Magic City Classic tailgate tradition unites fans and families

3 months ago 2

THE GAME. IN FACT, YOU MIGHT SAY IT’S EVEN BIGGER. WVTM 13 ERIN LLEWELLYN TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS LONG TRADITION. WE ARE ABOUT TO GET IT IN WHEN IT COMES TO LAST SATURDAY IN THIS MOUNTAIN HERE WE ÎLE WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE WHOLE WEEK. WE JUST READY FOR CLASSIC BAM. IT’S A GREAT TIME OF THE YEAR. ONE OF MY FAVORITE HOLIDAYS RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS. MAGIC CITY CLASSIC TAILGATE IS A TRADITION SPANNING GENERATIONS. IT’S BEEN GOING ON FOR ALL OF THESE YEARS. BEING A PART OF THINGS THAT WE’VE SEEN OUR OUR UNCLES OR AUNTS AND NOW WE’RE GETTING READY. WE’RE DOING IT. OUR KIDS ARE OUT HERE. PERCY JONES GRADUATED FROM ALABAMA A&M, BUT HE’S BEEN TAILGATING FOR AS LONG AS HE CAN REMEMBER. GROWING UP IN BUSH HILLS, I WAS ONE OF THOSE KIDS SLINGING TOWELS, TELLING FOLKS WHERE TO PARK TO THE POINT WHERE WE’RE NOW GRADUATING FROM THOSE INSTITUTIONS AND OUT HERE TAKING OUR PLACE, TAILGATING AND ENJOYING LIFE FOR ALABAMA STATE, THE HOT SAUCE FOR IRONDALE. IT WOULD MAKE ME EITHER. AND HE JUST MADE THAT UP FOR HIM AND HIS FRIEND JACKIE ROBINSON. THEIR TAILGATING TRADITION WAS BORN OUT OF FRIENDSHIP. I TRAINED THIS GUY RIGHT AT THE COMPANY THAT I WORK FOR, AND ONE YEAR HE WAS LIKE, HEY, I’M THINKING ABOUT DOING A CLASSIC TAILGATE. YOU WANT TO DO IT? AND I HAD BEEN TAILGATING WITH SOME OTHER PEOPLE THAT STOPPED TAILGATING, AND I WAS LIKE, YEAH, SURE, LET’S DO IT. AND EVEN THOUGH ROBINSON GRADUATED FROM UAB, YES, I DID NOT GO TO A HBCU. SHE FEELS DEEPLY ROOTED TO ALABAMA A&M. SHE SAYS HER BROTHER IN LAW STARTED THEIR FAMILY LEGACY AS THE HEAD DRUM MAJOR BACK IN THE DAY. NOW, HER NIECE IS A MEMBER OF THE MARCHING MAROON AND WHITE BAND. I AM A BULLDOG, OKAY? I’M A BAD, BAD BULLDOG. CLASSIC FANS SAY NO MATTER WHICH TEAM YOU’RE CHEERING ON, FOOD, FUN AND FOOTBALL ARE CENTRAL TO THE EXPERIENCE. I WAS JUST COOKING A FEW RIBS TODAY. SMOKING THEM SO I COULD MAKE THEM TALK TO ME. WE GOT THE BABY SPOUSE HERE WITH MY SPECIAL SAUCE AND SEASON YOU AIN’T GONNA NEED NO SAUCE FOR THESE HERE AZJA VILLE GOING ON. AND WE GOT MY MAN WHITLOCK SPECIAL CHILI. WE GONNA PUT THAT THERE AND LET IT SIMMER A LITTLE BIT. OF COURSE YOU WANT YOUR TEAM TO WIN, BUT WHOEVER COME OUT AND DON’T WIN, YOU KNOW, YOU BE LIKE, GOOD GAME. WE COME BACK NEXT YEAR, WE WALK BY AND OF COURSE YOU TALK JUNK. YOU KNOW, WE GONNA DO THIS. WE GONNA DO THIS. BUT IT’S OUR LOVE. MANY PEOPLE SAY AFTER THE TOUCHDOWNS WERE SCORED AND THE TAILGATE IS OVER, IT’S ALL ABOUT BEING A FAMILY. MY BROTHER GRADUATED FROM ALABAMA STATE AS A. SO DID A LOT OF FOLKS IN MY FAMILY. SO I CAN’T SAY THE HOUSE IS DIVIDED. MAYBE WE JUST GOT BRICKS FROM DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT IT’S ALL ONE HOUSE, ONE UNITY. MONICA BRADLEY’S HOUSE CHANGED IN 2017 WHEN SHE LOST HER DAUGHTER, JASMINE MARSHALL. SHE WAS A BIG I MEAN, WHEN I SAY YOU SAY LSU, SHE BE LIKE THE ASU. MARSHALL GRADUATED FROM ALABAMA STATE A YEAR PRIOR AND NOW BRADLEY IS ENJOYING LIFE FOR HER AND CARRYING ON THE TRADITION IN HER HONOR. IT IS A BIG THING, AND TO KEEP HER MEMORY GOING ALSO TOO, BECAUSE I KNOW SHE ALWAYS LIKE SHE’S GOING TO MAKE SURE SHE BE AT CLASS. AND THIS IS YOUR DAY RIGHT HERE, RIGHT? OKAY. AND THEN WHICH ONE IS YOUR. IT’S MY GRANDDADDY. BUT BRADLEY SAYS CELEBRATING MAGIC CITY CLASSIC WAS A TRADITION FOR HER FAMILY LONG BEFORE THEN, WITH HER PARENTS AT THE HELM. WE JUST LSU FANS. MY PARENTS ALWAYS BEEN AN ASU FAN, SO WE JUST CONTINUE THE TRADITION AND I TELL MY KIDS WHEN I’M GONE, Y’ALL GOT TO CONTINUE TO. IN BIRMINGHAM, AARON LLEWELLYN,

Fans took over Legion Field for the Magic City Classic tailgate, a tradition that has become as popular as the game and halftime show. Tailgaters shared their excitement. “It’s been going on for all of these years—being a part of things that we’ve seen our uncles, aunts, and now we’re getting ready—we’re doing it. Our kids are out here,” Percy Jones said. “Growing up in Bush Hills, I was one of those kids slinging towels telling folks where to park to the point where we’re now graduated from those institutions and out here taking our place, tailgating and enjoying life.”For Jones, his tailgate experience has changed over the years. Now, he celebrates with his friend Jackie Robinson, a tradition born out of friendship.“I trained this guy at the company that I work for,” Robinson said. "And one year, he was like, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about doing a classic tailgate. You want to do it?’ I had been tailgating with some other people that stopped tailgating, and I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, let’s do it.’”Even though Robinson graduated from UAB, she feels deeply rooted to Alabama A&M. She said her brother-in-law started their family legacy as the head drum major back in 1993. Now, her niece is a member of the Marching Maroon & White.“Yes, I did not go to a HBCU,” Robinson said. “I am a bulldog, OK? I’m a bad, bad bulldog.”Classic fans like Monica Bradley feel no matter which team you’re cheering on, food, fun and football are central to the experience.“We walk by A&M—of course, you talk junk,” she said. “We’re going to do this. We’re going to do this, but it’s all love. Of course you want your team to win, but whoever comes out and doesn’t win you’ll be like, ‘Good game. We’re coming back next year.’”After the touchdowns are scored and the tailgate is over, many like Jones feel being a family is what classic is all about—no matter which colors you wear. “My brother graduated from Alabama State, and so did a lot of folks in my family,” he said. “I can’t say the house is divided. Maybe we just got bricks from different areas, but it’s all one house and one unity.”Bradley also remembered her daughter Jasmine Marshall, who graduated from Alabama State and passed away in 2017. Bradley continues to honor her daughter’s memory through the tailgate tradition.“It was a big thing to keep her memory going also, too, because she always going to make sure she’d be at classic,” Bradley said. We’re just ASU fans. My parents were always ASU fans. We continue the tradition, and I tell my kids when I’m gone they have to continue it.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Fans took over Legion Field for the Magic City Classic tailgate, a tradition that has become as popular as the game and halftime show. Tailgaters shared their excitement.

“It’s been going on for all of these years—being a part of things that we’ve seen our uncles, aunts, and now we’re getting ready—we’re doing it. Our kids are out here,” Percy Jones said. “Growing up in Bush Hills, I was one of those kids slinging towels telling folks where to park to the point where we’re now graduated from those institutions and out here taking our place, tailgating and enjoying life.”

For Jones, his tailgate experience has changed over the years. Now, he celebrates with his friend Jackie Robinson, a tradition born out of friendship.

“I trained this guy at the company that I work for,” Robinson said. "And one year, he was like, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about doing a classic tailgate. You want to do it?’ I had been tailgating with some other people that stopped tailgating, and I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, let’s do it.’”

Even though Robinson graduated from UAB, she feels deeply rooted to Alabama A&M. She said her brother-in-law started their family legacy as the head drum major back in 1993. Now, her niece is a member of the Marching Maroon & White.

“Yes, I did not go to a HBCU,” Robinson said. “I am a bulldog, OK? I’m a bad, bad bulldog.”

Classic fans like Monica Bradley feel no matter which team you’re cheering on, food, fun and football are central to the experience.

“We walk by A&M—of course, you talk junk,” she said. “We’re going to do this. We’re going to do this, but it’s all love. Of course you want your team to win, but whoever comes out and doesn’t win you’ll be like, ‘Good game. We’re coming back next year.’”

After the touchdowns are scored and the tailgate is over, many like Jones feel being a family is what classic is all about—no matter which colors you wear.

“My brother graduated from Alabama State, and so did a lot of folks in my family,” he said. “I can’t say the house is divided. Maybe we just got bricks from different areas, but it’s all one house and one unity.”

Bradley also remembered her daughter Jasmine Marshall, who graduated from Alabama State and passed away in 2017. Bradley continues to honor her daughter’s memory through the tailgate tradition.

“It was a big thing to keep her memory going also, too, because she always going to make sure she’d be at classic,” Bradley said. We’re just ASU fans. My parents were always ASU fans. We continue the tradition, and I tell my kids when I’m gone they have to continue it.”

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