EDITOR’S NOTE: Every day until Aug. 29, Creg Stephenson is counting down significant numbers in Alabama football history, both in the lead-up to the 2025 football season and in commemoration of the Crimson Tide’s first national championship 100 years ago. The number could be attached to a year, a uniform number or even a football-specific statistic. We hope you enjoy.

There is a tendency sometimes for Alabama football players who did not play during the Paul “Bear” Bryant or Nick Saban eras — or on various Crimson Tide national championship teams through the years — to get overshadowed by those who did.

More obscure still are those who, for whatever reason, did not enjoy long or notable careers in the NFL. They tend to slip through the cracks of history.

But by any measure, halfback Bobby Marlow was one of Alabama’s all-time greats. Marlow — who wore No. 32 — was an All-American for the Crimson Tide in 1952; he held just about every program rushing record by the time his career ended.

“Bobby would have been a great running back in any era,” former Alabama teammate Harry Lee once said. “He was such a powerful runner. Bobby was tremendously strong and that was way before any strength training programs.”

A native of Athens, Ala., who grew up in Troy, Marlow totaled 2,560 yards and 27 touchdowns in an Alabama varsity career that spanned 1950-52. He helped coach Harold “Red” Drew’s Crimson Tide to a 10-2 record his senior year, a season capped by a record-setting 61-6 annihilation of Syracuse in the Orange Bowl.

Alabama has had many outstanding running backs over the years, but Marlow’s name is still peppered throughout the Crimson Tide’s football record book. His 7.5 yards per carry in 1950 is the highest ever for a back with a minimum of 100 carries, while his 6.27 career yards per attempt is second-most, behind only Damien Harris’ 6.44.

Marlow’s 92-yard touchdown run vs. Georgia Tech his senior year is still third-longest in program history. He ran for 180 yards and four touchdowns that day, prompting legendary Yellow Jackets coach Bobby Dodd to proclaim, “Bobby Marlow is the best back that I have ever coached against.”

The 6-foot, 190-pound Marlow ran the ball 25 times for 233 yards and three touchdowns in the 1951 Iron Bowl, a 25-7 Alabama victory. The yardage total is second-most for an Alabama player vs. Auburn, behind only Derrick Henry’s 271 in 2015, which was accomplished in 21 more carries.

“He ran over and around Auburn tacklers like a bull in a China factory,” Sam Adams wrote in the following day’s Alabama Journal.

Marlow was named an All-American and SEC Player of the Year in 1952 and was honored with “Bobby Marlow Day” in Troy that December. His final game at Alabama was that blowout win over Syracuse in Miami, a game in which he carried the ball only 10 times before the score got out of hand.

The final 30 or so years of Marlow’s life were far from glorious, however. He was drafted No. 8 overall by the NFL’s New York Giants in 1953 but instead chose the quick cash of a $10,000 bonus from the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Marlow spent eight years in Canada, rushing for 4,291 yards, and was a five-time CFL All-Star. He never played a down of professional football in his native country.

Marlow had endured a troubled childhood, losing both of his parents at a young age. He spent roughly 10 years at the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home in Troy, then lived in foster care until heading to Alabama.

Somewhere along the way, Marlow developed a drinking problem. Friends, former teammates and even Gov. George Wallace tried to help Marlow by giving him jobs in his post-football life, but he was unable to overcome his demons.

Marlow died following a heart attack on June 5, 1985, in Texas, where he had been working for a construction company owned by a former Alabama teammate. He was just 55 years old.

As Alf Van Hoose wrote in the Birmingham News upon Marlow’s death, “the crew-cut, easy-smiling, blockhouse bundle of muscle and guts never could run a straight line for long.”

“Marlow was appreciative,” Van Hoose continued. “He meant well. Alcohol proved tougher for him to conquer than Alabama and Canadian Football League foes.”

In a letter to the editor responding to Van Hoose’s column on Marlow, Mobile resident Jim Nelson wrote:

“I used to see him around Montgomery when the governor had given him a job. I liked him, could not help him, or maybe I did not try hard enough. I wish I had tried harder.”

The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inducted Marlow as part of its Class of 1986, a year too late for him to enjoy the honor.

Coming Wednesday: Our countdown to kickoff continues with No. 31, a fourth-down play that will forever live in Iron Bowl lore.