A die-hard Alabama fan who had to watch the Iron Bowl and the SEC Championship from his Birmingham hospital bed said he was shocked when three UA offensive linemen sent him well wishes before Saturday’s big game.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

“I almost cried,’’ said Walker County Sheriff’s Officer Investigator Joe Herron. “I was shocked. It made my day.”

Wilkin Formby, Kadyn Proctor and James Brockermeyer recorded a video from their Atlanta hotel room Friday night, at the request of Herron’s co-worker, T.J. Armstrong.

“We heard about your situation man, and we just wanted to let you know we’re thinking about you and praying about you,’’ Formby said in the video.

“We’re rooting for you,’’ Brockermeyer said.

“Roll Tide and enjoy the game, Proctor said.

“I’m the biggest Alabama fan,’’ Herron said. “I’ve just never gotten anything like that.’’

Herron, who retired from the Jasper Police Department before joining the sheriff’s office, ran into some officers at Walmart the Friday morning before the Iron Bowl. After they finished their conversation, he walked into the store and then felt a burning in his chest.

“My chest just started burning. It was like somebody put a hot pan on it.”

He texted his wife and she told him to go the hospital but he drove home anyway.

They ended up at the hospital, where Herron was told he was going to be airlifted to Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 30 something years and we’ve always heard when they call for the helicopter, it’s bad,’’ he said “I’ve worked so many crime scenes and wrecks and I just knew.”

Herron would eventually undergo surgery on three arteries that were 95 percent blocked each.

“The doctor said I was one lucky man,’’ Herron said.

Herron and his family, along with several nurses, watched the Iron Bowl in Herron’s hospital room.

“They kept saying your heart rate is going up,’’ Herron said of the stressful Iron Bowl.

The SEC Championship happened after the triple bypass and his heart was better equipped to handle the Georgia game.

“I can’t believe we beat Georgia like that,’’ he said. “It made my week.”

Herron was released from the hospital Sunday. He said he is recovering in his “Alabama room” at home.

“I was shocked when those guys sent me that video,’’ he said. “It just made everything a little better, that they thought enough of me to take time out of their day playing for an SEC championship to send me a short video wishing me well. I couldn’t believe it.”

“When I get better one day,’’ he said, “I’m going to try to get down there and meet them and shake their hand and tell them ‘Thank you’ in person.”

“These linemen might be know for their giant bodies,’’ Armstrong said, “but I think they should be know for their even bigger hearts.”