4A | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2021 | THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS
REMEMBERING CECIL HURT
Radio personality Paul Finebaum, left, and Cecil Hurt prepare for media days in the Wynfrey Hotel during SEC Media Days in Hoover on July 23, 2008. MICHAEL E.
PALMER/TUSCALOOSA NEWS
Readers
Continued from Page 3A
ers. There will never be another Cecil.
Ryan Hall
I first 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 ap-
preciated 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 oth-
ers 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 field. Cecil’s col-
umn 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 writ-
er or journalist to truly stand out
amongst their peers – whatever your
stance on the commonality of such indi-
viduals. Cecil was truly a giant in his
field and one that will very likely never
be surpassed. The void he leaves is not
possible to fill. He will always be a leg-
endary figure.
I’m sorry I don’t have the words to do
him justice.
Cecil Hurt (left) with his mother, Carol Messina, and brother, Cary Hurt. SUBMITTED
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 ma-
joring in journalism. My English 101
class read Malcolm Gladwell's “Outlier”
that fall, and our instructor assigned us
to write a profile on an outlier in the Tus-
caloosa 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 office the Wednesday following
Mark Ingram's South Carolina perfor-
mance. We talked for about 30 minutes,
and he provided great information. Be-
fore 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 confer-
ence 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 Cec-
il 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 interac-
tion and make you feel like the most im-
portant person in the world was un-
matched.
Over the last decade, when it bene-
fited 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 friend-
ship, 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 first 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
Cecil Hurt (right) with his brother,
Cary, and sister, Caren. SUBMITTED
Young Cecil Hurt SUBMITTED
wrote compelling analysis when the
Tide thrived in success – but during
those painful DuBose/Franchione
years, I have to say he was at his abso-
lute 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 un-
flinching commentary was unapologet-
ic. More importantly, it was the unvar-
nished 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 al-
ways saying “Cecil said.”
Every football game comes with what
feels like 20 commercial breaks, and ev-
ery time the digital countdown clock
came on the field 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.