TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama's football practice field is hidden from public view behind a shrouded security fence on the edge of the leafy campus.

This is the place " Where Legends Are Made " as the school's slogan goes.

The Alabama Crimson Tide boasts 18 college football national championships. And one man has been there for a dozen of them — Eddie Conyers. He's spent more than 60 years as a referee at practices, working under such legendary coaches as Bear Bryant and Nick Saban .

Now 97, Conyers is still roaming the sidelines to make sure practice officials are up to the task, and quick with a joke along the way.

Until this season, he, too, would have been on the field as the referee lined up in the offensive backfield.

"This is the first year in 60 years I've

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