— ARLINGTON, Texas — In more than 40 years of marriage, David and Teresa Thomas have seen a lot of good football. The Hanceville couple, both University of Alabama grads, have followed the Tide all over the country — witnessing everything from Bear Bryant’s legendary national championships of the 1970s, to the Tide’s recent success under Coach Nick Saban.

Needless to say, there’s no way they were missing Saturday’s season-opening matchup with Michigan at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

“We’ve seen all the big games and we’ve traveled several times to see them play,” David said from Arlington early Saturday afternoon. “I’m 63 years old, so I’ve been watching them play since I was about five; that’s back in the old, old days. Back when we had Kenny Stabler, and Johnny Majors was at Tennessee. Back in the old history. We’ve been married about 41 years, so we’ve been going ever since. We’ve seen a lot of big plays. We’re pretty serious fans.”

One other perk of traveling across the country to see the Tide play? Checking out some of the local flavor.

“We had a good time in Fort Worth, and saw the bulls come down the street at the stockyard,” he said. “It was like a longhorns parade.”

Though she’s a tried and true Bama fan, Teresa said their family trip to Texas came with a few ulterior motives.

“I’m like a kid, just really excited to see the architecture and all those things,” she said. “My sister actually lives in Austin, so this is a two-fold trip for us, and we’re going to stay through Labor Day weekend. We’re just very blessed to have the opportunity to come out and see a game like this.”

David said he’s had the time of his life chasing the Tide all over the country, but he does have one recent regret that still nags at him — missing out on the Rematch of the Century last year, when Alabama took on LSU for the national title in Louisiana.

“We were in New Orleans last year, but we never got in the stadium, so we watched it out on Bourbon Street,” he said. “Tickets were $900 to $1,000. That’s just crazy.”

Athens resident Brian Terry took his two children — both Alabama students — to the game, though a scheduling snafu threw their arrival time off by a few hours.

“My daughter had a class quiz at 3 p.m. and the professor stuck to the schedule 100 percent, so we left Tuscaloosa at 4: 15 p.m. [Thursday] and got here a little after midnight. But we made really good time,” he laughed. “This is our first big road game, but we go to all the home games and some of the closer away games. We knew this was a big one, being the first of the season, and we were really excited about coming.”

Shane McMinn, a Birmingham native who works at R.E. Garrison in West Point, attends most Bama home games — and tries to make at least one big road trip per year. The 1991 UA grad loves the atmosphere and said it’s a great way to keep himself young at heart.

“I think it makes you feel like you’re young again because my college experience was one of the greatest times of my life,” he said. “It helps you recapture that youthful spirit. We were there when the team showed up, and it’s almost like Disney World for an Alabama fan. We saw a ton of Alabama tags driving down, and there are just so many fans here. It’s great.”

Joel Smith, of Fairview, takes his tailgating seriously — and headed for Dallas late Wednesday morning to spend the latter part of the week getting acquainted with the city. He brought his whole family along in an RV, and they were among the first to set up at Cowboys Stadium.

“This lot was empty when we got out here,” he said, waving his hand across one of dozens of packed parking lots Saturday. “We went to all the games last year and usually try to go to as many as we can. We just love Alabama football. It doesn’t get any better.”

Clay Colevard, a local insurance agent in Cullman, has attended the Tide’s last two national title games and made the trip to Dallas expecting just as much excitement to open 2012.

“We try to make it to a new place every year,” he said. “It’s just the atmosphere, especially when you get two good teams like Alabama and Michigan together. It makes for great fans and a good time.”

He even got to know some new faces among the Michigan faithful, trading friendly barbs with football fans from all over before kickoff. But, he knew they’d probably be short-time friends.

“The Michigan fans were all really cordial, but of course, that was before the game,” he laughed.