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The 1930 Alabama football team sparked the school's first association with the elephant. As the Alabama football team stormed the field, the ground would tremble, and excited fans cheered, "Hold your horses, the elephants are coming!" Alabama's football team was made up of eleven huge, powerful and aggressive men. With the players' massive size and crimson jerseys they wore, writers began calling this team the "Red Elephants". That year, the "Red Elephants" went on to a National Championship and an undefeated season. The 1980 Sugar Bowl set the stage for "Big Al" to make his debut to represent Alabama and the Crimson Tide.

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