Goode, Ranelli Named Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award Recipients

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Patch has confirmed that former University of Alabama and NFL running back Kerry Goode and former Crimson Tide baseball star J.C. Ranelli have been selected as this year's recipients of the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award.

This will see the two men honored at halftime of Alabama football's season opener at Bryant-Denny Stadium against Utah State on Sept. 3.

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Goode was first to confirm that he will be one of two recipients of the award, which is presented each year by the UA National Alumni Association to two former Crimson Tide athletes who went on to make names for themselves after leaving The Capstone.

"I must say that shocked and appreciative of this honor," Goode said on social media. "Thank you to all who voted and nominated me for this prestigious acknowledgment. I hope to see you at the game, so I can personally thank you."

Widely considered one of the greatest "what-if" stories in Crimson Tide football lore, with his greatest moment coming in his very first game for Alabama in 1984 against Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie and Boston College. During that fateful game, Goode racked up 297 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns before a devastating knee injury would impact him for the rest of his playing days.

Hobbled by the injury, but undeterred Goode eventually bounced back to rush for 1,350 yards on 253 carries and eight total touchdowns. He was drafted in the 7th round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, appearing in 14 games the following season.

Goode made the move to the Miami Dolphins in 1989, but went down with a knee injury in his first game and ultimately saw his playing career come to an end. He then entered the coaching ranks, with stints for the New York Giants from 1993-96 and the St. Louis Rams from 1997-99.

Goode was also diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis — commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig disease — in 2015 and is currently confined to a wheelchair. However, his spirit has served as an inspiration for many, even outside of the Crimson Tide community.

“Accept where you are,” he said of his condition in a 2021 interview for a feature by the Emory Brain Health Center. “Embrace it. Don’t keep looking back because it’s not coming back.”

Joining Goode during the halftime ceremony on Sept. 3 will be former Crimson Tide baseball shortstop J.C. Ranelli, UA Director of Alumni Affairs Calvin J. Brown confirmed to Patch on Thursday.

A member of the 1963 SEC Championship team coached by Crimson Tide legend Joe Sewell, Ranelli would go on to play one season in the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates, before giving up baseball and going on to work for Cigna for nearly three decades.

"I used to give a speech to all the letter-winners every year at the university and I tell them that ‘this is important for you because there’s not many people that can say they were a letter-winner at the University of Alabama,” Ranelli told Bama Central's Joey Blackwell in 2020. “There’s probably only about 4,000-5,000 people in the world that can say that. It’s an opportunity."

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