CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee-Alabama rivalry is known for its intensity, history and annual bragging rights. But for generations of players and fans, another tradition has become almost as famous as the game itself: the victory cigar.
The custom was on the minds of many Monday morning at Up in Smoke Cigars in Clarksville, where regulars gathered to talk about Tennessee's latest win over Alabama.
"It was fantastic. Heck of a ballgame," customer Ron DeLucca said.
For cigar enthusiasts, the postgame ritual of the winning side lighting celebratory stogies has become one of college football's most enduring traditions.
What many people may not know, however, is that one of the men most closely associated with that tradition was born and raised in Clarksville.
While Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant is credited with starting the cigar tradition after arriving in Tuscaloosa, Clarksville native Jim Goostree helped make it legendary.
Goostree graduated from the University of Tennessee but later joined Alabama's athletic department, where he worked on the football training staff and eventually became one of the most recognizable behind-the-scenes figures in Crimson Tide athletics.
"He was THE trainer," said John Peay, a Clarksville native who grew up with Goostree.
Peay said friends often knew Goostree by a different nickname.
"Some people called him Goose, but most people called him Duck," he said.
Over the years, a colorful story involving Goostree became part of Alabama football lore.
According to the story, after years of Alabama losses to Tennessee, Goostree promised players he would dance around the locker room naked with a cigar in his mouth if the Crimson Tide finally defeated the Volunteers.
When Alabama won, the story goes, Goostree followed through.
"I always wondered if Bear Bryant approved it," Peay said with a laugh. "Surely he did, or Jim knew he would."
Goostree spent decades helping carry it on at Alabama.
According to the Paul W. Bryant Museum, Goostree said in a 1992 interview that Bryant started the tradition and that one of Bryant's assistants, Carney Laslie, originally handled the cigars. After Laslie died in 1970, Goostree inherited that responsibility and continued the tradition for years.
Eventually, Tennessee embraced the tradition as well, turning the victory cigar into a rivalry-wide symbol recognized by fans on both sides.
More than 60 years later, the practice remains one of college football's most famous traditions, and one with roots that include a connection to Clarksville.
Jim Goostree died in 1999. Before retiring, he rose to become Alabama's Executive Athletic Director.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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