall of Fame (1994), NCAA Hall of Fame (1994), and Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (1995).

Not too bad for a 6-foot-4, 210-pound player from Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Newsome was a four-year starter from 1974-77, when he set many of the Crimson Tide reception records. He caught 102 passes for 2,070 yards, with an average gain per pass of 20.3 yards, a conference record.

Alabama’s record each year with Newsome was 11-1, 11-1, 9-3 and 11-1, with three Southeastern Conference championships and a No. 2 finish in 1977 when voters leapfrogged Notre Dame up from No. 5 after it defeated Texas. He was twice named all-conference, and an All-American his senior year. The Atlanta Touchdown Club and the Birmingham Quarterback Club named Newsome the Southeastern Conference’s Lineman of the Year in 1977, when he was also Alabama’s co-captain.

Paul W. “Bear” Bryant called him “the greatest end in Alabama history and that includes Don Hutson. A total team player, fine blocker, outstanding leader, great receiver with concentration, speed, hands.”

In the 1976 Sugar Bowl, Newsome’s slant-and-go for a 55-yard gain set up the only touchdown of the game, as Alabama defeated Penn State, 13-6. Against Notre Dame the following season he caught seven passes and scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion, and graded 90 on blocking.

“The Wizard of Oz” was the 23 overall selection of the Cleveland Browns in the 1978 NFL Draft, and needed only two seasons to earn All-Pro honors (he did so again in 1984). Newsome played in 198 consecutive games as a Brown, and caught a pass in 150 consecutive games, which was the second longest streak in the National Football League when he retired as its all-time leading tight end in receiving with 662 receptions, 7,980 yards, and 47 touchdowns. Additionally, he won the NFL Players Association’s Byron “Whizzer” White award for community service in 1990, four years after being presented the Ed Block Courage Award for continuing to play in spite of injuries.

But even after his playing days were over, Newsome wasn’t done with the NFL yet. He joined the Cleveland front office, and on Nov. 22, 2002, became the league’s first black general manager when the franchise (which had since moved and renamed the Baltimore Ravens) promoted him from vice president of player personnel.

In addition to a number of strong drafts – his strategy is: “Select the best available player on the board” – Newsome was the architect of the Ravens’ Super Bowl XXXV championship team in 2000, and voted the NFL’s Executive of the Year.

On the wall of his Baltimore office is a sideline portrait of his mentor, Bryant, wearing his trademark houndstooth hat.

“Coach [Bryant] helped me grow up. He pushed me further than I thought I could go, both on and off the field,” Newsome said.

For years there was a longstanding rumor that Newsome would someday become the director of athletics at Alabama, perhaps to follow Mal Moore (which obviously didn't happen). In the spring of 2007, he told the Birmingham News: “People keep talking about me being the AD. If there’s the opportunity to come back maybe to be the janitor at the University of Alabama, hey, I’ll take that.”

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