Coach Bryant was a heavy drinker and smoker and his health declined rapidly in the 1970s. Shortly before his death at age 69 in 1983, he met evangelist Robert Schuller on an airplane. Their talk about religion had a major impact on Bryant. Perhaps, with goal to go, he received a last minute gift of redemption, a spiritual "Hail Mary pass," before..."
http://www.thecrier.net/our_columnists/article_7e90825e-cfd0-11e6-b9b9-5f1b7142a8f5.html
