Auburn coaches, players assist with cleanup in Cullman County

Published 10:30 pm Saturday, April 30, 2011

By Justin Graves

For The News Courier

CULLMAN — Kevin Yoxall was teaching just like he was in the weight room.

Only there weren’t any weights.  Or any rooms.

But there was plenty of heavy lifting to be done, and Yoxall had just the men for the job.

Auburn football players. Big, strong ones, too.

A charter bus full of Auburn players, coaches and administrative personnel pulled into Cullman Friday morning in an effort to provide relief to those affected by the tornadoes that ravaged the state Wednesday, killing 340 in Alabama and displacing hundreds more.

Auburn also sent a bus to Pleasant Grove — another city hit hard by the severe storms.

“We went to the civic center and they dropped us off,” said Yoxall, Auburn’s strength and conditioning coach. “We knew they needed some volunteers, so we’re here to help.”

Help is exactly what they did.

A group of Auburn players were helping with the cleanup on 4th St. S.E. in the neighborhood behind The Times Friday afternoon. That’s where Yoxall returned to his element as a teacher, showing players the proper way to move the remainders of a home’s frame.

Among those players was rising freshman Thomas O’Reilly, a three-star offensive line signee from Pope High of Marietta, Ga.

“You see the pictures on television and in the paper, but this is the real story on the ground,” said O’Reilly. “What happened here is unbelievable. We want to help people.”

What is arguably the most heated rivalry in all of college football has taken a backseat in the wake of one of the deadliest weather events this country has seen in decades.

There was no Auburn aspect.

Nor was there an Alabama aspect.

Just a human aspect. Neighbors helping neighbors in the midst of a crisis.

Wearing an Alabama shirt while digging through rubble, Dr. Nikki Carver was asked what she said to the Auburn athletes who assisted her with the cleanup.

“I told them ‘War Eagle,’” she said.

Kym Holland, who works in the Auburn development office, said helping others is what the relief effort is about.

“I’d seen pictures, but this is worse than I ever thought,” said Holland, a native of New York City. “Seeing what happened in a disaster like the twin towers (terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001), you can’t feel the impact until you’ve been there.

“I believe anyone who is able should look at trying to help. It’s important to get out and help.”