Bear Bryant was an American original who won 323 games as a college football coach, the most ever in college football at the time he passed away after the 1982 season. Offered is a 1967 Bear Bryant personally worn crimson red jacket. Bear Bryant was a living legend as a college football coach, but his given first name is Paul, and how he went from being Paul to becoming "Bear" is a clue to his playing and coaching success. Being impoverished as a youth, one of a dozen children growing up in rural Arkansas, Bryant was watching a live show at a carnival, and a man on stage was offering money to anyone who would fight his captive bear. Paul Bryant was desperate for money, and full of gumption, so he went on stage, wrestled the bear, and gained a lifetime nickname. Bryant played college football at Alabama, and he used to describe himself as 'the other end" because the other starting end was Don Hutson, All-American and later a Hall of Famer for the Green Bay Packers. But Bryant was being modest in describing his abilities. He started at end on the Alabama 1934 National Champions, and in that season, he was named to the All-Southeastern Conference second team. In 1935, he showed the toughness that he had exhibited in fighting the bear, when he played a game against Tennessee with a partially broken leg. After his college playing days, Bryant was drafted in the 4th round by the Brooklyn Dodgers, of the NFL, but did not pursue pro football. Bryant coached at the University of Maryland, Kentucky University, and Texas A&M University, but he is primarily noted for his 25-year tenure as the head football coach at Alabama. While coaching there, Bryant's teams won 13 conference championships and six national titles. Bryant was the head football coach at Alabama from 1958-82. Some of the numerous great stars who Bryant developed at Alabama: Joe Namath, Lee Roy Jordan, Ken Stabler, Johnny Musso, John Hannah, Ozzie Newsome, and Dwight Stephenson. Bear Bryant was a very intelligent coach who knew how to promote both Alabama football as well as himself. So, the Bear became a sartorial showman. Wearing his houndstooth hat, on-and-off the football field, became a Bryant trademark. But Bear Bryant also loved to wear clothing that was crimson red, since that color represented his Alabama Crimson Tide football team. The offered wool (blazer-like) dress jacket is all in crimson red. One tag, on the right lower interior above the inner pocket, reads "Paul Bear Bryant." A tag just below the same pocket reads "Dan Carmichael/Custom Tailors/Chattanooga, Tennessee." The jacket has three exterior pockets and two interior pockets. The jacket has no size that is marked or listed. The single-breasted jacket is missing three buttons that were on the front, running down the center. Except for the missing buttons, the dress jacket is in excellent condition. The jacket makes a visually pleasing, colorful remembrance of the larger-than-life Bear Bryant.