Framed within the frenzy leading up to a Super Bowl, Gary Brackett flashes back to the defining moments and lessons in his journey leading to the threshold of a championship season. With his heart metaphorically on his jersey sleeve, Gary invites the reader inside the world of NFL football and the drama leading up to the biggest game day of the year. Along the way, Gary provides glimpses of real-life heroes, on and off the field, as he recounts the stories in this touching testament to the memory of his mom, dad and brother.
Captain for Life offers a unique and powerful personal tale about the great joy and devastating price of playing professional football, by a legendary former NFL linebacker Harry Carson. One of the greatest linebackers to ever play professional football, Harry Carson built a reputation during his 13 years in the NFL as a fearsome, physical and passionate player who would give everything he had to win. Whether violently tackling running backs, engaging blockers with reckless abandon or ferociously attacking the line of scrimmage, Carson will always be remembered as having played the game the way it's meant to be played--all out. For the first time ever, this legendary athlete takes readers on an unlikely journey to the NFL that began in the small town of Florence, South Carolina to his days at little known South Carolina State University--and then the bright lights of professional football in New York, playing for the Giants. Carson's story of his life as a football player and after his retirement is more powerful and eye-opening than any that's come before. Within these pages, Carson reveals the startling truth behind the sacrifices these great warriors make for our entertainment, the thrill of stepping onto a field with 80,000 fans screaming your name, and the debilitating physical and mental toll this violent and uncompromising game takes. With insight into some of the game's biggest stars, from Lawrence Taylor to Bill Parcells to Phil Simms this book is a must for any NFL fan.
The bestselling inspirational book in which the author reunites with a childhood football hero, now a minister and coach, and witnesses a revelatory demonstration of the true meaning of manhood—Season of Life is a book that “should be required reading for every high school student in America and every parent as well” (Carl Lewis, Olympic champion). Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman high school football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann. Ehrmann now devotes his life to teaching young men a whole new meaning of masculinity. He teaches the boys at Gilman the precepts of his Building Men for Others program: Being a man means emphasizing relationships and having a cause bigger than yourself. It means accepting responsibility and leading courageously. It means that empathy, integrity, and living a life of service to others are more important than points on a scoreboard. Decades after he first met Ehrmann, Jeffrey Marx renewed their friendship and watched his childhood hero putting his principles into action. While chronicling a season with the Gilman Greyhounds, Marx witnessed the most extraordinary sports program he’d ever seen, where players say “I love you” to each other and coaches profess their love for their players. Off the field Marx sat with Ehrmann and absorbed life lessons that led him to reexamine his own unresolved relationship with his father. Season of Life is a book about what it means to be a man of substance and impact. It is a moving story that will resonate with athletes, coaches, parents—anyone struggling to make the right choices in life.
My Winning Seasons: Discovering the Champion Within is more than just a sports story, though it's an exciting one, about one of the top-ranked football teams ever to come out of The Citadel. And it's more than just a memoir, though it's a big one: author Joe Crochet was a cadet, a student, and an athlete. My Winning Seasons is, most importantly, an inspiration to anyone trying to succeed not just in sports, academics, or a career but in life. Crochet was a captain and an All-American who helped transform his Citadel football team through great personal tragedy and multiple coach turnovers from being a losing program into a top-tier back-to-back championship program. At the same time, Crochet succeeded off the field, earning a BS in three years with honors and then going on to earn an MBA and work for a Fortune 250 company. With what he teaches readers in My Winning Seasons, Crochet hopes to help others develop their own winning streak.
Now in its third printing, see what it took to become the shortest player in Notre Dame football history to carry the ball in a game. Every Play Every Day takes you on the intimate journey of former Notre Dame tailback Timmy O'Neill, who, at 5' 6" and 165 lbs, wasn't the prototypical Division I college football player. Experience the journey from the dorm room to the classroom, from the locker room to the training room, and everywhere in between. Read about the incredible experience of being a college football walk-on; the joy, the pain, and the raw emotion characterizing the inner fight athletes deal with on a daily basis. This book details the lessons learned through O'Neill's five years as a Notre Dame walk-on, and shows what can happen to anyone who refuses to accept the limitations imposed by others. "As a college and professional football player, I've learned that nobody is ever going to hand you the life you imagined, you have to out and fight for it. That's the message conveyed in Timmy's story. Timmy's dream was to play football for Notre Dame, but not matter what you dream is, Every Play Every Day will inspire you to get there." --Tim Brown, 1987 Heisman Trophy winner, NFL 9-time Pro Bowl wide receiver "It's hard enough to play college football as a scholarship player. It takes a rare individual to succeed at Notre Dame as a walk-on. Timmy O'Neill succeeded doing this. You will enjoy his journey." --Lou Holtz, Only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 20 rankings "Every Play Every Day is filled with Timmy's passion for life and his desire to share what he's learned with others. His language is plain and his message is clear. Timmy understands that hard work and a positive attitude are vital to success in life." --Sean Astin, Star of Rudy and Lord of the Rings "Every Play Every Day is more about not accepting other people's expectations for your life than it is about football. The experiences chronicled in this book truly to apply to everyone." --Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
Premier league footballer turned pastor Gavin Peacock tells the story of his career and his faith in this fascinating, thought-provoking and personal read. 'There is more to life than football, fame and fortune. There is a greater joy and a greater glory to be had.' What makes a man walk away from his life as a professional footballer turned BBC pundit to become a church minister? They say it is every schoolboy's dream to play in the F.A. Cup Final and it's a dream that came true for Gavin Peacock. In his riveting autobiography follow Gavin's journey from a child growing up in a footballing family to Chelsea captain; from a son following in his father's footsteps to a husband and father supporting his own family; from pundit to preacher. Experience his highs and lows as he tells his story and explains the driving force behind it all - his love for football, his love for his family, and most importantly his love for God.
‘When a man walks on to a pitch there’s always a chance something magic can happen, that’s what keeps us coming back...’ In A Man Walks On To a Pitch, Harry shares a lifetime’s experience of obsessing over football, during which he has seen it all first hand – the good, the bad and the unbelievable. Harry started in an age where players were ordinary blokes who might live on the same street as you and earn a similar wage. Now he manages in an era of player power, multi-million pound wages and teams assembled from around the globe. As he shares stories of some of the legends and journeymen he played, coached, argued and drank with, Harry picks a team for each decade from the 1950s to the present. He gets to the heart of what was right and wrong with each era and explores the changes in the game from lifestyle to tactics. He weaves his choices together with unforgettable tales from the training pitches, boot rooms and card schools. There are tales of the untutored genius of Duncan Edwards and Tom Finney, legendary tough Scots like Bobby Collins, Dave Mackay and Billy Bremner, the world-beaters of 1966, unpredictable one-off wizards from Sir Stanley Matthews to Matt Le Tissier, natural-born goalscorers from Greaves to Dalglish and the greatest foreign players to grace our game from Trautmann to Bergkamp. It is one of the best informal histories of the British game you’ll ever read.
Wearing the C insignia on the uniforma badge of honor reserved for team captainsis professional hockey's highest honor, and this study discusses how many of the NHL's all-time greatest players were captains. This exciting new bookan entertaining and enlightening blend of hockey stories and leadership lessonsreveals the secrets of hockey's greatest captains by asking questions such as What does it take to lead a team to championship? What are the keys to overcoming unexpected adversity? and How does a captain manage strong egos from diverse backgrounds into a unified, focused team? To get the inside story, author Ross Bernstein interviewed more than 100 of the all-time greatest captains, assistant captains, and head coaches, including Wayne Gretzky, Scotty Bowman, Phil Esposito, and Joe Sakic. An ideal book for any hockey fan, this work recounts some of the greatest moments in NHL history.
Anyone who cheers for the underdog will be enthralled by the story of Auburn’s 1972 football team. The Tigers were predicted to drop into the bottom half of the Southeastern Conference standings after losing quarterback Pat Sullivan, who won the 1971 Heisman Trophy, and All-American receiver Terry Beasley. Going into their opening game, they had only five offensive plays. Auburn proved its critics wrong all year long, capping an unbelievable season with a jaw-dropping upset of Alabama, returning two blocked punts for touchdowns in the game’s closing minutes. Instead of finishing in sixth place in the SEC, the team finished fifth—in the country! The Amazin’s, as they were nicknamed, won as a result of the bonds they formed during grueling winter workouts and August two-a-day practices under the unforgiving Alabama sun. Fifty years later, the Amazin’s still find strength in each other, facing new challenges as teammates for life. If you cherish Auburn football, great rivalries, and want to learn how to apply lessons from the gridiron to everyday life, then you’ll love this inspiring story of the university’s most unforgettable team—then and now.
