Tuscaloosa Family Invites UPS Driver Inside To Watch Last Minutes Of Iron Bowl Game

The Alabama Crimson Tide were in the middle of a critical fourth quarter drive against the Auburn Tigers Saturday night when Chris and Melissa Roberts heard a knock at their door.

Chris, a journalism professor at the University of Alabama, told AL.com that he opened the door of his Tuscaloosa home to find a UPS driver with a delivery. He could hear The Crimson Tide Sports Network broadcast of the Iron Bowl blaring from his big brown truck.

With just over two minutes left in the final period, Chris made the UPS driver an offer.

“I say, ‘Hey, it’s 4th-and-1, do you want to come in and watch it?’” he told AL.com. “And he says, ‘Sure.’ So he comes in and sits in my chair, and we watch the rest of the game together.”

They watched as wide receiver Isaiah Bond caught Jalen Milroe’s last-minute Hail Mary to the back left corner of the end zone, eking out an incredible 27-24 win for Alabama. Chris said the strangers celebrated in the Roberts’ living room.

“I don’t know if my wife has ever hugged a man whose last name she didn’t know in my house,” he mused.

Chris shared a photo of the improbable watch party on X (formerly known as Twitter) Saturday. 

“The UPS man dropped off a package and saw The Crimson Tide deliver a miracle. #RollTide,” he captioned the snap. 

After 15 minutes in the Roberts’ living room, the unnamed driver left to continue his route.

“I don’t see it as being that unusual,” Melissa told AL.com. Chris agreed.

“This is what Alabama people do,” he explained. “There ought to be a law in Tuscaloosa that everything stops when a game is on, particularly when it’s the Iron Bowl. It just seemed like the natural thing to do, to invite someone into your house when it’s a fourth quarter, last-minute drive and Alabama trails by four.”

“There are probably 30 people in Tuscaloosa who will get their packages a little bit later,” Chris concluded, “but will not care less about it.”