Shortly after the University of Alabama at Birmingham administration shut down the football, rifle and bowling athletic programs in December 2014, Timothy Alexander went into football coach Bill Clark’s office and said he wanted to help bring back those programs. At the time, few knew about Alexander, a graduate of Birmingham’s E.B. Erwin High School.

Alexander traveled the Birmingham metro area to get nearly 60 city councils to pass resolutions of support for return of the sports. He became the face of the student movement to reinstate UAB football — and it paid off.

After a two-year hiatus, UAB makes its return to the football field as the Blazers take on Alabama A&M on Saturday at Legion Field. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.

Supporters pledged more than $40 million, which enabled the school to build a covered turf football practice field and officially open the Football Operations Center and Legacy Pavilion. A lot of the credit goes to Alexander, say those in the fight to bring back football.

Grateful

A 2015 UAB graduate with a master’s degree in communication management from the College of Arts and Sciences, Alexander said he wanted to invest in a program that had meant so much to him.

“I’m forever grateful for this university and the football program,” Alexander said in an interview with UAB Magazine. “I’ve grown a lot by being here and being around this football team. The team taught me how to be a man and how to demand excellence in myself.”

Alexander, director of character development for the Blazers football squad, is a key member of the team, Clark told UAB Magazine.

“[Alexander] is a big part of our program,” the football coach said. “He works out religiously. The players see that and are inspired by it. He’s just a winner, and I’m glad he’s with us.”

According to UAB Magazine, Alexander’s association with Blazer football began in 2012, a year after he enrolled at UAB, when he persuaded then-head coach Garrick McGee to make him an honorary player. Today, Alexander, a full-time motivational speaker, is often seen exhorting players during and before practices.

Life-changing accident

A decade ago, Alexander was a star football player at Erwin High School and confident that he could go to any college he wanted with a football scholarship.

UAB’s Timothy Alexander watches the team’s warmup before the UAB spring football game at Legion Field in Birmingham. (Mark Almond/The Birmingham Times)

“Before my injury I was ranked number eight in the state, and I could have gone anywhere,” Alexander said in an interview with the Associated Press.

A car crash in October 2006 changed all that. Alexander was a passenger in the car, holding a 2-year-old on his lap, when the driver fell asleep at the wheel. He described how the car swerved off the road toward a cliff.

“I punched the window out and threw the baby out the window before we went off the cliff. The car went all the way down, and I became paralyzed instantly,” Alexander said. “My friend asked, ‘Is everyone OK?’ I said, ‘No. I can’t feel my legs.’”

For a while, Alexander said, he was paralyzed from the neck down, but treatment and therapy helped him gain use of his upper body again.

“I had a traumatic brain injury,” he said. “I couldn’t read, couldn’t write, couldn’t do anything. When I tried to talk to my mom, they put a marker in my mouth and tried to make me move my head.

“When I first had my car wreck, there were a lot of doctors and therapists that did give me a chance. (But) after my insurance ran out, they said there was nothing they could do. The first year, I was very suicidal.”

He spoke to his bishop and his family and “embraced a positive attitude in 2008.”

“I just started working out and praying. I had a dream of playing football at UAB,” said Alexander, who did his physical therapy at the UAB gym.

“When I went into the training room, the sports trainer said, ‘Hey, are you here for football?’ I said, ‘Are you talking to me?’”

Football scholarship

Alexander told ABC News he then became the first paraplegic ever to get a scholarship in Division I football. He attended every practice and game and served as a motivator for his teammates. Despite being on a Division I football team, he still could not stand up on his own — but that changed.

Motivational speaker Timothy Alexander is an integral part of UAB’s football program and a constant presence at every practice and game. (Mark Almond/The Birmingham Times)

Natalie Shannon, Alexander’s physical therapist and athletic trainer, told ABC News in 2016 that she was thrilled when she saw him stand up completely unassisted for the first time. Shannon said everyone has different injuries and responds differently to therapy, but Alexander always worked hard toward his goals, training with a standing chair as often as he could to build muscle.

Alexander said his older brother, who told him to set his sights high, inspired him to never give up.

“My big hero was my big brother, David, who passed away (in a house fire) on April 14, 2006,” Alexander said. “The day before he passed, he said, ‘I want you to go to the NFL and make a great name for yourself, to take care of the community and the family.’ He ended by saying, ‘I love you.’ Those were the last words he said to me.”

Achieving goals

Alexander said he still hopes to realize his brother’s dream of being drafted into the NFL, “not for money or fame, but to show that if you believe that all things are possible, you can achieve your goals.”

Alexander continues to work as a motivational speaker and inspire others with his journey to never give up hope.

As for this year’s UAB team, Alexander said he likes what he sees. After the spring game, he said the team is “bigger. They’re faster. This is not like the UAB teams you’ve seen in the past.”

This story originally appeared on The Birmingham Times website.

For more on Timothy Alexander and UAB’s return to football, visit www.uab.edu/uabmagazine. The Associated Press, ABCNews.com and UAB Magazine contributed to this report.

Beating the odds: Timothy Alexander’s triumph over tragedy from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.