BAY MINETTE, ALA. — While members of his family watched proudly along with his current and former coaches, Alabama Crimson Tide and former Baldwin County High School stand-out Wallace Gilberry was honored at Friday afternoon ceremonies inside a packed BCHS gymnasium as the Baldwin County Commission officially proclaimed “Wallace Gilberry Day.”

Attorney David Simon, the master of ceremonies for the event, read the county commission’s proclamation declaring Friday as “Wallace Gilberry Day” and presented it to Gilberry before University of Alabama Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban spoke in high praise not only of Gilberry’s athletic skills on the football field, but also of such traits as leadership, class, character and commitment.

Bay Minette Mayor Sonny Dobbins presented Gilberry with a similar proclamation and a key to the city, and Baldwin County Schools Superintendent Faron Hollinger and Baldwin County District Judge Carmen Bosch, who is currently the vice president of the University of Alabama Alumni Association, and state legislator Harry Shiver of Bay Minette also read proclamations that they gave to the All-Southeastern Conference defensive end.

Others who spoke were attorney Taylor “Red” Wilkins, who played on the University of Alabama’s 1961 National Championship team under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, BCHS head boys basketball coach and assistant football coach Lorenzo Hunter, University of Alabama defensive line coach Bo Davis, current BCHS head football caoch David Wofford and Baldwin County System Athletic Director Chuck Anderson.

Also in attendance was Jack French, Gilberry’s head football coach at BCHS, and Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Jamarcus Russell of Mobile, who played two years for Saban at Louisiana State University and became good friends with Gilberry five years ago when the Gilberry and Russell played together in the Alabama-Mississippi High School All-Star Classic in Mobile.

Saban, the Crimson Tide’s football first-year head football coach, said, “Wallace Gilberry is a great ambassador for this community and the University of Alabama, and his record on the field stands out. He is as fine a young man as I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach.

“He is a great player and competitor. Nobody on our team re˛presented class, character and commitment any better. He is a testament to all of you here: family, friends, teachers, coaches, mentors, who helped develop him into what he has become.

“He is the epitome of what college football is all about,”: Saban said. “He played in every game that he was eligible. You can suffer through pain and the discipline, or you will suffer through life with the pain and disappointment. Wallace has had a great career. When you give, you get back 10 times more back, and Wallace has a lot coming to him.”

Saban also said that the ever-positive and talkative Gilberry was one of the few people who could cheer him up whenever he was down.

Gilberry, who is participating in more football practices this week as a member of the South team in the Senior Bowl, responded to Saban’s remarks by saying, “Everything coach Saban said kind of touched me” after beginning his comments with, “First and foremost, I want to thank The Lord Jesus Christ, because without Him this wouldn’t have been possi8ble. I want to thank everyone here, the City of Bay Minette and Baldwin County.”

Further addressing Saban and Davis and referring to all of his coaches at Alabama, Gilberry said, “I knew that I gave them my all, and the fact that he saw that and and was able to come out here today made me really feel wonderful.

“You go through life with so many trials and tribulations and there’s times when you feel you have nothing going for you. If you keep fighting, there’s always going to be some good in the evil, always, and the good always prevails.”

A three-year letterƒman in football and basketball at Baldwin County High School, Gilberry was not recruited by any major four-year college football coaches following his senior season, so he signed with a junior college in Mississippi. His outstanding performance in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic caught the eye of the University of Alabama coaching staff and Gilberry was soon a Crimson Tide player.

He was red-shirted during his true freshman season, but quickly earned a starting defensive end position the next season and was one the team’s leaders in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss, statistics he excelled in again as a senior after tailing off somewhat in his sophomore and junior seasons.