You watched him vie for the Heisman and national championship, and earn a third-round NFL draft spot. Now meet Colt McCoy up-close and personal! Growing Up Colt—A Father, a Son, a Life in Football is a unique biography by both the Cleveland Browns quarterback and his father, Brad, a highly-respected football coach in his native Texas. Get a behind-the-scenes view of the formative events of Colt’s football experience and the foundational principles of his family and faith life. Growing Up Colt promises an inspiring read for football fans of all ages—and don’t miss the exciting full-color photo section!
Popular and outspoken NFL cornerback Hanford Dixon offers an inside look at the turbulent, exciting, and frustrating Cleveland Browns seasons of the 1980s. A three-time Pro Bowler and co-inventor of the Dawg Pound, Dixon recalls both the roller-coaster on-field action and a culture of drug use that permeated the NFL and led to the tragic death of a teammate. He shares in detail what it was like to be a first-round NFL draft pick fighting for the starting job in training camp . . . What it took, mentally and physically, to play the toughest game at the highest level for a storied franchise . . . The adrenaline rush of whipping up a frenzied crowd of 80,000 rabid fans in Municipal Stadium . . . The thrill of being one game away from the Super Bowl—three times! . . . And the crushing disappointment of losing those big games. Dixon refers to himself as “a top-notch, speedy, loud-mouth, cocky, shutdown cornerback.” That gives an idea of his outsized personality as well as his willingness to say exactly what he means. He's not shy about delivering praise or criticism where he thinks it's due—to teammates, coaches, officials . . . or himself. This Dawg tells it the way it was.
Fans of the Cleveland Browns have learned to accommodate an exceptional range of emotional possibilities. Hundreds of reasons reside in this readable reference spanning the Browns' storied postwar origins through their unprecedented rebirth and into the present.Brown for the Count honors this heritage honestly, with dozens of digestible lists featuring players, moments, oddities and statistics, rewarding readers from green to grizzled:What NFL rules changes were inspired by Browns?Who else wears the same team colors? Which goal-line stands were most outstanding?What trades were the best and worst of each era?How would team records improve if their entire history were included?Which Browns players were also college teammates? Returned after stints with other teams? Excelled in other sports? Became head coaches? Scored on both offense and defense?From this motley mosaic of anecdotes, trivia, and appreciations -- including a major section of the all-time best Browns at each position -- emerges an absorbing sense of kinship connecting vastly different generations of Cleveland pro football. Every Browns fan is loyal to certain memories held close to the heart: favorite players, great games, and shared experience with a family of fellow fans. To better know and identify with this complex and evolving history is to be Brown for the Count.
#2 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. Milan hunts for a con man who scammed the Mob. He's shadowed by mob flunky Buddy Bustamente, who sports a polyester leisure suit, white patent leather shoes, and matching white belt—that 1970s fashion statement once unkindly dubbed the “full Cleveland.”
4th and Goal Every day tells the improbable story of how Alabama won 5 national titles in 9 seasons. Fans want to know, “How does Alabama do it?” With a Preface by Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban and a Foreword by ESPN's College Gameday Host Rece Davis. Phil Savage first worked with Nick Saban when they both joined the Cleveland Browns’ coaching staff in 1991. They were reunited in 2009 when Savage became part of the Crimson Tide Sports Network as the radio color analyst. Since then, Savage has enjoyed an up-close view of the Alabama program’s dedication to recruiting, its commitment to practice, and devotion to fundamentals. Now comes his 360-degree perspective on Alabama football and Coach Nick Saban’s unique coaching style, a style that has led the Crimson Tide to five Southeastern Conference titles, three consecutive College Football Playoff appearances and four national championships. Savage details Coach Saban’s year-round preparation, his willingness to adjust and his belief in “complimentary football.” The book offers a close look at their player development and practice habits and gives a glimpse of the Crimson Tide’s approach of playing every single down like it’s 4th and goal. You won’t find another person who can intelligently discuss Alabama football in public better than Phil Savage. Together with Ray Glier, this in-depth story chronicles how the Crimson Tide re-emerged as one of the true superpowers in college football.
In You?ve Got to Have Balls to Make It in This League Pam Postema reveals with frank language and uncompromising candor what it was like being an umpire in professional baseball. For thirteen seasons, from 1977 until her unconditional release in 1989, Postema umpired more than two thousand baseball games, making national news as she worked in various minor leagues as high as level AAA?one step below the majors. She also called many major league spring training games as well as the Hall of Fame game in 1988 between the Yankees and the Braves. ø Postema?s story is one of grit and determination to succeed in a profession dominated by men, but it is also an intimate look at umpiring. Postema discusses the mindset behind making a proper call, the weeks of intensive training, ejecting problem players and managers, and the chaos mixed with the monotony of being on the road most of the year. Throughout, Postema relates her encounters with major league stars when they were just up-and-comers in the minors.
As a star linebacker for the Cleveland Browns in the 1940s and 1950s, Marion Motley invented the modern concept of the fullback. In 1946, he and three other players broke professional football's color barrier, helping set the stage for Jackie Robinson's desegregation of Major League baseball in 1947. Retiring with five championships and the universal respect of his peers, Motley returned to ordinary life as a black man in pre-Civil Rights Act America. Because his career pre-dated nationally televised football, Motley's name is largely unknown today, when a figure of his stature would enjoy celebrity as a coach or owner. This first ever biography tells the story of the football player Sports Illustrated's Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman described as the greatest ever to take the field.
This beautiful book is intended to teach you who you are, where you come from, and where you are going. This book will also teach you how to love yourself and others regardless of race, religion, creed, or color. This book is not about racism, but about love. Let's obey God's law. Love if the law of God, and each of us is made in the image and likeness of our Heavenly Father. We are all his children. It is time for all of God's children to come together. Our future lies in the hands of our youth. Let's teach them how to love and get along with others. Believe it or not, there are a lot of ignorant people who believe that it is OK to hate someone based only on the color of their skin. Well it's not OK. Never judge anyone based on the color of their skin. Judge them by their personality. The Bible teaches us never to judge according to appearance. God created this world for all of us, not just for one race. We all need God, God doesn't need us. We are all a part of God's rainbow. We are all God's offspring.
The unknown story of the Black pioneers who collectively changed the face of the NFL in 1946. THE FORGOTTEN FIRST chronicles the lives of four incredible men, the racism they experienced as Black players entering a segregated sport, the burden of expectation they carried, and their many achievements, which would go on to affect football for generations to come. More than a year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, there was another seismic moment in pro sports history. On March 21,1946, former UCLA star running back Kenny Washington—a teammate of Robinson's in college—signed a contract with the Los Angeles Rams. This ended one of the most shameful periods in NFL history, when African-American players were banned from league play. Washington would not be alone in serving as a pioneer for NFL integration. Just months after he joined the Rams, thanks to a concerted effort by influential Los Angeles political and civic leaders, the team signed Woody Strode, who played with both Washington and Robinson at UCLA in one of the most celebrated backfields in college sports history. And that same year, a little-known coach named Paul Brown of the fledgling Cleveland Browns signed running back Marion Motley and defensive lineman Bill Willis, thereby integrating a startup league that would eventually merge with the NFL. THE FORGOTTEN FIRST tells the story of one of the most significant cultural shifts in pro football history, as four men opened the door to opportunity and changed the sport forever.
What to do in Cleveland now that it’s gone from “The Mistake on the Lake” to “Believe Land” From polka bands to popcorn balls, the more recently bumbling Browns to the thankfully no- longer- burning river, Michael Murphy shares his Cleveland. Raised in The Land, Murphy returns to see that the quirky character of his hometown is no longer mocked, but celebrated (mostly). The city, where high cuisine used to be Manners Big Boy or the Woolworth’s lunch counter, has turned into a culinary hub with multiple James Beard Award- winning chefs. There are now boating festivals and kayaking clubs on the once polluted Cuyahoga River. Cleveland has become a place that people actually intend to visit, not just get stuck in when the airport is snowed in. Cleveland’s Catalog of Cool mixes contemporary with vintage stories and profiles of essential Clevelanders, past and present, like the well- known like Jimmy Brown and Chef Michael Symon, the late Harvey Pekar, and, of course, the most quintessential of all Clevelanders, Ghoulardi.
