The University of Alabama lost a pioneer of its football program on Thursday.
An announcement came from the university that Bill Battle, a former player and athletics director, passed away at 82.
Battle had been fighting multiple myeloma, a form of cancer for 10-plus years. A native of Birmingham, Ala., Battle attended UA on a football scholarship and played from 1960-62 under Paul W. “Bear” Bryant as a tight end and defensive end. He was on Coach Bryant’s first national championship team in 1961. Battle would earn a bachelor’s degree from UA in biology with a minor in psychology in 1963.