There’s a local family that happily takes Les Kelley’s Alabama tickets off his hands when the former Cullman High and Crimson Tide star opts not to go to home games in Tuscaloosa.

They weren’t so lucky on Saturday.

With the Orange Bowl Committee in T-Town to honor the 50th anniversary of Alabama’s 1965 national championship team, Kelley felt it was “kind of impossible” to give up his seats for Saturday’s Southeastern Conference showdown against Ole Miss.

Kelley, Wayne Trimble and Johnny Calvert were all on hand before the clash as the committee presented the Tide squad of old with a commemorative game ball for winning the 1965 Orange Bowl and national title. Each took his turn in a long line of introductions, a very necessary part of the presentation according to Kelley.

“Probably most of the people there weren’t even born when we played,” he said with a laugh in a phone interview with The Times earlier this week.

Kelley, Trimble and Calvert don’t need any introductions in Cullman circles. The three led Oliver Woodard’s 1962 Bearcats to a 10-0 record, a 399-78 season scoring advantage and the declaration of Class 4A state champions by the Birmingham News and Birmingham Post-Herald.

The following fall, the trio traded in their black and gold for crimson and white. They also swapped coaching icons, switching from Woodard to the famed Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Saturday’s celebration likely sparked a serious case of déjà vu for Alabama fans in attendance. At the same time last year, the Tide rolled out the red carpet for Kelley, Trimble, Calvert and many of the same players who were also a part of the 1964 national championship team.

A pair of return trips to the field where he spent his college career naturally brought back memories to Kelley — and he has plenty of them.

The first that came to mind regarded the seating capacity at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which was just Denny Stadium during Kelley’s playing days. Only able to hold around 60,000 in the ’60s, the venue is now capable of housing more than 100,000 on any given Saturday.

Standing before such a crowd during last year’s ceremony was an eye-opening experience for Kelley.

“I’ve never seen so many people in all my life,” he said.

Kelley’s spouse was more concerned with who she almost didn’t get to see.

“We didn’t go down for the reception on Friday night last year,” he said. “Of course my wife has never forgiven me for that because Joe Namath was there. But we saw him the next day at the game.”

One man sorely missed during Saturday’s festivities was Kenny “The Snake” Stabler. The fan favorite, who died in July at 69, was Alabama’s backup quarterback in 1965 before stepping in as starter for two years and eventually taking his talents and personality to the NFL.

The signal-caller in front of Stabler in 1965 was Steve Sloan, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in Alabama’s 39-28 Orange Bowl win over Nebraska after finishing 20 of 28 for 296 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns to Ray Perkins.

“The thing about Sloan was he didn’t have near the ability ‘The Snake’ had or certainly Joe Namath had, but he just didn’t make many mistakes,” said Kelley, whose 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put the Tide on top of the Huskers for good. “Great person. In our particular case, he was a great quarterback, too.”

The odds to win the national title had been stacked against the Tide entering bowl season. An 18-17 loss to Georgia on a miracle flea flicker and a 7-7 tie with Tennessee had them at 8-1-1 and No. 4 in the nation behind Michigan State, Arkansas and Nebraska.

In the draw with the Vols, Stabler spelled Sloan late and drove Alabama down to the 4 but wound up turning the ball over when he threw it out of bounds trying to stop the clock with 6 seconds to go.

Unbeknownst to Stabler — and just about anyone with a pulse — it had actually been fourth down.

“Every person in that stadium, including coach Bryant and the other coaches, thought it was third down,” Kelley said.

Any other year, the Tide would’ve capped off the campaign fourth in the rankings no matter whether they won or lost their bowl game. But the 1965 season marked the first time the Associated Press determined its national champion after all bowls were completed, giving Alabama a glimmer of hope going into its finale.

Down went Michigan State in the Rose Bowl. Down went Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. And up went the Tide after downing Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

All the way to the top.

The AP’s previous format worked out for Alabama the prior year when it was awarded the national title before losing to Texas in the Orange Bowl. The new one, which is still used today, didn’t become permanent until 1968, however, allowing the Tide — the only undefeated and untied team in the country — to be snubbed in 1966 in favor of Notre Dame despite the No. 1 Irish tying No. 2 Michigan State 10-10 in the “Game of the Century.”

To this day, Kelley believes that ’66 squad was the best he, Trimble and Calvert played on in their time at the Capstone.

But they still have 1965. There’s no denying that championship is Alabama’s to keep.

Not then.

Not Saturday on its 50th anniversary, either.

“That meant a lot to us. It sure did,” said Kelley, who, along with Trimble, was selected in the 1967 NFL Draft. “That’s one of the things about coach Bryant — you never gave up and you tried to play one game at a time.

“And to do the very best you could, of course.”