It has been four years since the tragedy, but the nightmare still looms fresh at the University of Alabama.
The Crimson Tide’s football program will host Arkansas on Saturday for homecoming and for the team Alabama faces, it was also the state that gave the Tide its brightest personality.
A native of North Little Rock, Ark., the life of Altee Tenpenny was destined for greatness.
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He was a high school All-American and chose to come to the place known as “RBU,” under Burton Burns as the position coach. Tenpenny had all the traits: speed, power, athleticism and much potential. However, it was his smile that won over teammates – including Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake and Alvin Kamara. He loved Alabama; he appreciated all the coaching staff wanted to for him, but two years of limited playing time frustrated him.
After a couple of off-field issues sidetracked him, Tenpenny felt it his time to leave at the conclusion of 2014.
“I told him, ‘I think you should stay,’ but he said Alabama is not for me anymore,” Henry said of his best friend. “He told me to go win the Heisman. He said he believed in me.”
Tenpenny encountered more bumps in the road, as he would be dismissed from both UNLV and Nicholls State without much playing time. With tears in his eyes, he called his mother – Shenita Shephard – which all she wanted was to see her son and help him get through the struggle.
Ten days before his death, his former teammate got a pleasant surprise.
Tenpenny showed up at Bryant-Denny Stadium for the homecoming matchup against the Razorbacks.
Even in all the pain, there was still his smile. It felt like old times. He had Henry, Drake and others cracking up on the sideline. It was as if he had never left the team.
“Altee just had that personality everyone gravitated to,” Drake said.
The trio of brothers did not know that Oct. 10 of 2015 would be the last time they would see, hug and laugh together. Ten days later, Oct. 20, Shephard got a phone call that she dreads to this day.
Tenpenny wanted to come home and start over, but he never made it back to Arkansas as he was killed in a one-man car crash in Mississippi. Shephard was uncontrollable in her sorrow, when the officer told her about the championship ring he found in the car that claimed her son’s life.
Back in Tuscaloosa, Ala., his brothers were devastated.
“It kills me just thinking about it. That was my brother,” Drake said.
Alabama would dedicate the rest of the 2015 season to Tenpenny and it resulted in the team winning a national title and Henry winning the school its second Heisman Trophy.
Scott Cochran, Alabama’s director of strength and conditioning, posted a video in Twitter in remembering the life of his former pupil. Many supporters of the Tide and even a couple of former players have responded to the post – including Tim Williams of the Green Bay Packers.
Arkansas week always reminds me of my mannn
Full Video Here – https://t.co/wrc546Lap9 pic.twitter.com/L8R6iUo9oT
— Scott Cochran (@CoachYeah) October 24, 2019
“Fly High Altee” will always have a special place in the hearts of Alabama fans and this week brings back the memories the school had with a young man that was taken too soon.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
