"Shut up, bitch!"

Hopefully, most of you remember Otis Mounds. Otis played strong safety for Auburn from 1990 - 1993 and, as you will most definitely see, played a prominent role in Auburn's 1993 undefeated season. But first, it is worthwhile to briefly tell the Otis Mounds story.

Otis is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and played high school football at the famed Dillard High School. While a young lad at Dillard Otis was arrested for selling crack cocaine and served 10 months in prison. However, that did not deter Pay Dye from recruiting him anyway. And for that alone we should be grateful to Coach Dye. Sticking with Otis opened up a recruiting pipeline that remains strong to this day. Here is a list of some of the other players Auburn has recruited from Dillard:

Frank Sanders, Brian Robinson, James Bostic, Calvin Jackson, Pat Sims, Stanley McGlover, Junior Rosegreen, Antoine Carter, and I'm sure I'm missing a few.

When he got to Auburn Otis was initially redshirted. But during the opening game against Fullerton State, while sitting in the stands eating popcorn, a player went down and Otis was paged over the loudspeaker to get to the locker room and get ready to go in.

Otis would have a successful career at Auburn but no moment was more crucial than on a frigid October day in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1993. Auburn was the homecoming fodder for Arkansas and was in a tough battle to remain undefeated. The legend has become that Terry Bowden ignited the team with a firey and passionate halftime speech, after which the game firmly turned in Auburn's favor. The truth, though, is something far different and far more awesome. It is best recounted by former Auburn defensive end Ace Atkins. Take it away, Ace:

“Someone told me… that it’s a famous story of how Terry Bowden came to the locker room at the Arkansas game and said you guys can be 8-1 or 9-0, or something like that,” Atkins said. “Anyway, it’s told as that being the turning point of that game.”

“Not true.”

“The turning point came when we had been berated the entire first half by the Arkansas homecoming queen — yep, we were so bad in ’92, we were picked as homecoming — and finally… Otis Mounds had had enough,” Atkins said.

The Homecoming Queen’s name?

Kym Polite.

She was a varsity cheerleader. She cost her team the game. Because Otis Mounds had had enough.

“He turned around to the young lady – decked out in a fur coat and tiara – and yelled at her in the third quarter ‘Shut up, bitch.’”

“Now, that is what made the whole sideline pickup and we won the game,” Atkins said. “The girl was trying to get down to the field to slap Otis but she was held back by her court, her tiara falling off her head.”

“True tale.”

That day, Otis became an Auburn legend. You can find the entire article here. He then went on to play some arena league football, was the stunt-double for LL Cool J in Any Given Sunday, and is now the cornerbacks coach at Texas Tech University under Tommy Tuberville.