Former Auburn FB coach Tuberville leads Selma Quarterback club speakers

Published 7:46 pm Saturday, August 11, 2018

The Selma Quarterback Club has once again put together an impressive lineup for its speaker series this fall.

“We feel like we’ve got another good schedule,” Selma QB Club finance chairman Forrest Hatfield said. “We’re looking for about the same size membership level that we had last year. We are generally, pretty consistently around 140-150 membership range. People tend to rejoin each year because they do enjoy it, and we feel like it’s one of the best ways to spend your money if you’re looking for some entertainment.”

The football enthusiast club meets bi-weekly during the college football season to hear stories, predictions and insights from men and women who have experience in multiple facets of the game.

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Last year, special guests included radio talk show hosts John Longshore and Barry McKnight, former Crimson Tide quarterback Scott Hunter, radio hosts Rick Burgess and “Bubba” Bussey, Ron Higgins, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, Auburn running back Joe Cribbs, former Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage and SEC associate commissioner Charlie Hussey.

Each had a unique perspective to share about the game of football, and more importantly, the SEC.

Each event was packed, and a catered dinner was served to the QB club members. The QB Club announced the winners from the previous weeks pick’em challenge and awards the worst picker with the “poor picker” toilet seat crown.

It’s all in good fun before the speaker makes his address.

This year’s schedule has a lot to look forward to as well.

The kickoff meeting, which is held at Julius Talton’s riverside home on Plantation Drive, will open the year on Aug. 27 with sports radio hosts John Longshore and Barry McKnight as it did last year.

Former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tubberville will speak at the second meeting of the year on Sept. 10 at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center, where the remainder of the QB Club meetings will be held.

The third QB Club meeting will be Father-Son or Daughter Night, and former Crimson Tide and Dallas Cowboys running back Sherman Williams will be the speaker.

Ben Tamburello, a former Auburn and Philidelphia Eagles center, will speak on Oct. 8 as the only lineman on the speaker list for this year.

Troy University athletic director Jeremy McClain is scheduled to speak on Nov. 5.

The QB Club saved its final two meetings for guests with the star power to challenge the anticipation of the other invited speakers.

Ladies Night on Nov. 12 will feature ESPN broadcaster Holly Rowe. Rowe is a veteran sports reporter who has been entrenched in covering a variety of sports including SEC football. She was also at the College Football Playoff National Championship game between Alabama and Georgia earlier this year.

The QB Club will host reporter and broadcaster Lauren Sisler of ESPN, SEC Nation and AL.com. She joined the SEC Network in 2016 and covered football and gymnastics. As a reporter, she offers another unique insight to the game the QB Club members love.

The night Sisler is speaking will also be the Scholarship Night and Big Ticket Drawing for the QB Club.

The Selma QB Club annually awards five scholarships to deserving local high school football players. The money that is raised through membership fees, contests and the Big Ticket Drawing goes towards funding the scholarships for the kids.

Last year, the QB Club also established an endowment at both The University of Alabama and Auburn University to provide aid each year to a student from the Dallas County area.

“We’ll have about five people going to college at Auburn or Alabama from Dallas County that are receiving aid through those endowments,” Hatfield said.

The Selma QB Club meetings are open to members, and potential members can contact Hatfield or another committee member to register with the club. It costs $175 to join the QB Club, but the Club also offers a payment plan consisting of three payments of $60.