You know just by watching that Alonzo was kicking it in the 1990’s. That Hammer dance is just too great and even better is that the athlete’s are getting a kick out of it. Like the news anchor in the beginning of the clip says dancing is a sign of many things. It can be demonstrative, it can be a narrative, and then it can be just for fun and to cheer people up. I get the feeling this dance was just for fun.
Hammer Time was one of the THE most popular songs back in its day, and you know what the really funny thing is? Alonzo Carter was in reality a backup dancer for MC Hammer back in the day. He actually toured with the guy in the 1990’s so you KNOW he can move. So time and a lack of working out on a regular basis has kind of taken away his former shape, but he still has the moves. The head coach actually put him on the spot for this one since he knew his background and thought it would be amusing. Alonzo didn’t disappoint.
But how did a backup dancer to MC Hammer become a college football coach? It’s an interesting story really.
Carter has been into dance for a long, long time. He formed his own group in high school and eventually they got the attention of MC Hammer, who had been coming up around that time had noticed the group and decided to bring them on tour with him. Carter never got to finish high school but he did get a good deal of experience as the lead choreographer for the group. Upon finding that the music business had changed and he and his group were no longer needed he headed on back to his hometown where he became a high school football coach.
To Carter coaching just felt natural, and over the next several years he went from being a coach to being the man that saved one program after another by building them back up and creating winning teams. His explanation for all this? Discipline.
This is how he was able to become a coach in the first place and then become such a well-rounded and respected coach. He had to choreograph so many dance routines that coaching came naturally since he had to do roughly the same thing with his team, making certain that they had the necessary plays, that they knew how to run them, and that the team found a way to come together as a unit.
He came to SJSU’s program thanks to a friend of his that had just made head coach, and his reputation was already known to the team, but they hadn’t seen just how well he could dance until this moment. Once the head coach put the music on and gestured Carter forward there was nothing left but to show the athletes just how good he really was. Some things you just never forget.
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