Terrence Cody look-alike draws double-takes at courthouse

BAY MINETTE — After rumors spread that Alabama defensive tackle Terrence Cody was one of several hundred people to report for jury duty Monday at the Baldwin County Courthouse, a judge approached the man to settle the question.

"He came up and asked if I were Mount Cody, and I said, 'no'," an amused Willie Holmes of Foley said on the courthouse steps during his lunch break.

Holmes, 21, caused quite the ruckus, even though at 6-foot-3 and 304 pounds, he is not quite as big as Cody, who is listed on the school's roster as being 6-foot-5 and 365 pounds.

"I'm like a shrimp next to him," Holmes said.

Still, his mere presence in court had some potential jurors and court officials wondering if he was the star Alabama football player.

Holmes said he spent the morning being asked for autographs and having to tell people he's not Alabama's defensive beast. Cody, however, who is from Fort Myers, Fla., would likely not be registered to vote in Baldwin County, and thus would be ineligible to be called for jury duty.

Holmes said at one point, Presiding Circuit Judge James Reid even announced to jurors that "we have a celebrity in the courtroom," joking that Cody was in the building.

Reid, who admitted to being an Alabama fan, said Monday afternoon that he knew the whole time that Cody wasn't in his courtroom, but he still told the look-alike to joke with his clerk and tell her he was the star player.

Not everyone, though, knew Holmes' identity right off the bat, as it was the subject of debate among some jurors. One male juror, asked by a Press-Register reporter if he had seen the Cody look-alike, responded that the man in the jury pool actually was the real Cody. A female juror, however, turned and pointed out to the man that she had confirmed with Holmes his true identity.

Holmes, who graduated from Foley High School in 2006, said he was a member of the school's football team and, like Cody, played defensive tackle. Being compared to the star, he said, isn't a bad thing at all.

"I'm hoping I can meet him one day," he said.

Holmes, a student at Alabama A&M but a fan of the Crimson Tide, said the drive from Huntsville to Baldwin County for jury duty was long, but being the most popular potential juror has other perks too.

"I get to miss class, so it ain't that bad," he said.

Holmes said this isn't the first time he's been mistaken for the star player. He said after the Tennessee game, when Cody blocked two field goals, he was praised for his game-winning effort and was asked for autographs at a local Walmart.