Alabama player’s on-field reunion with mother nearly brings Nick Saban to tears
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—It takes an awful lot to make a guy like Nick Saban cry, but a reunion of a son and his deployed mother comes pretty close.
Lawrence Erekosima is a five-foot-seven walk-on running back from Clinton, S.C. He hasn’t seen a snap of action all season. But he’s a senior, and like all seniors, he walked onto the field before Saturday’s Iron Bowl to bask in the acclaim of the crowd. He also had a fine surprise waiting for him, as his mother, Jacqueline Page, returned on a brief leave from the Army.
Each of the Tide seniors posed with their families and Saban before the game. Seniors are generally introduced in alphabetical order, but Erekosima was last. Team officials told him that they’d simply mixed up the order, and when Saban reached Erekosima, he motioned toward the southwest corner of the field and said, “Look here.” Out walked Page, in fatigues, to see her son. Mother and stunned child embraced amid the thundering cheers of Bryant-Denny Stadium:
A…