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Those closest to Bray Hubbard know the Alabama football safety doesn’t need much to be satisfied.
“He is so, just, chill,” said Blake Pennock, who was Hubbard's football coach at Ocean Springs in Mississippi. “Put him somewhere, in a deer stand or on a boat fishing, or whatever else. There ain’t a whole lot that needs to please Bray.”
It’s the simple things for Hubbard, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. It’s football. It’s hunting. It’s friendships. In the words of the Alabama football program, that is “keeping the main thing the main thing,” something for which Hubbard has come to be the prototype.
Viewed as a centerpiece of a veteran-laden defensive backfield, Hubbard is seen as the heartbeat of the Crimson Tide, one who sets the tone with his example, his tenacity, his physicality, his nature.
“I mean, he’s just been about his business,” Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer said. “You could always count on him. He was tough. He was out there practicing, plays on Saturdays, (and) finds a way to make it happen, whether he was in pain or not.”
Hubbard knows who he can be when staring in the face of trial. It’s always been more than physical pain or aches, a missed tackle or a loss in a game.
Affliction has always been bigger for Bray and the Hubbard family, adversity faced well before Alabama football was secured as Bray’s future. This trial, though, this connection to his mother defines who Bray is and who he became for the Crimson Tide.
“When he has some bad things happen or something doesn’t go his way,” said Mark Hubbard, Bray’s father, “it doesn’t affect him because he’s been through real adversity.”
Courtney Hubbard was the ultimate team mom. She loved to yell, scream and cheer, unleashing a high-pitched “woo-woo” on whoever was nearest her.
“Everybody knew that noise,” Mark Hubbard said. “Everybody knew it was her. It was just kind of her call.”
BRAY HUBBARD RETURNS TO ALABAMA: Why Bray Hubbard wants to finish his Alabama football story
BRAY HUBBARD, THE QB: How Bray Hubbard went from star high school QB to Alabama football DB
Courtney, an elementary school teacher in Ocean Springs for 18 years, was a softball player, someone who understood that if Bray gave his all and played hard, she could live with mistakes.
For 8½ years, Courtney fought. At age 31, early in her diagnosis of breast cancer, she would drive 90 minutes to New Orleans to catch the first flight to Houston every Wednesday. She would get her treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center before flying back to New Orleans and driving back to Ocean Springs to be there for her kids’ nights and games.
She did this for a year.
The cancer later returned to her bones before metastasizing and spreading to her organs. She died in January 2018 at age 40. Her twin children Brock and Maura Kaye were 15. Bray was 12.
"She was just a fighter," Bray said.
Bray knows about adversity. But it's not in the context of what he's asked about on a daily basis, whether it was a loss to Florida State or a loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
That's not adversity in the Hubbard house.
"Adversity is when you lose your mother, your mother dies when you’re a child," said Mark, who was married to Courtney for 20 years. "That’s adversity. That’s the mentality we have.”
As Mark watches Bray grow up, he sees Courtney.
Mark sees Courtney’s mannerisms in Bray. He sees her humility and kindness. It’s in Bray’s loyalty to his friends, in his eagerness to sign each autograph or take each picture when he’s asked. It’s in Bray’s inability to make excuses or give up, just like his mother.
"He's rough and tough, but, deep down, he's a really good, thoughtful kid that I really think he got from his mom," Mark said.
For Bray, Courtney is not solely a symbol of what true adversity is. She is an example of how to live, how to treat others even when bad days come.
"I think it's just the way that she impacted the people around her and everybody in the community," Bray said. "I try to just be nice to everybody and have a smile on my face wherever I go because that's ultimately what she did."
Courtney's impact stems from Bray and into the rest of the Alabama roster.
“He’s not trying to look for the next branding opportunity,” Wommack said. “He’s not necessarily looking for how to necessarily gain an edge in life. He takes things as they come, and he keeps the main thing the main thing and enjoys himself as a great friend and as a great teammate.”
That is the least Bray can be to honor his mother. If something doesn't go well, she is always on his mind, helping him through.
"She was fighting Stage 4 cancer and you would have never known it, if you didn't know her. You just got to keep fighting. That's what she did."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Alabama football's Bray Hubbard was shaped by mother's cancer battle | Exclusive
Continue reading...
“He is so, just, chill,” said Blake Pennock, who was Hubbard's football coach at Ocean Springs in Mississippi. “Put him somewhere, in a deer stand or on a boat fishing, or whatever else. There ain’t a whole lot that needs to please Bray.”
It’s the simple things for Hubbard, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. It’s football. It’s hunting. It’s friendships. In the words of the Alabama football program, that is “keeping the main thing the main thing,” something for which Hubbard has come to be the prototype.
Viewed as a centerpiece of a veteran-laden defensive backfield, Hubbard is seen as the heartbeat of the Crimson Tide, one who sets the tone with his example, his tenacity, his physicality, his nature.
“I mean, he’s just been about his business,” Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer said. “You could always count on him. He was tough. He was out there practicing, plays on Saturdays, (and) finds a way to make it happen, whether he was in pain or not.”
Hubbard knows who he can be when staring in the face of trial. It’s always been more than physical pain or aches, a missed tackle or a loss in a game.
Affliction has always been bigger for Bray and the Hubbard family, adversity faced well before Alabama football was secured as Bray’s future. This trial, though, this connection to his mother defines who Bray is and who he became for the Crimson Tide.
“When he has some bad things happen or something doesn’t go his way,” said Mark Hubbard, Bray’s father, “it doesn’t affect him because he’s been through real adversity.”
'She was just a fighter'
Courtney Hubbard was the ultimate team mom. She loved to yell, scream and cheer, unleashing a high-pitched “woo-woo” on whoever was nearest her.
“Everybody knew that noise,” Mark Hubbard said. “Everybody knew it was her. It was just kind of her call.”
BRAY HUBBARD RETURNS TO ALABAMA: Why Bray Hubbard wants to finish his Alabama football story
BRAY HUBBARD, THE QB: How Bray Hubbard went from star high school QB to Alabama football DB
Courtney, an elementary school teacher in Ocean Springs for 18 years, was a softball player, someone who understood that if Bray gave his all and played hard, she could live with mistakes.
For 8½ years, Courtney fought. At age 31, early in her diagnosis of breast cancer, she would drive 90 minutes to New Orleans to catch the first flight to Houston every Wednesday. She would get her treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center before flying back to New Orleans and driving back to Ocean Springs to be there for her kids’ nights and games.
She did this for a year.
The cancer later returned to her bones before metastasizing and spreading to her organs. She died in January 2018 at age 40. Her twin children Brock and Maura Kaye were 15. Bray was 12.
"She was just a fighter," Bray said.
Bray knows about adversity. But it's not in the context of what he's asked about on a daily basis, whether it was a loss to Florida State or a loss to Indiana in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
That's not adversity in the Hubbard house.
"Adversity is when you lose your mother, your mother dies when you’re a child," said Mark, who was married to Courtney for 20 years. "That’s adversity. That’s the mentality we have.”
How Bray Hubbard lives through mother's example
As Mark watches Bray grow up, he sees Courtney.
Mark sees Courtney’s mannerisms in Bray. He sees her humility and kindness. It’s in Bray’s loyalty to his friends, in his eagerness to sign each autograph or take each picture when he’s asked. It’s in Bray’s inability to make excuses or give up, just like his mother.
"He's rough and tough, but, deep down, he's a really good, thoughtful kid that I really think he got from his mom," Mark said.
For Bray, Courtney is not solely a symbol of what true adversity is. She is an example of how to live, how to treat others even when bad days come.
"I think it's just the way that she impacted the people around her and everybody in the community," Bray said. "I try to just be nice to everybody and have a smile on my face wherever I go because that's ultimately what she did."
Courtney's impact stems from Bray and into the rest of the Alabama roster.
“He’s not trying to look for the next branding opportunity,” Wommack said. “He’s not necessarily looking for how to necessarily gain an edge in life. He takes things as they come, and he keeps the main thing the main thing and enjoys himself as a great friend and as a great teammate.”
That is the least Bray can be to honor his mother. If something doesn't go well, she is always on his mind, helping him through.
"She was fighting Stage 4 cancer and you would have never known it, if you didn't know her. You just got to keep fighting. That's what she did."
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter or Instagram @colingaytnews.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Alabama football's Bray Hubbard was shaped by mother's cancer battle | Exclusive
Continue reading...
