Bear Bryant passed away on this day 41 years ago...

January 26, 1983.

On the afternoon of January 25, 1983, just one day removed from passing his annual health check-up, University of Alabama Director of Athletics, and former Crimson Tide head football coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant arrived at Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa complaining of chest pains. Doctors were worried that a massive heart attack was imminent and kept him hospitalized over night for observation.

When dawn broke on January 26, 1983, Bryant was all smiles as he joked with the hospital staff. While being prepared for an EKG, Bryant's breathing became shallow as the massive heart attack doctors feared was coming finally arrived. Medical staff frantically tried to save him but it was all for naught. Paul "Bear" Bryant, the winningest coach in the history of college football, was dead at the age of 69.

As news broke about the Bear's passing, flags flew at half staff across the state of Alabama, and President Ronald Reagan himself called Bryant's widow Mary Harmon to console her. The entire city of Tuscaloosa came to an immediate halt as it absorbed the shock. Just 28 days earlier Bryant had coached his final football game, a 21-15 victory over Illinois in the Liberty Bowl. Now he was dead.

The funeral was the largest in the history of Alabama. As the caravan wound its way down I-20 from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, thousands of onlookers - either outside their cars or on the highway overpasses - watched in reverent silence as Bryant's hearse made the trek to Elmwood Cemetery.

It's 41 years later and college football still misses and remembers him: