If you were born in the late '80s or early '90s, you missed out on probably the best pure athlete in Alabama football history.
Before fans were in awe of Reggie Bush, there was David Palmer.
Before we watched Percy Harvin carve up defenses at Florida, Palmer was doing it at Alabama.
Before the young Alabama fans get excited over the return abilities of Javier Arenas, the old-school fans held their breath when Palmer touched the ball.
He had his trademark of flipping the ball in the air after a touchdown (which is now an unsportsmanlike penalty).
From 1991 to 1993, he was so electric, that Alabama Coach Gene Stallings had figure out ways to get him the football. He was more than a kick/punt return specialist and a wide receiver—at times he was a quarterback. He didn't run all the time while he played quarterback; he also threw passes to keep defenses honest.
He was an All-American in 1993 and finished third in the Heisman Trophy ballot. His third-place finish is the highest for an Alabama player (and maybe he would have won, if not for two DUI sentences).
Before Palmer was slithering his way through defenses in college, he was electrifying the crowds at Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, Ala. Rumor has it his high school highlight tape trumps the moves he pulled off in college. That is hard to believe on my end, but when you hear the same thing from more than one person, you almost have to believe it.
The message board saying, "Pictures, or it didn't happen," never applied to Palmer.
The first time I saw Palmer play was against Vanderbilt in 1991, which was his freshman year. I was an eight-year-old pup at the time, a few months off of watching Michael Jordan switching hands on the Lakers in the Finals.
Vandy punted to him, and he caught it at the Alabama 44-yard line. The man was surrounded by six Vandy defenders (which is over half the defense), made one move to the left, then hopped back to the right, and took it back to the house. The sick part about the run was that no one touched him, and no one blocked.
If you think this is one of those exaggerated stories you hear from older people, you may want to think again. If Al Michaels was calling the play, it would have ended with him saying, "He did what?!”
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