Tuscaloosa News readers pay tribute to Cecil Hurt
Cecil Hurt touched lives in many ways in nearly four decades covering sports for The Tuscaloosa News. He did so through mostly his columns on Alabama football and other sports, but also with posts on his Twitter account about athletics, life or his garage cat Slim Charles.
After he died Tuesday at 62 of complications from pneumonia, readers reached out with their own stories and tributes.
Here is a sampling:
NICK SABAN: Nick Saban on Cecil Hurt: 'Truly just loved the guy'
PAUL FINEBAUM: Paul Finebaum gets emotional discussing Tuscaloosa News columnist Cecil Hurt's death
REACTIONS: Sports community remembers Cecil Hurt as Alabama columnist with 'wit, style and grace'
Emily Pitek
Cecil was the kind of person who truly cared about others. I learned of this one day when he put out an unassuming tweet. He had gone to the local Waffle House. Upon eating, he saw there was a jar requesting funds to help a family in need. He then felt compelled to put out a tweet mentioning this jar and family.
I offered to send some money. Then he told me to tell him how much I would contribute, and he would go drop that into the jar. I was to mail him that money, or bring it whenever I saw him next in Tuscaloosa; his concern for being repaid wasn’t huge. He did, however, request that I mail him one of my family’s Christmas cards with our picture on it so that he could put it on his fridge.
I’ll miss him, his generosity, simple conversations and sending him our family’s Christmas card.
Cheryl Hall
I was never fortunate enough to meet Cecil Hurt, but I’ve spent my whole life following his column. I can recall countless Sunday mornings where I waited for my dad to finish reading the paper so I could read about Alabama’s game the day before and whatever wit or insight Cecil had to provide. Even today, it’s still one of my Sunday-morning habits.
I’m full of sadness at the thought that we’ve seen the last of Cecil’s columns and the life advice that was always nestled in them. I’ll be thinking of his family, friends and all the lives he’s touched, and I hope they will be comforted that he became synonymous with the Alabama he so loved.
Sean Trawick
Words are difficult to come by. My grandfather, dad and I always turned first to Mr. Hurt for any Bama news. His influence touched generations of Alabama fans. My dad passed in 2018, so even though I’ll miss Cecil I can find some comfort in believing he’s once again providing my dad with wonderful anecdotes about the Tide.
Taylor Salter
Never met him, but during the coaching search that resulted in Alabama getting Nick Saban, even when ESPN reported that Rich Rodriquez was going to be head coach, my father, brother, and I never believed that. Cecil didn’t say it so it wasn’t official in our eyes. Sure enough, that did not happen and Cecil never said it would. He then broke the news about Saban coming before anyone else. He will be missed.
FROM TOMMY DEAS: Tuscaloosa lost an institution, The Tuscaloosa News lost an icon and I lost a friend
FROM NICK KELLY: What I learned from Cecil Hurt, a real wizard
Shannon Meadows
From the time I really started getting into Alabama athletics, Cecil was the go-to. Whether it was in the paper or on the radio, you knew to pay attention to what Cecil said. He had his finger on the pulse of whatever was happening at the university. A legend, an institution, a gentleman and the Goat. There will not be another Cecil.
Jason Hayden
As an Alabama basketball fan, what I loved about Cecil is he didn’t just convey to us what the team or the coaches were doing, he also gave a voice to us, the fans. His stories expressed the rollercoaster ride of frustration and elation that comes with being a Bama hoops fan, and that’s because I know he was as big a fan as we are, and he felt all those emotions along with us.
Nancy Reynolds
If I was “out of the loop” for a bit, the first thing I always did to get back in was to check what Cecil had tweeted in the interim. I waited until any rumor was confirmed by Cecil Hurt before I believed it. He was completely reliable.
He was kind and interacted with his Twitter followers. I loved his Slim Charles stories and often wished for Cecil to write a book about SC’s adventures.
His writing was exquisite, really. He loved words and he used wonderful words with great skill and purpose. I tweeted to him once that I knew his English teacher was very proud of him. I was rewarded with a “like.”
Thank you for letting those of us who are readers and followers share a bit about what he meant to us. I’ve missed him for the past weeks. It’s hard to imagine having to miss him forever.
MORE REACTIONS: Alabama coaches, journalists, politicians and others react to Cecil Hurt's death: 'I'm crushed'
Tony Nelson
I grew up in Demopolis, Alabama. Cecil reminds me of my childhood. I couldn’t wait until Sunday AM to run out to the driveway to get the Tuscaloosa News. Color pictures from the game and Cecil’s article. I remember his photo attached to his column so young. My dad and I would fight over the sports section. He won and I got the comics first then the sports page.
Alan Gambril
I never met Cecil Hurt. But as a 28-year-old lifelong Tide fan and Alabama native, I have never consumed Alabama sports or even Twitter without the influence of Cecil Hurt. What amazed me about his writing was how he could set forth more impact, meaning, and emotion in far fewer words than any other sports writer I’ve ever read. He was clearly a sports fan. But more than that, it was clear he was a gifted writer (a legit skill that can be hard to display in the sports arena), citizen of Tuscaloosa and figurehead of the UA community. I will miss him even though I never met him.
LOOKING BACK: What Cecil Hurt wrote when Alabama football won its sixth national championship under Nick Saban
Stan Griffin
I first met the great Cecil Hurt when I was a newcomer on the Alabama beat with The Crimson White back during my college years, and having consumed his brilliant writing for many years, I was very intimidated even saying hi to him for the first time. I was able to work around him for many years after that, and although I never really got to know him all that well, there was no greater influence on my journalistic career than this iconic wordsmith. You will very much be missed, Cecil.
Kathy Woody
As an early Twitter user, I wondered how Cecil would adapt to this new media (we were basically the same age, thus quite “seasoned” as it emerged). He quickly became my favorite follow, using it in the best way, especially as the perfect medium for his timely one-liners. There will never be another Cecil.
Ryan Hall
I first met Cecil when I was 16. I'd been reading him for years. I was on the Central High School student paper and we toured the newsroom when you guys were still downtown. And for a while, The Tuscaloosa News occasionally ran pieces from local students. And I had a couple of pieces published. And one of the pieces I wrote while sitting in the newsroom. It was an opinion piece about David Palmer after he declared for the NFL Draft. And Cecil actually gave me some feedback on it. I didn't listen because I was not only a stubborn kid, but I was also intimidated by being in that newsroom.
Cecil became a pretty regular guest on the show I produced for Doug Layton once upon a time. I don't think I truly appreciated what I had by having Cecil's knowledge every week. Also, I don't think I appreciated what I had by having Doug Layton as a mentor as well.
I've long since left the media, though I do have a podcast and write all the time. Cecil had a brilliant mind, he was a gifted writer and was a beautiful man. And my hometown and my alma mater are less brilliant now that he's gone.
Riley Chandler
Only Cecil seemed to write when others were speechless. His piece after the death of Luke Ratliff has been on my mind all afternoon. “I had to hurry so I could be here to greet you.” What strong words from someone who had just lost a friend.
Brant Waddell
I really don’t know what to say. He was truly a giant in his field. Cecil’s column was must-read content in every Tuscaloosa News paper I ever read. As many have said – it wasn’t news until Cecil corroborated it. You can argue whether it is or is not common for a writer or journalist to truly stand out amongst their peers – whatever your stance on the commonality of such individuals. Cecil was truly a giant in his field and one that will very likely never be surpassed. The void he leaves is not possible to fill. He will always be a legendary figure.
I’m sorry I don’t have the words to do him justice.
Blake Davenport
As a 48-year-old UA alum, the best I can capture it is that I honestly felt like I lost a friend – and he didn’t know me.
Martin Stokes
I was a freshman at UA in 2009 majoring in journalism. My English 101 class read Malcolm Gladwell's “Outlier” that fall, and our instructor assigned us to write a profile on an outlier in the Tuscaloosa area.
My choice was pretty easy – Cecil Hurt. I sent him an email to see if he would be willing to do it. He replied a few days later saying he would, so I went to his office the Wednesday following Mark Ingram's South Carolina performance. We talked for about 30 minutes, and he provided great information. Before I left, he asked if I would like to join him for Nick Saban's midweek press conference at 6. Of course, I jumped on it.
We met at the Mal Moore Building, and he took me into the press conference to get a feel for how everything went.
His simple gesture was something that has stuck with me. He didn't have to extend that invitation, but he did.
Mattie-Lou Chandler
There is no “short form” for what Cecil Hurt meant to me, or any of us who had the privilege to know him or read his work. He was a giant among men. His ability to take even the smallest interaction and make you feel like the most important person in the world was unmatched.
Over the last decade, when it benefited him in absolutely no way shape or form, he poured his wisdom into me, teaching me far more than I realized. Cecil did this for so many of us, more than even he probably knew. I'll forever be eternally grateful for his constant and unwavering support and friendship, and of course his always perfectly-timed wit.
Kevin Johnson
I met Cecil on a plane ride to Arizona for the national championship. We struck up a conversation on the plane and talked all the way to Phoenix. He was so genuine and real. He talked to me like he knew me his whole life and he didn't know me at all, but that was the kind of guy that he was just a joy to be around
David Cooper
I was hired at The Tuscaloosa News in 1997. It seemed like coming across the map with a wife and a new baby kid, I had to cut my teeth and it was going to take a while to do it right. But reading Cecil’s work in those first months, it was like reading the tablets coming down from Sinai. If you wanted to understand Tuscaloosa, the university, and the heart of Alabama sports – especially the religion that is Tide Football – you had to read Cecil closely.
I will say this; people think Cecil wrote compelling analysis when the Tide thrived in success – but during those painful DuBose/Franchione years, I have to say he was at his absolute best when the teams were bad. I’d never read a columnist so brutal about the home team. It almost staggered me to read fresh copy like that. But his unflinching commentary was unapologetic. More importantly, it was the unvarnished truth.
Ross Steelman
I never met him, but I referred to him all the time to my wife. Whether it was about Slim Charles or Prince, I was always saying “Cecil said.”
Every football game comes with what feels like 20 commercial breaks, and every time the digital countdown clock came on the field I grabbed my phone to see what Cecil had to say on Twitter.
Lastly, I arrived early to a basketball game several years ago and there he sat at the press table … reading a book.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Tuscaloosa News readers pay tribute to Cecil Hurt
