Billy Neighbors obit

Billy Neighbors, patriarch of Huntsville's first family of football, dies at 72

 

He was not on the list.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Billy Neighbors, one of the University of Alabama's all-time football greats and the patriarch of Huntsville's first family of football, died Monday afternoon at the age of 72.

Neighbors, a colorful figure who worked nearly four decades as a stockbroker in Huntsville after his retirement from professional football, had suffered a massive heart attack last Wednesday.

He was the anchor on both the offensive and defensive lines for Alabama's 1961 national championship team, the first title won by coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, and was later named to Alabama's All-Century team.

Neighbors, a unanimous All-American his senior year at Alabama, was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004. He was also inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 and was in the inaugural class of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.

He is survived by Susan, his wife of almost 50 years; daughter Claire; sons Wes and Keith; and eight grandchildren, Wesley, Connor, Anna Lakin, Jackson, Willa, Billy, Hayden and Lawson.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

The Neighbors have had three generations play football for the University of Alabama.

Billy Neighbors began his career there in 1958 on Bryant's first team. Wes played there from 1983 through 1986. Keith joined the Tide in 1988 and was on the 1992 national championship team.

Grandson Wesley also won a national title as part of the 2009 Alabama team and was a student assistant for last year's squad after injuries derailed his team. His younger brother Connor plays for LSU.

Billy Neighbors' brother Sidney Jr. preceded him on the Alabama team

"Billy was one of my closest friends," said Mal Moore, Alabama's director of athletics and one of Neighbors' former teammates.

"He was certainly a great Alabama man and a great player for Alabama at a time in history when we needed a great player and great leader. He will always be remembered."

Neighbors is the third death within eight days to impact Huntsville's ties to University of Alabama football.

Clem Gryska, a former Huntsville High coach and long-time aide to Bryant, died a week ago Monday. He was on the Alabama staff when Neighbors played there.

On Sunday, former Tide lineman Hardy Walker died of a heart attack while mowing the lawn at his in-laws' home in Pelham. The ex-Grissom High standout was 49.

Born in Taylorsville, just outside Tuscaloosa, Neighbors would later recall as a youngster how he frequently rode his bicycle past the house of Alabama great Harry Gilmer. He would also sell soft drinks at Denny Stadium.

On the occasion of his enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame, Neighbors talked with former Times sports editor John Pruett about the 1961 team, calling it "one of the best football teams there ever was."

The 1961 Alabama team shut out six opponents and allowed only three touchdowns en route to an 11-0 season.

Many consider it the best defensive team in college football history, though last fall in an interview with The Times, even Neighbors argued that the 2011 Alabama team had what "may be the best defense to ever play college football."

After completing his career at Alabama, Neighbors was drafted in the sixth round of the American Football League draft by the Boston Patriots and the fourth round by the Washington Redskins of the NFL, when the two leagues were bitter rivals.

He opted to sign with Boston for $27,000 and spent four years with the Patriots and four more with the Miami Dolphins. Twice he was named All-Pro.

He began making his off-season home in Huntsville since it is the hometown of his wife, the former Susan Kinzer, to whom he was introduced at Alabama by teammate Benny Nelson, who remained a lifelong friend.

"Billy Neighbors was a self-made person," said former teammate Bill "Brother" Oliver. "He lost his father extremely early. He had brothers that were good football players, but Billy was different. He was just self-made. He could see something, and he had enough insight of what needed to be done to be great.

"He was bound and determined to be something special. He became very special in the eyes of everybody."

Don Kausler of the Tuscaloosa bureau contributed to this report.