Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Tommy Wilcox

Need your fix of Alabama sports? BamaCentral has you covered with former All-American safety Tommy Wilcox
Alabama Athletics

With a lot of people heading outdoors for Memorial Day weekend, it seemed only fitting to profile former Alabama safety Tommy Wilcox. 

A two-time All-American safety and 1979 SEC Freshman of the Year when Alabama won the national championship, Wilcox finished his career with 243 tackles. 

Among his 10 interceptions were two game-saving pickoffs in the end zone, against Mississippi State in 1981, and against Auburn in Paul W. “Bear” Bryant’s 315th career victory. 

In 1992, he was voted to the Alabama 'Team of the Century' which included just four defensive backs from the Crimson Tide's first 100 years.

Wilcox was recruited out of Louisiana, where he was the Class 4A All-State quarterback, as well as all-district and all-city at Bonnabel High School. He signed with Alabama at the Harahan City Hall where his late father Freddie served as mayor for 16 years.

"Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oklahoma – they were all after me but I kind of wanted to stay closer to home," Wilcox said. "There was just something about Alabama. I have always prided myself by not always doing the easy thing. I knew if I could make it at Alabama, I could make it anywhere.

"Coach Bryant was the only coach who made no promises, not a jersey number nor a guarantee to start. He told me I have a chance to be on TV and a chance to win a national championship ring."

The TV part turned out to be especially true. 

His pro career ended after just two years because of a neck injury, Wilcox kept hunting and fishing on the side and became the host of the regional television program, “The Tommy Wilcox Outdoors Show.”


Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.