American football Books

Book SynopsisWillie Lanier was the first African-American middle linebacker in pro football history, playing for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967-1977 in an era when discrimination against black athletes was still very much the norm. Lanier gave football fans a new mold of athlete, comprised of equal amounts intelligence, creativity, individualism, and collaboration. America's Trailblazing Middle Linebacker: The Story of NFL Hall of Famer Willie Lanier explores the life and times of this groundbreaking football star. A walk-on at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, Lanier established himself as a force on the field. Drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967, Lanier fought his way to the starting middle linebacker position and became a Super Bowl champion, an eight time All-Pro, and the NFL’s Man of the Year in 1972. After retiring from football, Lanier went to work in the business world and became the CEO of a major US company. This book delves into Lanier’s college years, his NFL exploits, and his many successes off the gridiron, revealing a man who, through hard work and determination, made the most of every opportunity that came his way. On and off the football field, Lanier showed America a glimpse of the future, when fairness, opportunity, and racial integrity could be the reality for everyone. An inspiration for athletes and fans everywhere, Lanier’s story is that of a man who loved challenges, and faced every one of them with an unmatched drive to excel and succeed. Lanier was, and still is, a trailblazer.

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Book SynopsisA fascinating history of the Super Bowl and its massive impact on the sports world and beyond.The Super Bowl has changed what was just another wintry Sunday into America's unofficial holiday. It's the biggest entertainment event of the year. It's the most important advertising event of the year. It is the biggest gambling event of the year. More Americans watch this game than vote in presidential elections.How did this all happen? In The Football Game That Changed America, Dennis Deninger reveals how the Super Bowl went from almost being canceled after its first two years to becoming an ingrained part of American life. He tells the story of how this colossal event came to beincluding the challenges, stumbles, and amusing surprises along the wayand details the game's incredible impact well beyond the sports world, touching virtually every facet of life in the United States. Featuring colorful characters, bold rivals, and twists of fate, The Football Game That Changed America brings the history, growth, and future of the Super Bowl to life. It's a captivating deep dive into a sporting event like no other.

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Book SynopsisIncludes new chapters with small, easy-to-understand words. Bestselling words!Fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, even fantasy sumo wrestling: the world of fantasy sports is huge, and still growing. Today, more than 35 million people in the United States and Canada spend hours upon hours each week on their fantasy sports teams. And as the Senior Fantasy Sports Analyst for ESPN, Matthew Berry is on the front lines of what has grown from a niche subculture into a national pastime.In his New York Times-bestselling Fantasy Life, Berry celebrates every aspect of the fantasy sports world. Brilliant trash talk. Unbelievable trophies. Insane draft day locations. Shake-your-head-in-disbelief punishments. Ingenious attempts at cheating. And surprisingly uplifting stories that remind us why we play these games in the first place.Written with the same award-winning style that has made Berry one of the most popular columnists on ESPN.com, Fantasy Life is a book for both hard-core fantasy players and people who have never played before. Between tales of love and hate, birth and death, tattoos and furry animal costumes, the White House Situation Room and a 126-pound golden pelican, Matthew chronicles his journey from a fourteen-year-old fantasy player to the face of fantasy sports for the largest sports media company in the world.Fantasy will save your life. Fantasy will set you free. And fantasy life is most definitely better than real life. You’ll see.

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Book SynopsisSeven decades of the intense Steelers-Browns rivalry.Football historians regard the games between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers as the basis for one of the greatest rivalries in NFL history. Authors Richard Peterson and Stephen Peterson, in telling the engaging story of these teams who play only a two-hour drive along the turnpike from each other, explore the reasons behind this intense rivalry and the details of its ups and downs for each team and its fans.The early rivalry was a tale of Browns dominance and Steelers ineptitude. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Browns-led by Hall of Famers ranging from Otto Graham and Marion Motley in the 1950s to Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell, and Leroy Kelly in the 1960s-won 32 of the first 40 games played against the Steelers. In the 1970s, the Steelers-led by Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and the Steel Curtain-finally turned things around. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, Art Rooney agreed to move the Steelers only if the Browns also moved into the AFC and played in the same division so that their rivalry would be preserved.Despite the fierce rivalry, these cities and their fans have much in common, most notably the working-class nature of the Steeler Nation and the Dawg Pound and their passion, over the decades, for their football teams. Many fans are able to regularly making the 130-mile trip to watch the games.From the first game on October 7, 1950, where Cleveland defeated the Steelers 30–17, to last season's infamous helmet incident with Mason Rudolph and Myles Garrett, the rivalry remains as intense as ever.Trade Review"The Turnpike Rivalry delves into the nooks and crannies of a fascinating Rust Belt tug-of-war defined less by classic games than by fans who are exactly alike but still can't stand each other. A perfect read for the journey along the turnpike."—Jonathan Knight, author of The Browns Bible"While the game rarely meant championships for the winner, the bitterness and intensity between the two teams and their passionate fan bases have made the Steelers-Browns rivalry one of the most anticipated contests on the sports calendar. Richard and Stephen Peterson have done a remarkable job bringing the history of this rivalry to life in their book The Turnpike Rivalry. Whether you're a Steelers or Browns fan, or just love the game of football, this book is must for your library."—David Finoli, author of Classic Steelers, Breaking Barriers: The Chuck Cooper Story, and Pittsburgh's Greatest Athletes"Pull over at a rest stop, crack open the cooler, and enjoy this trip through time that maps the 70-year rivalry between the Steelers and the Browns. By the time you're ready to hit the road again, you'll understand why the games between these interstate rivals mean so much and why every victory is a high-octane rush."—Anne Madarasz, director, Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center

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Book SynopsisThe National Football League that celebrated its first Super Bowl in 1967 bore scant resemblance to the league of its obscure origins. In its earliest years, the league was a ragtag collection of locally supported small-town teams that generated attention only in the locales in which they played, if they were lucky. Many teams received no support at all. Only after enduring a slow, often treacherous, journey did the enterprise of professional football reach its position as the king of the sports world by the late 1960s.In From Sandlots to the Super Bowl, Craig R. Coenen recounts the NFL’s ascension from a cash-strapped laughingstock to a perennial autumn obsession for millions of sports fans. It offers an in-depth summary of the NFL’s early years and its struggles to build an identity. This book shows how the fledgling NFL of the 1920s and 1930s attempted to build support both on a local and national scale. Considered a sport of hooligans and lower-class athletes, professional football paled in comparison to the reputations of competing sports such as college football and professional baseball. Even more difficult for the league, developing civic support for franchises proved an almost impossible task. Teams would spring up and disappear overnight, generating hardly any notice among sports fans.Coenen shows how the league’s survival depended on small town franchises being able to tap into the civic pride and larger economic interests of nearby, growing urban centers. This book also details how the league faced challenges from rival leagues, the government, and at times, itself. Finally, it documents how the NFL mastered the use of new technologies like television to market itself, generate new revenue, and secure its financial future.This book approaches the history of the National Football League not only with stats and scores but with what happened beyond the gridiron. Starting in Canton and Massillon and ending in Los Angeles with Super Bowl I, From Sandlots to the Super Bowl offers an entertaining and absorbing look at the first five decades of America’s most popular professional sport.

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Book SynopsisThe true story of how professional Australian Rules Football found an unlikely new source of talent in the United States.Though most Americans automatically think "rugby" when they hear or read the phrase "Australian football," the two sports actually have very little in common besides tackling and kicking. "Footy," as this unique sport is known in Aussie circles, bears more resemblance to American athletics, requiring the skill and grace of basketball combined with the physical toughness and endurance of American-style football. The only thing it apparently didn't require was actual Americans. Until now.Scouts from the Australian Football League (AFL) realized that a key position on their teams-called the "ruckman"-required both the height and ball handling skills readily found in American basketball players. What began as an unlikely experiment of cross-breeding sports talent has led to a growing expedition of NBA hopefuls from NCAA athletic programs-including Oklahoma State, Morehead State, and the University of Arizona-looking to make their way in a game most of them had never even seen played before.In Jumping at the Chance, longtime Aussie football fanatic Gil Griffin delivers a riveting account of these American athletes who go to the other side of the world in search of their dreams of glory. From learning an entirely foreign sport from the ground up, to coping with what it means to be a team member in a different culture, to gaining not only acceptance but ecstatic support from the rabid footy fans, their stories are much like Australian Rules football itself-sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, always inspiring.

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Book SynopsisFootball effects the lives of many in substantial ways. This book first addresses the notion that this is "merely entertainment." The significance of why football emerged atypically in Texas is discussed as well as what this portends for American society. Unsurprisingly, Texan disparities in income and racial segregation dissolved in the mirage that all people are equal at game time as spectators. Major institutions such as the military additionally mesh with the ethos of pro football in various ways. The marked regional rivalries of the Dallas Cowboys are emblematic in a society of other polarizations, including political, racial, and gender conflicts. What is needed are substantive and constructive approaches to societal problems instead of ongoing destructive palliatives.

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Book SynopsisFollowing the hugely popular Volume 1 book, Volume 2 gives you a rare insight into Pep Guardiola's Training Sessions and another chance to learn from one of the best coaches in the history of football.The 85 Practices included in this book are: Warm-ups Speed & Agility Exercises Technical Circuits Passing Rondos 'Juego de Posición' (Positional Games) Possession Games Attacking Positional Patterns of Play Small to Large Sided Games Taken directly from Pep's training sessions at Manchester City, Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona.This is your chance to practice and apply Pep Guardiola’s training sessions to develop your players' speed, agility, technique and positional play – a unique opportunity to improve your team's performance using practices from the highest level.PEP GUARDIOLA PRACTICE TOPICS INCLUDED Training Session Warm-up Exercises (3 Man City) Manchester City Pre-Match Warm-up Speed and Agility Exercises Without a Ball (2 Man City, 1 Bayern) Speed and Agility Exercises With a Ball (7 Barcelona) Technical Circuits (8 Man City, 10 Bayern) Manchester City Passing Practices (6 Man City) Bayern Munich Passing Practices (7 Bayern) FC Barcelona Passing Practices (12 Barcelona) Rondos (5 Man City, 1 Barcelona) 'Juego de Posición' (Positional Games) and Possession Games (5 Man City, 4 Bayern, 4 Barcelona) Attacking Positional Patterns of Play (4 Man City) Small to Large Sided Games (2 Man City, 1 Bayern, 2 Barcelona) PEP GUARDIOLA PRACTICE EXAMPLES Combined Actions: Switch Play, Cross and Finish in a Speed & Agility Practice High Intensity Speed, Power and Agility Training Circuit with 3 v 2 Duel 3 v 1 + Quick Passing Combination with Aerial Pass in Behind and Finish 3 v 1 Ground and Aerial Triangle Rondos 'Juego de Posición' 8 v 8 (+3) Possession and Transition Game

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