Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Before “Roll Tide Willie” became an internet sensation he was just a country boy from Alabama that loved Alabama Football. 

Now, Willie is known all over the country, especially in the world of TikTok and among college football fans, for his famous saying, “I don’t give a piss about nothing but the Tide!” Willie grew up in Lowndes County and he still resides outside of Highland Home in the same community as his friend – and social media manager – Chad Horne. Willie grew up with Horne’s father and said that he and Horne are like family.

“I’ve known Willie all my life, him and my daddy worked together hauling hay when they were teenagers,” Horne said. 

Willie grew up watching the Bear Bryant led Alabama Football teams of the 1970s and 1980s, which sparked his love for the team. 

“I was born an Alabama fan and I’ve been an Alabama fan all my life, through thick and thin,” Willie emphasized. “I’ve stuck with them through the good years and the bad years and we had some bad coaches but I’ve stayed with them and never turned my back on them. I love the Tide and I will die a Tide man. If they’ll let me, I’ll be cremated and have my ashes sprinkled in Bryant-Denny (Stadium). That’s what I want.”

Willie said one of his fondest memories growing up was of the famous “Goal Line Stand” in the 1979 Sugar Bowl. 

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Willie said of the Goal Line Stand. “Barry Kraus and those guys making that stop was something. I remember a lot of great things about Coach Bryant but the one thing he couldn’t do was beat Texas or Notre Dame. Ray Perkins was the first man to beat Notre Dame and Nick Saban was the first to beat the Longhorns.” 

Roll Tide Willie, though, was created almost by accident. 

“Three or four years ago we were all getting together to watch Alabama play Miami in the first game of the season and Willie asked where my brother was,” Horne remembered. “I told him he was going dove hunting and he started going off on my brother. So, I decided to record him telling him how sorry he was for not coming to watch the game and sent it to him. We thought it was hilarious.”

Horne, who had just downloaded TikTok, decided to upload the video to the social media platform. When he returned a few days later, he was shocked at the result.

“I went back and looked and there were 4-5 million views,” Horne remembered. “I looked over at Willie and said, ‘I’m no tech expert but that ain’t normal.’ So, we did another video of us just goofing off and I shined the video over to my brother and said, ‘He don’t give a piss about nothing.’ I then shined it over to Willie and he said, ‘I don’t give a piss about nothing but the Tide!’ That’s where it all started, that one got like 10-15 million views.” 

Willie reiterated that they were just being themselves in the videos.

“It started with us goofing off and now we’re still here goofing off,” Willie said with a laugh. 

The popularity of Roll Tide Willie’s antics and videos on platforms like TikTok and Facebook caught the attention of players and coaches at Alabama, which has led to some of the fondest memories of Willie’s entire life. 

“That’s been great for me, it’s my favorite part,” an emotional Willie said about meeting the Alabama teams. “Meeting all the players and the coaches, students, cheerleaders and fans has been so great. The players and the coaches have been my favorite part about all of this.” 

Last year, Willie even got to meet the legend himself, Nick Saban.

“That was the greatest moment of all time,” an excited Willie said. “When I met Coach Saban I didn’t know what to say. I had a loss for words.” 

With internet fame also comes inevitable trolls and even maybe the real concern of genuine people that have accused Horne of “making” Willie do some of his antics like sledding through snow barefoot. 

“People will message me and say things like, ‘You aught to be ashamed of yourself making him go barefoot like that.’ Y’all don’t know Willie,” said Horne. “Hell, I can’t make him put on shoes! I’m looking over there and he’s standing out in snow barefoot and I’m telling him I don’t know how he does it. Before he was ‘Roll Tide Willie’ he was ‘Barefoot Willie.’ There’s people in the community that still call him Barefoot Willie.”

Willie said that no one could make him do anything he didn’t want to do.

“Chad don’t make me do nothing I don’t want to do and nobody could make me do nothing I didn’t want to do,” Willie said with a smile. “I was born barefoot and I’m barefoot all the time. The only reason I got shoes on now is because we’re in here doing this (interview).” 

Willie’s videos have led to him meeting celebrities even outside of the football world, including famous comedians like Druski, Theo Von and Kevin Hart. 

“That’s been a great thing, we love all of them to death,” Willie continued. “Druski is a great person and Kevin Hart has been great. I love all of those guys.” 

People like Barstool’s Dave Portnoy were even instrumental in getting Willie his new house, which certainly came in handy during the recent historic winter weather in the area. 

“I got a brand new house with good heat in there,” Willie said. “Dave Portnoy helped out a lot with that. We have a lot of people we thank because we’ve been blessed and helped out a lot. We love everyone to death.”

Willie said his previous home was built in 1844 and both his mother and grandmother were born in the family home. While it meant a lot to his family, it also left a lot to be desired when it came to heating.

“He told me that when he lived in his old house he’d have to get up every two hours all night long to stoke the fire because the only heat he had was a wood burning stove,” Horne said. 

The community in Troy is also something that is near and dear to Willie and Horne’s hearts. Horne’s children play sports in the Troy Recreation Leagues and Willie says that Troy is one of the few teams he’s unable to pull against.

“We love Troy,” Willie emphasized. “I can’t pull against Troy and I can’t pull against the Tide. When Alabama plays Troy in anything, we just have to stay neutral.” 

Opposing coaches have even tried to recruit Willie when they’re playing Troy, to no avail. 

“Bryan Hodgson, Arkansas State’s head (basketball) coach, when he was at Alabama was the first person to reach out to me and Willie to go to an Alabama (basketball) game when Brandon Miller was there because he and Brandon wanted to meet Willie,” Horne recalled. “I told him that I never forget stuff like that, when you get us in the door for something, if you need us just let us know in the future. He hit us up last time Arkansas State was playing Troy (to come to the game) and I had to tell him the same I’ve had to tell others. ‘We love you coach but we can’t pull against Troy.’” 

Willie has a total of 435,000 followers on Instagram, 26,000 on FaceBook, more than 337,000 on TikTok and 10,000 on YouTube. Along with Willie’s presence on social media platforms, he will be making an appearance at Mardi Gras in Mobile this year along with the World Deer Expo in Birmingham this summer and plenty of Alabama Basketball games. Who knows, Roll Tide Willie may even make an appearance at Trojan Arena one of these days.