At Alabama, Ben Howell Never Walked Away From His Chance TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Twenty miles to the northwest, in Gordo, Ala., long days awaited Ben Howell. He would help feed chickens - 135,000 of them - and tag calves on his father's 250-acre farm. In the afternoon he would play football, and at night, baseball. But before getting out of bed each morning he would look at a photograph taped to his bedroom mirror. Bryant-Denny Stadium, where thousands of Alabama fans on football Saturdays cheer players in those famous crimson jerseys and white numbers. Below, it reads, "Imagine yourself here." Someday, Howell would walk on and be a member of the Crimson Tide. Someday, he would win two national championships, backing up Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, a Heisman Trophy winner and a Heisman finalist. Someday, Howell would run down the stadium's tunnel and behold that sight for himself. "I guess every kid has those dreams," Howell said. When Howell was about 12 years old, his father, Richard, told him that if his goal was to get good at football, he should work hard, take it seriously. Do not worry, he would tend to the farm. Gordo is an agricultural town. Those roughly 2,000 residents who did not farm usually worked in Tuscaloosa, which Howell's mother, Jackie, did at the university's public radio station. Most Gordo townspeople came to the Friday night high school football games, where Howell, 5 feet 9 inches, 180 pounds, started at running back and linebacker. On Saturday afternoons, he sat in the stands at Bryant-Denny Stadium with his mother to watch the Tide roll again. Howell was talented enough that Alabama invited him and other area players to a recruiting event after his junior year. Birmingham Southern had its eye on him, but does not offer athletic scholarships. At the event, Howell sought out Joe Pendry, the assistant coach who recruited in the Gordo area. "I just want to be part of the team somehow," Howell told Pendry. Pendry told him it depended how many scholarships remained and how many walk-ons they would need. Howell did not hear back for nearly a year until Pendry called and offered him a walk-on spot, but warned that the challenge would be difficult. Indeed. Before Howell finished his first month of spring workouts in 2009, he contemplated quitting. But one day on his way to breakfast near the stadium, he noticed a biblical inscription - Psalm 73:26 - on a headstone in a nearby cemetery. It read, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Howell never forgot that psalm when he was overwhelmed or discouraged. That fall, Howell and Eddie Lacy, a redshirt, were expected to mimic the opponent's star running backs, even though they were shown the play only moments before the snap. Teammates playfully called Howell Old Man, for a cleanshaven head that did not hide his receding hairline. In practice, he wore the number of the opponent's power running back, even though he was smaller and slower. Before practice, Howell was quiet and timid as the team's trainer, Jeff Allen, taped him, preparing Howell to face a defense with 13 future N.F.L. draft picks. Allen simply called him Gordo. When Howell went home after the season, after Alabama won the national championship, he was Gordo's favorite son. He told his neighbors stories as if he had journeyed from a far-off land. Once, during the first week of practice, Howell was supposed to block a blitzing linebacker, the all-American Dont'a Hightower, a future first-round pick of the New England Patriots. Howell stepped up and was rolled over. The graduate assistant in charge of the scout team laughed. "There's nothing else you can do," Howell said. I just got pummeled. Another time, on a stretch play designed to practice tackling, Howell sidestepped cornerback Javier Arenas, who now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. "He thought he was going to lay me out," Howell said. I thought I was something special. Sometimes Howell would do his impersonation of Coach Nick Saban, even though Saban had spoken to him twice that he could remember: in spring practice, when Howell ran the wrong way on a play, and at his individual end-of-season meeting, when Saban said: "We really appreciate you being here. Don't think that we don't notice. Each Thursday, Howell anxiously checked the dress list that the coaches posted in the locker room. As a freshman, Howell dressed for three games but did not play. He did play in one game as a sophomore, in the Tide's eight-touchdown win over Georgia State, and had five carries for 11 yards. Afterward on the sideline, Ingram gave him a bear hug, and Kirby Smart, the coordinator whose defense Howell prepared each week, told Howell he was proud of him. In time, Howell realized moments like that were short-lived. He focused on a more realistic goal: special teams. It took nearly two years and injuries to scholarship players, but Howell is second-string on both the kickoff and punt return teams for his senior season. Now, he sees the field for about one or two plays a game. In blowout wins over Arkansas and Florida Atlantic, he carried 10 times for 38 yards, with his proud parents watching in the stands. They can often spot him as the third player from the right sideline on the kickoff team. When he graduates, Howell says he will wear his two championship rings to job interviews. He will miss the players and coaches more than the bruises. Last January, in New Orleans for the national championship game against Louisiana State, Howell spotted Ingram at a restaurant and approached him. After a few minutes, someone from Ingram's party said, "Is he bothering you?" thinking Howell was a fan. "No, no, I know this guy - we played together," Ingram said. So they carried on, old friends reliving the glory days.