Alabama game days are full of pride, cheer, football, music and more. These make up the many traditions that make Alabama football games stand out among the rest.
“The fans love the traditions. Without the traditions, we would just be a normal football team,” said Manav Patel, a senior management and information sciences student. “The traditions make the games fun and set us apart from other schools.”
Some traditions are long-standing through The University of Alabama’s history.
A football game day, for many fans, consists of tailgating, the Walk of Champions, the Elephant Stomp, and the Million Dollar Band halftime show.
For freshman neuroscience student Sara Kate Watson, tailgates are her favorite Alabama tradition.
“The atmosphere, and everybody being there, everybody getting excited for the game, knowing we’re just absolutely going to beat anyone we’re playing — that’s the best feeling,” Watson said.
Tailgating might just be the start of the day for some fans.
While fans are tailgating on the Quad, the Million Dollar Band will do different performances throughout the day at different areas surrounding the Quad.
The end of tailgating on the Quad before the start of the game can be signified by the Elephant Stomp. The Million Dollar Band will perform “Yea Alabama” and various other songs on the steps of Gorgas Library.
Quad tailgating is followed by going to the Walk of Champions, a tradition when fans gather around the entrance of Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch Alabama’s football players and coaches walk into the stadium before the start of the game. At halftime, fans can expect the Million Dollar Band to put on another show.
Fans can expect to hear “Dixieland Delight” in the fourth quarter. In between certain lines of the song, fans shout out “beat Auburn, and LSU, and Tennessee too.”
The song is fought over by Tennessee and Alabama due to the lyrics “on a Tennessee Saturday night,” despite the song being sung by the band Alabama.
Even if LSU no longer being a permanent SEC opponent for Alabama, the part of the song encouraging the Tigers’ defeat is still widely sung by fans.
“I think you have to have certain opponents and teams that you don’t like,” Watson said. “To keep pride in your own school going. No matter how bad or good a team gets.”
No matter what the tradition is, Alabama fans will be sure to continue them for years to come. These traditions bring out fan pride and some old-fashioned rivalry that helps strengthen the football culture.
“I think it means so much because it helps grow connections between the fans who come from all facets of life,” Ohm Patel, a senior mechanical engineering student, said of traditions. “We may have differences, but we all share a common love for The University of Alabama.”
