By Michael Casagrande
Correspondent
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - His story is almost cheesy in a Disney movie kind of a way.
Undersized but overly motivated, Will Lowery has risen from obscurity. Really.
From a walk-on scout teamer to a man who intercepted a pass for the reigning national champions against Penn State on national television, Lowery is something of a cult hero in the Alabama football universe. A regular contributor as a safety in five-back situations, he's still coming to terms with his rise to notoriety.
"I need to sit back and shake myself sometimes and thank the Lord for the opportunity that he's given me," he said. "It is hard for me to believe at times, because I used to be sitting in the stands screaming my head off, just as much as when I was a little kid. Being here now is a pretty surreal experience."
His view didn't change much after arriving on campus. Forget appearing on the depth chart, Lowery wasn't even on the printed roster as a redshirt freshman last fall while still dressing for most home games. He watched road games from the seats as a veteran secondary helped the Crimson Tide to the national title.
Then nearly all the defensive backs graduated, went to the NFL or ran into trouble. Lowery, 5-foot-9 and 188 pounds of unrecruited determination, impressed the coaching staff enough to play with the first team in April's A-Day Game. But that was practice. He couldn't possibly play when the games counted with all those big-name prospects coming in this August. Right?
After all, Lowery's best prospect for playing time was Division III Birmingham-Southern, which recently had revived its long-dormant program. When that didn't work out, he spoke with Alabama's then-director of operations Jeremy Pruitt, who was his secondary coach at Hoover High School.
But like any sports story on the silver screen, Lowery worked hard enough to stay near the top of the depth chart.
"Obviously, I'm not as gifted physically and athletically as a lot of guys out there," he said. "I just try and use it to my advantage and play with a chip on my shoulder and play harder than everybody else on the field."
Fellow safety Robert Lester noticed.
"I think it's his effort, his working hard," Lester said. "Everybody works hard, but Will's actually been making plays in practice and things like that. Coaches are comfortable with him."
After making two tackles on kickoff coverage in the opener against San Jose State, Lowery took the next leap against Penn State. With the Nittany Lions spreading the field more than the Tide expected, the nickel defense played nearly all night. His impact was felt on Penn State's first possession when he came unblocked to put some heat on freshman quarterback Rob Bolden.
The background music hit the crescendo on the following drive.
On third down at the Alabama 20, Bolden dropped back into a pocket that soon also included Tide linebacker Dont'a Hightower. Hit as he threw, Bolden fluttered the pass into the thick Saturday night air. Charging from the other side of the field, Lowery scooped the wounded duck just before it reached the turf, ending the threat without surrendering any points.
Contact Michael Casagrande at sports@timesfreepress.com or (423) 757-6273.