The Deuce: One of Alabama's Best

After watching him play that first time, I was hooked to the television screen. I wanted to see Palmer at least touch the football. I remember begging my mom to buy me a No. 2 Alabama jersey, but, to my dismay, it never happened.

Palmer's freshman year was nothing short of amazing. He made a name for himself with his 90-yard punt return against LSU, and followed that up with a quarterback sweep to the right side for a touchdown that made the difference against Auburn in the 1991 Iron Bowl.

But it was the 1991 Blockbuster Bowl against Colorado that made jaws drop, ankles break, and turned Palmer into the most exciting player in college football at that time. He caught a punt at the 50-yard line, high stepped and went back a couple yards, then he split three defenders, made another one miss, and the rest was history. Teammate Antonio Langham didn't have to block the punter on that play, but he did anyway. 

The play of the night however, was when Palmer lined up at quarterback on a 2nd-and-10. He was under center, dropped back (and I'm not sure if it was part of the play), and four Colorado defenders got in the backfield. But Palmer spun out of the jam and broke up field for a first down. I scratched my head in amazement. He caught a touchdown pass later on, while I was still wondering how he got that first down.

Palmer may not have been the fastest guy you would see on the field, but he had what is called "next man" speed. Meaning, if the guy that was chasing him ran a 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds, Palmer would run as if he ran it in 4.3 seconds.

That speed was evident in the 1993 Sugar Bowl against defending champion Miami.

We heard it from the media:

"Miami has too much speed."

"Alabama doesn't stand a chance."

"Alabama is too slow."

All it took was one punt return from Palmer to put 'Bama in Miami territory to make Miami look like the team that was slow. If Palmer had run to the open gap, it would have been a touchdown. If Miami didn't respect his speed after that play, then there was a reverse where a Hurricane player had the angle on him and Palmer ran right by him.

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