Carson Tinker’s father isn’t sure how he broke Bama’s BCS trophy
Carleton Tinker — who is the father of Alabama Crimson Tide senior long-snapper Carson Tinker — has now come forward as the man who accidently broke Alabama’s 2011 BCS championship trophy.
“I’m not really sure how the thing fell off,” Tinker said.
Carleton and his son, Carson, stood along with a few other people in the lobby of the Mal Moore Athletic Facility last Saturday admiring the Waterford crystal trophy that costs about $30,000.
Tinker watched several Alabama recruits pick up the trophy to see what it felt like.
“I didn’t walk away with it,” Tinker said. “I set it back down on the stand and turned to walk away, and had my back away from the trophy when I heard it tumble. So I looked back at it.”
At that point, Tinker said everything happened in slow motion as the crystal football rolled off the top of the trophy case onto the table and then onto the floor.
Here’s a photo of one of the pieces of the broken trophy from ESPN’s Alex Scarborough:
“I’m not sure if I bumped the table when I turned around, or if my foot caught on the large tablecloth they had draped and put on the floor. That’s exactly what happened.”
Tinker said he’s replayed the accident in his mind over and over again, but he seems to be taking it all in stride.
Alabama will replace the broken trophy.
The Crimson Tide won it’s 14th national championship last January by beating LSU, 21-0.
President Obama honored the team during a White House ceremony on Thursday.
I’d be more upset at having the name Carleton Tinker than I would at accidentally breaking the trophy.