Download or read book The Golden Gladiator written by Michael Lynch and published by . This book was released on 2021-11 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years written by Wayne Stewart and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-07-13 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1950s and 60s was a golden age for professional football. It was perhaps the toughest and roughest era for the sport, before rules were created to better protect the players, but it was also a time when legends were born. To many football fans this era remains the Glory Years of the NFL, when the stars that roamed the gridiron included the likes of Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Jim Brown, and Raymond Berry. In Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years: An Inside Look at the Golden Age of Football, Wayne Stewart tells the story of professional football in the ‘50s and ‘60s through the words of the players themselves. Chapters cover Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball, players who made a lasting impression on the game, and the toughest players on the gridiron. Stewart intertwines profiles of these iconic players with the athletes’ own memories, observations, and anecdotes, including their impressions of teammates and opponents. Two additional chapters consist of humorous quotes and the players’ thoughts on how the game has changed since their heyday. Featuring exclusive interviews with players from the 1950s and ‘60s, Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years provides an inside look at this distinct time in professional football. With a wide range of topics and insights included throughout, this book will both entertain and inform football fans and historians alike.
Download or read book The Golden Gladiator The True Story of the Oldest American Football Player s Return to the Gridiron and Glory The True Story of the Old written by Michael Lynch and published by . This book was released on 2021-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Golden Gladiator. . . . Myth? Urban legend? Hero? Antihero? Myth or urban legend? Not at all. This is the true story of senior citizen Michael Lynch and his inspirational journey back to the gridiron and glory. In his mid-sixties, he played on one of the best semi-pro football teams in America, and was coached by a former NFL veteran. After seeing his nephew play in a high school All-Star game on Long Island during the summer of 2012, Michael Lynch had an epiphany. He wanted to play football again. In the late 60s and early 70s, he had been a football star in high school, college, and in the semi-pro leagues on Long Island. Forty years later, he decided to turn back the clock and risk life and limb to play football again in one of the toughest semi-pro leagues in America: the Florida Football Alliance. This is a story of courage, redemption, tragedy, and love as Lynch played for four years in over fifty football games. He was a game captain, an Honorable Mention on the 2014 Florida Football Alliances All-Star team, and was honored at the leagues' banquet in his final year in 2018 for his inspiration and dedication to the game he loves. He played on two championship teams, in 2015 and 2018. Michael Lynch was inducted into the Guinness World Records in 2019 as the oldest American football player ever, and the oldest American football player to catch a touchdown pass-which he did at the age of sixty-eight. Hero or antihero? You decide, but first read Michael Lynch's epic tale, his Iliad and Odyssey of football journeys-the true story of . . . the Golden Gladiator.
Download or read book Gladiator written by Dan Clark and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2009-02-10 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of Jose Conseco's "Juiced, American Gladiator's" Clark--known as Nitro on the hit show--shares an entertaining and unflinchingly honest account of his 20-year affair with steroids. b&w photographs.
Download or read book What Have You Done Now Eugene written by Gene Mingo and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gene Mingo grew up as a mischievous kid in Akron, Ohio, with a challenging childhood and love for high school football. After a stint in the US Navy, he found his way back to football. In 1960, he joined the American Football League as a placekicker, halfback, and return specialist for the Denver Broncosbut that was just the beginning. Gene has been inducted into the America Football League Hall of Fame, reflecting an illustrious career that included the first punt return for a touchdown in the AFL and two years spent leading the AFL in scoring. History considers him to have been the first African American placekicker in the AFL. Life isnt lived only on the football field, however; outside the game, number twenty-one had troubles. Perhaps due to finding success too quickly, Gene developed a tendency to fall in with a bad crowd. His poor choices led to near tragedy, but he always found a home on the football field. Gene Mingos story isnt simple. It wasnt easy being a black man in a white mans world, and Gene had some internal demons of his own as well. Still, his story is that of legend, and the trials and tribulations of this spectacular athlete deserve to be remembered forever.
Download or read book Gridiron Gumshoe written by Ace Cacchiotti and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Gridiron Gumshoe" My life in and out of the NFL Films' Vault" by Ace Cacchiotti is a Pro Football Fanatics' guide to my literal life working with the most accomplished producers who have lent their artistic values to all that follow the game and who live vicariously through one who contributed to the company by "Paying attention to detail and Finishing like a Pro". From young Steve Sabol's "They Called it Pro Football" produced in 1967, to "Joe and the Magic Bean" again written and produced by Steve in 1976, "75 Seasons"; "The Story of the National Football League" in 1994 to "America's Game" from 2005 and to the late NFL Films' President's tribute; Steve Sabol, "The Guts and Glory of Pro Football" on February 12th, 2013, the game of Pro Football is watched by hundred of millions through the camera eye of what is without a doubt the measuring stick for all others when it comes to capturing passion in and on any field. This author was given a wonderful opportunity to express himself and by doing so left a legacy with not only my peers but with my late loving boss; my friend Steve Sabol. I hope you will be able to experience through the "Gridiron Gumshoe" a most rewarding Pro Football Journey. Enjoy; Ace Cacchiotti
Download or read book Twelve Mighty Orphans written by Jim Dent and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-09-04 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jim Dent, author of the New York Times bestselling The Junction Boys, returns with his most powerful story of human courage and determination. More than a century ago, a school was constructed in Fort Worth, Texas, for the purpose of housing and educating the orphans of Texas Freemasons. It was a humble project that for years existed quietly on a hillside east of town. Life at the Masonic Home was about to change, though, with the arrival of a lean, bespectacled coach by the name of Rusty Russell. Here was a man who could bring rain in the midst of a drought. Here was a man who, in virtually no time at all, brought the orphans' story into the homes of millions of Americans. In the 1930s and 1940s, there was nothing bigger in Texas high school football than the Masonic Home Mighty Mites--a group of orphans bound together by hardship and death. These youngsters, in spite of being outweighed by at least thirty pounds per man, were the toughest football team around. They began with nothing--not even a football--yet in a few years were playing for the state championship on the highest level of Texas football. This is a winning tribute to a courageous band of underdogs from a time when America desperately needed fresh hope and big dreams. The Mighty Mites remain a notable moment in the long history of American sports. Just as significant is the depth of the inspirational message. This is a profound lesson in fighting back and clinging to faith. The real winners in Texas high school football were not the kids from the biggest schools, or the ones wearing the most expensive uniforms. They were the scrawny kids from a tiny orphanage who wore scarred helmets and faded jerseys that did not match, kids coached by a devoted man who lived on peanuts and drove them around in a smoke-belching old truck. In writing a story of unforgettable characters and great football, Jim Dent has come forward to reclaim his place as one of the top sports authors in America today. A remarkable and inspirational story of an orphanage and the man who created one of the greatest football teams Texas has ever known . . . this is their story--the original Friday Night Lights. "This just might be the best sports book ever written. Jim Dent has crafted a story that will go down as one of the most artistic, one of the most unforgettable, and one of the most inspirational ever. Twelve Mighty Orphans will challenge Hoosiers as the feel-good sports story of our lifetime. Naturally, being from Texas, I am biased. Hooray for the Mighty Mites.'' --Verne Lundquist, CBS Sports "Coach Rusty Russell and the Mighty Mites will steal your heart as they overcome every obstacle imaginable to become a respected football team. Take an orphanage, the Depression, and mix it with Texas high school football, and Jim Dent has authored another winner, this one about the ultimate underdog.'' --Brent Musburger, ABC Sports/ESPN "No state has a roll call of legendary high school football stories like we do in Texas, and, admittedly, some of those stories have been 'expanded' over the years when it comes to the truth. But let Jim Dent tell you about the Mighty Mites of Masonic Home, the pride of Fort Worth in the dark days of the Depression. Read this book. You will think it's fiction. You will think it's a Hollywood script. But Twelve Mighty Orphans is the truth, and nothing but. It is powerful stuff. Some eighty years later, the Mighty Mites' story remains so sacred, not even a Texan would dare tamper with these facts. And Jim Dent tells it like it was." -- Randy Galloway, columnist, Fort-Worth Star Telegram
Download or read book Fifth Ward to Fourth Quarter written by Delvin Williams and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After his release from the Green Bay Packers, realizing that his football career was abruptly over, Delvin Williams asked himself some hard questions: What happened to the game he fell in love with as a kid? What is a retired football player supposed to do? Where did he fit in? Nothing had prepared him for life after football. From his childhood in inner-city Houston and school days at all-Black Kashmere High School, Williams tells the story of a young boy who realized that football filled some of the empty places in his spirit left by an absent father, a poverty-stricken childhood, and the ongoing sting of racism. His determination carried him through a four-year degree at the University of Kansas and, ultimately, an All-Pro career with the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins. Football afforded him an education and a good living. But it also had an impact on his body and soul beyond anything he could have imagined. In Fifth Ward to Fourth Quarter: Football’s Impact on an NFL Player’s Body and Soul, Delvin Williams brings readers on the long journey from Houston’s Fifth Ward to the packed stadiums of the NFL, continuing with his decades-long fight for the compensation due an athlete who sustained injuries on the job. Here, Williams recounts the circumstances that motivated him to meet challenges at every level, exceeding his own expectations, telling the story of a career that produced a head-on collision between a starry-eyed kid from the tough streets of Houston and the industry of football.
Download or read book Gridiron Gauntlet written by Andy Piascik and published by Taylor Trade Publications. This book was released on 2009-10-16 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One year before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in major league baseball in 1947, four black players joined the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams to become the first professional football players of African-American descent in the modern era. While blacks had played on professional teams in the early days of pro football, none had joined a team since 1934. In this book twelve players who began their careers from 1946 to 1955 not only reminisce about the violence they faced on and off the field, the segregated hotels and restaurants, and general hostility that comes with being a trailblazer, but also of white players and coaches who assisted and supported them at various stages of their lives. Among the oral histories presented here are those of such Hall of Famers Bill Willis, Joe Perry, and George Taliaferro.
Download or read book Dutch Clark written by Chris Willis and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Dutch Clark: The Life of an NFL Legend and the Birth of the Detroit Lions, Chris Willis tells the remarkable story of an athlete from a small town in Colorado who would become one of the NFL's greatest players. Throughout his seven-year NFL career (1931-1932, 1934-1938), quarterback Dutch Clark was selected first team NFL All-Pro six times, led the league in scoring three times, was team captain of the Detroit Lions, and helped the Lions win the 1935 NFL Championship in just their second season in Detroit. Supplemented with archival interviews, never-before-seen photos, newspaper quotes, and anecdotes, Dutch Clark tells the rags-to-riches story of one of the NFL's first stars.
Download or read book The Eagles of Heart Mountain written by Bradford Pearson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1942, the federal government forced 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes and sent them to concentration camps across the West. Eleven thousand of them landed on the desolate outskirts of the Wild West town of Cody, Wyoming, at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. It would be their home for the next three years. The same racism and discrimination that led to their removal continued in camp, as armed guards and FBI spies watched their every move. In that environment, little brought joy to the imprisoned. That is, until the fall of 1943, when the Heart Mountain High School football team, the Eagles, started its first season. Despite every obstacle, the Eagles ran through the competition-who traveled to the camp from majority-white high schools across Wyoming and Montana-and finished undefeated. As the team's second and final season kicked off, the federal government began drafting boys and men from the camps for the front lines. The Eagles had to choose: join the Army or resist the draft. With the war, draft, and family obligations crashing around them, they fought to keep their perfect record and their pride. Based on archival research and interviews with players, their families, former incarcerees, and camp employees, The Eagles of Heart Mountain is a book about a football team, yes. But it's more than that: it's about a group of people wronged by their government standing up and saying "Enough." Book jacket.
Download or read book Fields of Honor written by Sally Pont and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 2001 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Miracle in Miami began when a small group of men returned to Ohio after World War II. Some were old enough to coach football; others were young enough to play, going to school on the GI Bill. There, in a tiny community at Miami University of Ohio, the men, the character, and the modern game of football were created. Sid Gillman coached Woody Hayes, who coached Ara Parseghian, coached John Pont, coached Bo Schembechler, coached Bill Mallory. This is the story of the big, brawling familyof men who formed college football. Written by John Pont's niece, their interconnections, affections and rivalries, their innovations, and their weaknesses are all beautifully portrayed, combining football history and strategy with family stories. Watching the Superbowl and focusing on the million-dollar ads, we yearn for the bravery and the loneliness of the original players. Come back to a time when the helmets had no face guards, when the men played without padding, and when strategy and sportsmanship ruled the gridiron.
Download or read book Bronko written by Chris Willis and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2022 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the remarkable story of a small-town athlete from the farming plains of Minnesota who became one of the greatest players in NFL history.
Download or read book Glory Boys written by Kenneth L. Mains and published by Bek Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-20 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Something magical took place between August and November of 1991 in Central Pennsylvania, in the tiny community of Penns Valley. It is something that cannot be explained and something that will not be forgotten with the passage of time. A thirty-six member football team, a coach and a dream was all it took to transcend the 'Valley' and Central Pennsylvania from believing they couldn't...to believing they can. This is the inspiring tale of the 1991-1992 Penns Valley Rams. This tale isn't new, it has been told in countless stories throughout the beginning of time. It is the story of the under privileged, overworked and underappreciated fighting against the corporation, the privileged, the machine. It is the story of 'us' versus 'them' and David versus Goliath. It is Rocky versus Apollo and all other stereotypical and mythical 'cannot win' scenarios. Above all else it is the true story of what happens when you stop thinking about yourself and start believing in each other. Yet, what makes this story unique is how football success can translate to success in life for those who are willing to apply the lessons learned and continue on that magical path. Just as with any worthwhile endeavor, there will be a plethora of obstacles to overcome and many occasions of getting knocked down. However, this story is about how you rise back up from that fall. As Confucius once proclaimed, "Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but rising every time we fall."
Download or read book The Red Terrors written by Jesse Tullos and published by . This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Red Terrors is a true story about football players, coaches and fans of Glynn Academy High School in 1964 Georgia.
Download or read book The Squared Circle written by David Shoemaker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-11-04 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A breakthrough examination of the professional wrestling, its history, its fans, and its wider cultural impact The Squared Circle grows out of David Shoemaker’s writing for Deadspin, where he started the column “Dead Wrestler of the Week” (which boasts more than 1 million page views)—a feature on the many wrestling superstars who died too young because of the abuse they subject their bodies to—and his writing for Grantland, where he covers the pro wrestling world, and its place in the pop culture mainstream. Shoemaker’s sportswriting has since struck a nerve with generations of wrestling fans who—like him—grew up worshipping a sport often derided as “fake” in the wider culture. To them, these professional wrestling superstars are not just heroes but an emotional outlet and the lens through which they learned to see the world. Starting in the early 1900s and exploring the path of pro wrestling in America through the present day, The Squared Circle is the first book to acknowledge both the sport’s broader significance and wrestling fans’ keen intellect and sense of irony. Divided into eras, each section offers a snapshot of the wrestling world, profiles some of the period’s preeminent wrestlers, and the sport’s influence on our broader culture. Through the brawling, bombast, and bloodletting, Shoemaker argues that pro wrestling can teach us about the nature of performance, audience, and, yes, art. Full of unknown history, humor, and self-deprecating reminiscence—but also offering a compelling look at the sport’s rightful place in pop culture—The Squared Circle is the book that legions of wrestling fans have been waiting for. In it, Shoemaker teaches us to look past the spandex and body slams to see an art form that can explain the world.
Download or read book League of Denial written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and published by Crown. This book was released on 2014-08-26 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The story of how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, denied and sought to cover up mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage “League of Denial may turn out to be the most influential sports-related book of our time.”—The Boston Globe “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.” So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America’s most popular sport. That judgment, implausible even to a casual fan, also contradicted the opinion of a growing cadre of neuroscientists who worked in vain to convince the NFL that it was facing a deadly new scourge: a chronic brain disease that was driving an alarming number of players—including some of the all-time greats—to madness. In League of Denial, award-winning ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru tell the story of a public health crisis that emerged from the playing fields of our twenty-first-century pastime. Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football, that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage. In a fast-paced narrative that moves between the NFL trenches, America’s research labs, and the boardrooms where the NFL went to war against science, League of Denial examines how the league used its power and resources to attack independent scientists and elevate its own flawed research—a campaign with echoes of Big Tobacco’s fight to deny the connection between smoking and lung cancer. It chronicles the tragic fates of players like Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who was so disturbed at the time of his death he fantasized about shooting NFL executives, and former San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau, whose diseased brain became the target of an unseemly scientific battle between researchers and the NFL. Based on exclusive interviews, previously undisclosed documents, and private emails, this is the story of what the NFL knew and when it knew it—questions at the heart of a crisis that threatens football, from the highest levels all the way down to Pop Warner.
