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The Grand Daddy

The subliminal orgins of the Grand Daddy trophy and a tribute to our grandfathers who were real life Big Daddies

BENTON - Daddy Hand (no kidding) was the name used by 23 grandchildren (including Chris, Jerome, and Jaimie*) for their grandfather. Otis Lee Hand (1895-1963) passed away before Jaimie was born. “The Old House” – famous now for parties – was the homestead for the Hand family of 12-children (D.K. was the youngest). Almost half of the grandchildren grew up on Hand Lane and the others visited frequently for Sunday dinners, backyard football games, and spend-the-night parties.

Daddy Hand was a no-nonsense, primitive-Baptist, hard-scrabble, dirt farmer. His 5 sons and 7 daughters reflected his toughness, and maybe a little of that was passed to his grandchildren. Three of those now participate in the BDFL.

The Hand brothers’ other grandfather can claim 4 BDFLers (Adam Slovensky**).

Frank Phillip Slovensky (1911-1976), called “Paw Paw,” by his 12 grandchildren, was a steel worker in Birmingham’s “Little Pittsburgh.” He was a full-blooded Slovak, the son of immigrants from present-day Slovakia (in those days – Austria-Hungry, Hungry, or Czechoslovakia – depending on the year and most-recent European war). He lived his whole life in Brookside and was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and the United Steelworkers Workers of America. His 7-children inherited his work-ethic and moral center, and maybe a little of that was passed to his grandchildren.

These grandchildren – and their friends – now get to play Fantasy Football, via for the BDFL Championship and The Grand Daddy trophy in a country made free, proud, and strong by men like this.

*Other notable grandchildren include Tommy Kinney (GHS), Doug Hand (GHS), Mark Moore (Minor & UAB Baseball), and the original ‘Naught,’ Bobby Maldonado (MJHS).

**Other notable grandchildren include UA students Ryan Slovensky, Mark Slovensky, John Maxwell and Elizabeth Maxwell – winner of the first-ever Mark Burr (Brookside Dogs) Gardendale Rockets-University of Alabama scholarship. [You can’t make this stuff up]

#Send your grand father stories in to the BDFL office. I’m sure the Commissioner can find a place for them online.

The tale of the Grand Daddy

The BDFL's Grand Daddy trophy has roots in real Gardendale football dating back to the early '70s

FIELDSTOWN - “The Grand Daddy” is a trophy presented to the champion of the Big Daddy Football League. Like the Stanley Cup (NHL), it is one trophy, passed from winner-to-winner each year. The BDFL Champion gets to take the trophy with them everywhere for an entire year, or they can simply display it on their mantle or another place of importance within their home.

“The Grand Daddy” is a vintage Gardendale Rocket football helmet from the 1970’s befitting the classic nature of football and the hometown and “throwback” origin of the BDFL.*

“The Grand Daddy” features logos from all of the BDFL champions in the form of helmet stickers on the back, in the grand tradition of Ed Bruce’s Gardendale Rockets, whose players received stars for good offensive plays and “skull-and-crossbones” for good defensive plays. Many college football teams also carry out this tradition (namely Ohio State with ‘buckeyes’ awarded to gradually cover their helmets as the season progresses). Ironically, the practice is illegal in the NFL.

ESPN’s College Game Day post-game program with (Alabama graduate) Rece Davis, Lou Holtz, and Mark May also typically give out helmet stickers to various teams following the Saturday games.

“The Grand Daddy” will be presented to the BDFL Champion each and every season by the Commissioner at the Super Bowl Gala. The trophy will be ‘turned in’ by the defending champion at the outset of the Gala the following year. Failure to do so will result in strict discipline from the league office.

On Sunday, February 1st prior to the kickoff of Super Bowl XLIII, BDFL Commissioner Chris “Iron” Hand presented “The Grand Daddy” to the 2008 BDFL Champion Benton Bullets, and head coach Jerome “Bullet” Hand, in the first-ever BDFL “Grand Daddy” ceremony.

*The actual, vintage headgear is called a suspension helmet. It has a bounty of cuts, scrapes, and gouges and other marks of violent collisions. Its Championship Silver luster has replaced at least three previous paint coats of white, gray and maroon. Additional holes were drilled (unevenly) in the headgear to attach the Buck Buchanan “cage” facemask. The helmet is believed to last be worn competitively by Tommy Kinney (GHS ’82 - 1st cousin to the commissioner and Hand brothers), in junior high. He apparently took it as his own, before it turned up 25-years-later at the Old Hand House and was given to Matthew Hand, who donated it to the BDFL. Some debate that it could have even been worn by Jimmie "Wild Man" Hand for the Rockets in the late 1960s.

[NFL Hall of Fame defensive tackle (Junious) Buck Buchanan played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1960s & 70s in both the AFL and NFL. He was the 1st overall player selected in the 1963 AFL Draft. Buchanan played college football at Grambling after a stellar career at Parker High School in Birmingham.)

The BDFL's Grand Daddy trophy also honors all BDFL teams from the past who have won BDFL titles with team logos and the year they won their title.

The Grand Daddy has made the rounds during the first inaugural BDFL Vict'ry Tour

BENTON - The inaugural Grand Daddy vict’ry tour has been one for the ages. The BDFL’s new trophy has been displayed (and photographed) all over the state of Alabama and parts of Florida and Tennessee. Here is a map of The Grand Daddy’s travels around the Southeast, thus far, after being presented by the Commissioner to the Benton Bullets at the annual Super Bowl Gala in Homewood in February. Looks like the Grand Daddy has made nine stops along the Vict'ry Tour with more to come. After 14 years in the waiting, Bullet has really developed some instant heritage for the BDFL with the Grand Daddy trophy and with the adopted tour via the Lord Stanley's Cup. He has set the bar fairly high and it will be tough to beat his first year tour of the trophy.

The inaugural Grand Daddy Tour

Bullet, with The Grand Daddy aloft, in front of the “Old House,” the Hand Homestead.

As college football season approaches, the Grand Daddy trophy pays tribute to the Alabama Crimson Tide and their tradition of winning. The Tide and the Grand Daddy trophy are synonymous with winning championships. Highlighting the visit with the Crimson Tide memorabilia is a Tyler Watts autographed football, some long "A" logo pajamas, a Shaun Alexander #37 jersey and a #8 Julio Jones jersey.

In July, The Grand Daddy took a spin in the 1974 Greg Maxwell vintage Scott Callen Sand and Gravel/Randy’s Wrecker & Collision #50 Chevy Monte Carlo with a big Lowndes Academy Rebel on the hood. The “ride” recently finished second in the $5,000 Bomber Series main event ($125 for 2nd – up from 3rd – after original #2 was DQ’d). Bullet is shown in the photo behind the wheel with The Grand Daddy as safety helmet
 

The Grand Daddy visits the Alabama State Capital in Montgomery proving for good that government workers have way too much time on their hands. Obama has an autographed copy on his desk at the other capital.

The Grand Daddy Parade lining up behind the Benton Volunteer Fire Department fire truck for the parade start on Main Street

The Benton Bullets entry in the parade incomplete with inappropriate graffiti. "The Grand Daddy" trophy rode shot gun as the hood ornament during the inaugural parade

The Grand Daddy visits the Cramton (pronounced KRAMP-ton) Bowl in Montgomery the sight of the 1981 Jefferson Davis Volunteers dismantling of the Gardendale Rockets in the 4A Alabama State Championship quarterfinals. Still located around the 50 yard line is a low spot where GHS safety, #19 Jaimie Hand, slipped before trying to tackle JD rusher Curtis Stewart. Stewart ran over the awkward looking Hand and went on to have a career night against the Rockets and the legend of the Cramton Bowl's mystique was enhanced. The Cramton Bowl is also the home of the annual Turkey Day Classic between the Alabama State Hornets and the Tuskegee Golden Tigers.

The Benton Bullets fans celebrate the 2008 BDFL Championship, and the ceremonial placing of "The Grand Daddy" on the mantle of honor. Like the Lord Stanley Cup, the Uncle Grand Daddy will be taken on tour over the course of the year and  it will sit as the center piece at the annual Miller Genuine Draft in August.

The Grand Daddy visits the frozen Tundra of Fieldstown on its first pilgrimage as the championship trophy of the BDFL.

The Grand Daddy made it to Nashville in March for a Nashville Predators showing and this may be the closest the Commissioner ever gets to The Grand Daddy

The Grand Daddy visits the Black Creek area in April. This may be the closest the trophy may ever get to Fultondale.

The Grand Daddy continued it's tour of Montgomery with a visit to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival to see the play "Bear Country," of the life and times of Paul "Bear" Bryant.

A SEG Bullet (no fake smile here) with the #1 HELM at the Old House... showing ABC 1970s pose that other, former, BDFL champions may use when they get to have a photo opp with the hardware at the MGD, to acknowledge past accomplishments.

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