Don Whitmire was one of those guys wearing a leather helmet that rolls over in his grave when he when he hears about players not going to bowl games. A 215 pound tackle, Don was on the front lines of Alabama Football from 1941-1942. He likely would have been decorated with more than the Rockne Trophy if he wasn’t decorated with medals instead. Whitmire elected to tackle Nazis instead of running backs after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and sparked World War 2.
He is one of only 4 players to every be an All American at two different schools earning the honor first at the Naval Academy and by unanimous vote later at Alabama.