With controversial and aggressive medical care, Kevin began a tougher challenge than any Sunday-football warrior faces; he was in a fight for his life and faculties. Dr. Cappuccino employed a daring, debated, but not scientifically proven, hypothermic method of treating Everett's paralysis. Kevin's body temperature was lowered to 93.8 degrees to prevent further damage from neurological swelling. Yet within twelve days, during which Dr. Cappuccino risked his medical career in order to look Kevin in the eye knowing he did everything to help him, Everett was flown to Houston (his home) to begin rehab. Less than a month later he would be walking with assistance.

This remarkable and heart-warming story is not just about a doctor and his patient; it is about the love of a family and a fiance who have been at Everett's side throughout his grueling rehabilitation. It is a story of Kevin's strength of will and his determination to regain his life. There is also an unfinished story of new beginnings and coming to inner peace, as Everett contemplates his rehabilitation, future health, and life after NFL football. This amazing story of recovery begins with Kevin's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where he will tell Oprah's national audience the dramatic saga.
Price=$15.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:23 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/standing-tall.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/standing-tall.htm
For 16 years, Brett Favre has been the heart and soul - indeed the very definition - of the Green Bay Packers.
From his days as an unkown backup whose name people couldn't even pronounce, to the heights of being a Super Bowl champ, three-time NFL Most Valuable Player, and certain Hall of Famer, Favre has lived it all. Author Chuck Carlson recounts a career that has seen its share of highs and lows, triumph and tragedy, and which continues to amaze and inspire football fans everywhere.
Price=$14.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:24 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/brett-favre-2.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/brett-favre-2.htm

There is no college ball more passionate and competitive than football in the Southeastern Conference, where seven of the twelve schools boast stadiums bigger than any in the NFL and 6.5 million fans hit the road every year to hoot and holler their teams to victory.

In September 2006, popular sports columnist and lifelong University of Tennessee fan Clay Travis set out on his "Dixieland Delight Tour." Without a single map, hotel reservation, or game ticket, he began an 8,000-mile journey through the beating heart of the Southland. As Travis toured the SEC, he immersed himself in the bizarre game-day rituals of the common fan, brazenly dancing with the chancellor's wife at a Vanderbilt frat party, hanging with University of Florida demigod quarterback Tim Tebow, and abandoning himself totally to the ribald intensity and religious fervor of SEC football. Dixieland Delight is Travis's hilarious, loving, irreverent, and endlessly entertaining chronicle of a season of ironic excess in a world that goes a little crazy on football Saturdays.

Soon the day Green Bay Packers fans dread most will arrive, and Brett Favre will retire. Fans nationwide will be left with warm memories of his long and storied career, and he will be remembered as one of the beset NFL quarterbacks of all time.

This revised and expanded edition of Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute contains everything from the first edition and more. Its chapters are devoted to the distinctive aspects of his play that returned the Packers to glory in 1996 with their twelfth World Championship and third Super Bowl victory. Topics include:

• The Streak: His incomparable record of 237 consecutive games at quarterback, a streak nearly twice as long as the previous record.
• Cold: The boy from the South won 90 percent of the time at Lambeau Field when the temperature at kickoff was 34 degrees or below.
• MVP: Favre is the only player in NFL history to be named Most Valuable Player three times -- and he did it in three consecutive seasons.
• Super Bowl: Favre led the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, including the team's first Super Bowl victory in twenty-nine years.
• Comebacks: Fans always knew that no matter how little time was left in the game or how much distance the Packers needed to go to score, Favre could pull out a win.
• Rivals: Under Favre, the Packers won 75 percent of their games against their arch nemesis Chicago Bears in the NFL's oldest rivalry.
• Fan Tributes: Dozens of fans share their favorite memories and offer their heartfelt words of appreciation to Number 4.

Brett Favre is one of the most popular athletes in America, in all sports, and his jersey is the sixth all-time bestseller in league history, according to NFL.com. This revised and expanded edition of Brett Favre: A Packer Fan's Tribute is a fitting salute to an American sports hero.

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers will turn seventy-five years old. So will Dan Rooney. In Dan Rooney, the owner talks about growing up on Pittsburgh's North Side, competing with Johnny Unitas for top high school quarterback honors in western Pennsylvania, learning the ropes of big-time sports from his father and mentor, Art Rooney ("the Chief"), helping to shape the modern NFL into America's all-consuming passion, and forging the Steelers into a Super Bowl-winning dynasty. He also speaks frankly about winning and losing, and discusses his relationships with family, coaches, players, owners, NFL commissioners, the media, and the fans--"Steeler Nation."

It's all here: the difficult contract negotiations, controversial decisions, memorable teams, and many behind-the-scenes stories of the growth of America's favorite game. A dedicated family man and proud native of Pittsburgh, this chairman of one of the most successful franchises ever reveals the dynamics that have made him such a respected owner in the NFL.
Price=$26.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:27 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/dan-rooney-my.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/dan-rooney-my.htm

Herschel Walker is widely regarded as one of football's greatest running backs. He led the University of Georgia to victory in the Sugar Bowl on the way to an NCAA Championship and he capped a sensational college career by earning the 1982 Heisman Trophy. Herschel spent twelve years in the NFL, where he rushed for more than eight thousand yards and scored sixty-one rushing touchdowns.

But despite the acclaim he won as a football legend, track star, Olympic competitor, and later a successful businessman, Herschel realized that his life, at times, was simply out of control. He often felt angry, self-destructive, and unable to connect meaningfully with friends and family. Drawing on his deep faith, Herschel turned to professionals for help and was ultimately diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder.

While some might have taken this diagnosis as a setback, Herschel approached his mental health with the same indomitable spirit he brought to the playing field. It also gave him, for the first time, insight into his life's unexplained passages, stretches of time that seemed forever lost. Herschel came to understand that during those times, his "alters," or alternate personalities, were in control.

Born into a poor, but loving family in the South, Herschel was an overweight child with a stutter who suffered terrible bullying at school. He now understands that he created "alters" who could withstand abuse. But beyond simply enduring, other "alters" came forward to help Herschel overcome numerous obstacles and, by the time he graduated high school, become an athlete recognized on a national level.

In Breaking Free, Herschel tells his story -- from the joys and hardships of childhood to his explosive impact on college football to his remarkable professional career. And he gives voice and hope to those suffering from DID. Herschel shows how this disorder played an integral role in his accomplishments and how he has learned to live with it today. His compelling account testifies to the strength of the human spirit and its ability to overcome any challenge.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:28 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/breaking-free.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/breaking-free.htm
Brett Favre's journey from rotten Bayou to the Top of the NFL
Price=$15.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:29 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/10-to-4-brett.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/10-to-4-brett.htm
To millions of people, Pat Tillman stands as the epitome of an American hero. On his way to stardom in the pros after a hugely successful college football career at Arizona State, where he graduated summa cum laude, he walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract in response to the 9/11 attacks to enlist as a Ranger in the U.S. Army. On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in what the Administration and the Pentagon initially portrayed as a dramatic gun battle with the enemy. But in the weeks that followed, disturbing facts emerged. Army officials had been hiding the truth: Pat was killed by his fellow Rangers. In this compelling and deeply personal book, Mary Tillman shares the story of her son's extraordinary life and the Tillman family's impassioned and tenacious efforts to uncover the truth about what happened to him and how our government went to such great lengths to keep the circumstances secret. Today, despite seven investigations, five of them launched largely due to the family's insistence, what really happened remains murky and fraught with contradictions. Mary Tillman writes of her son's brief but remarkable life and the military's betrayal of him and his family. She paints an indelible portrait of the guiding principles that defined her son and that ultimately led him, in death, into the hearts and minds of people all over the world.
Price=$25.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:30 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/boots-on-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/boots-on-the.htm
As coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, Vince Lombardi turned perennial losers into a juggernaut, winning back-to-back NFL titles in 1961 and 1962, and Superbowls I and II in 1966 and 1967. Stern, severe, sentimental, and paternal, he stood revered, reviled, respected, and mocked--a touchstone for the '60s all in one person. Which adds up to the myth we've been left with. But who was the man? That's the question Pulitzer Prize-winner David Maraniss tackles. It begins with Lombardi's looming father, a man as colorful as his son would be conservative. Still, from his father Vince Lombardi learned a sense of presence and authority that could impress itself with just a look. If a moment can sum up and embrace a man's life--and capture the breadth of Maraniss's thoroughness--it is one that takes place off the field when the Packers organization decides to redecorate their offices in advance of the new head coach's arrival: "During an earlier visit," Maraniss reports, "he had examined the quarters--peeling walls, creaky floor, old leather chairs with holes in them, discarded newspapers and magazines piled on chairs and in the corners--and pronounced the setting unworthy of a National Football League club. 'This is a disgrace!' he had remarked." In one moment, one comment, Lombardi announced his intentions, made his vision and professionalism clear, and began to shake up a stale organization. It reveals far more about the man than wins and losses, and is the kind of moment Maraniss uses again and again in this superb resurrection of a figure who so symbolized a sporting era and sensibility. --Jeff Silverman
Price=$18.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:31 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/when-pride.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/when-pride.htm
Just in time for the 2007 season: One of the finest defensive players ever to wear an NFL uniform delivers the first truly authentic, hard-hitting, revelatory portrait of America’s most popular sport—including the brutality, the vicious fights, and the high price of gridiron glory.

Michael Strahan is one of the NFL’s most talented players, and he is also one of the game’s most vocal personalities. So it’s no surprise that his first book would be a no-holds-barred, hard-hitting account of life in the league, venturing into territory no previous football authors had the nerve to tread. Inside the Helmet is not a self-serving memoir or a collection of triumphant feel- good anecdotes. Yes, Strahan recounts exhilarating victories in vivid detail, but not without the hair-raising details of the ruthless grit required for every win.

Sure to be controversial, Strahan’s account reveals never-before-seen details about the truth of life in the NFL, including the names of the dirtiest players, what it feels and sounds like to crush another player, which potent painkillers players take in order to return to the battlefield, the wild parties such as the Vikings’ infamous Love Boat romp, the pressure to live up to a multimillion- dollar salary, the intense and sometimes volatile relationship between player and coach, and the violent blowups that occur when that pressure gets too intense. For the 21.7 million fans who attend NFL football games, Inside the Helmet is an all-access pass into the huddle, the locker room, and even the minds of some of the most legendary players on the field today.
Price=$26.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:32 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/inside-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/inside-the.htm

He was one of pro football’s most beloved and respected stars, admired not only by NFL fans and his own teammates, but by his opponents as well. Super Bowl champion; six time Pro Bowler; NFL Comeback Player of the Year; NFL Man of the Year; fifth all-time leading rusher in the NFL; future Hall of Famer; now NBC Sports commentator.

You may think you know Jerome Bettis, but you don’t.

In The Bus, Jerome Bettis tells his full, unvarnished story for the first time--from his sometimes troubled childhood in inner-city Detroit to his difficult transition at Notre Dame, to a pro coach who almost caused him to quit the game, to a trade for the ages that resulted in ten glorious seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As a chunky child wearing glasses, Jerome’s only sports-related aspiration was to become a professional bowler. But growing up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Detroit, he eventually found his escape on the high school football field, thanks to the devotion of hard-working parents, a concerned coach, and his prodigious talent. He arrived at Notre Dame as one of the nation’s best prep players, but despite his incredible performances, he never stopped worrying that he would somehow blow his chance to make good. Drafted and later discarded by the Los Angeles Rams, it was in the football-obsessed city of Pittsburgh that Jerome found his home and became a legend.

The Bus captures the sweetness and honesty of Bettis, but also details the jaw-dropping, violent nature of the game he loved, the mind-boggling injuries he endured, and the cut-throat NFL business tactics he overcame and later mastered. Through it all, Jerome was also a loving son, an adoring father, and the ultimate teammate and mentor.

The Bus not only takes you under the helmet, but inside the huddle, the locker room, the practice field, the negotiating table, the owner’s office, and the Super Bowl sideline. You’ll learn how Bettis became The Bus, how he helped engineer the greatest trade in Steelers history, how he almost cost Pittsburgh a conference championship, and how sweet it was to win—finally—one for the thumb.

The Payton that emerges is a man of great skill, decency, passion, and charity: a man beloved. Naturally, there's lots of football in Never Die Easy--the title comes from a saying of Payton's college coach--with eyewitness testimony provided by the likes of Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, Jim McMahon, Franco Harris, Matt Suhey, and even Jim Brown, whose career rushing record Payton leaped over. But there is also lots of family: the voices of his wife, children, brother, and sister are heard.

But mostly, there is Walter Payton. It's his own unmistakably high-pitched voice that resonates throughout; he sets down the melody and the others harmonize. Payton was certainly astute about the game and his abilities, forthcoming both in triumph and failure--his unsuccessful attempt at winning the NFL franchise in St. Louis was a terrible post-career blow--and utterly decent. How many other superstar athletes could say, convincingly, "Too many of us only take. We don't give." Payton gave to the end--a man who died for want of an organ was willing and eager to donate his own. It was the ultimate testimony of his refined, unforgettable Sweetness. Never Die Easy offers a fair, honest, appreciative taste. --Jeff Silverman
Price=$13.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:34 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/never-die-easy.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/never-die-easy.htm
In a time “when men played football for something less than a living and something more than money,” John Unitas was the ultimate quarterback. Rejected by Notre Dame, discarded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he started on a Pennsylvania sandlot making six dollars a game and ended as the most commanding presence in the National Football League, calling the critical plays and completing the crucial passes at the moment his sport came of age.

Johnny U is the first authoritative biography of Unitas, based on hundreds of hours of interviews with teammates and opponents, coaches, family and friends. The depth of Tom Callahan’s research allows him to present something more than a biography, something approaching an oral history of a bygone sporting era. It was a time when players were paid a pittance and superstars painted houses and tiled floors in the off-season—when ex-soldiers and marines like Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan, and “Big Daddy” Lipscomb fell in behind a special field general in Baltimore. Few took more punishment than Unitas. His refusal to leave the field, even when savagely bloodied by opposing linemen, won his teammates’ respect. His insistence on taking the blame for others’ mistakes inspired their love. His encyclopedic football mind, in which he’d filed every play the Colts had ever run, was a wonder.

In the seminal championship game of 1958, when Unitas led the Colts over the Giants in the NFL’s first sudden-death overtime, Sundays changed. John didn’t. As one teammate said, “It was one of the best things about him.”


From the Hardcover edition.
Price=$13.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:36 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/johnny-u-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/johnny-u-the.htm
He was a poet, a vagrant, a philosopher, a lady’s man and a drunk. He was also one of the greatest Green Bay Packers who ever lived. This is the story of the conflicts and triumphs of Johnny Blood, the outstanding athlete whose legendary exploits off the field often eclipsed his gridiron glory.
Price=$18.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:36 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/vagabond.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/vagabond.htm
Now in paperback, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Halberstam's bestseller takes you inside the football genius of Bill Belichick for an insightful profile in leadership With a new afterword by the authorBill Belichick's thirty-one years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success -- most recently with the New England Patriots. In this groundbreaking new book, David Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. He uncovers what makes Bill Belichick tick both on and off the field.
Price=$14.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:38 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/education-of-a.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/education-of-a.htm
In 1967, when Jerry Kramer was a thirty-one-year-old Green Bay Packers offensive lineman, in his tenth year with the team, he decided to keep a diary of the season. “Perhaps, by setting down my daily thoughts and observations,” he wrote, “I’ll be able to understand precisely what it is that draws me back to professional football.” Working with the renowned journalist Dick Schaap, Kramer recorded his day-to-day experiences as a player with perception, honesty, humor, and startling sensitivity. Little did Kramer know that the 1967 season would be one of the most remarkable in the history of pro football, culminating with the legendary championship game against Dallas now known as the “Ice Bowl,” in which Kramer would play a central role. Nor could he have anticipated that his diary would evolve into a book titled Instant Replay, first published in 1968, that would become a multimillion-copy bestseller and be celebrated by reviewers everywhere, including the Washington Post’s Jonathan Yardley, who calls it “to this day, the best inside account of pro football, indeed the best book ever written about that sport and that league.”

This groundbreaking look inside the world of professional football is one of the first books ever to take readers into the locker room and reveal the inner workings of a professional sports franchise. From training camp, through the historic Ice Bowl, then into the locker room of Super Bowl II, Kramer provides a captivating player’s perspective on pro football when the game was all blood, grit, and tears. He also offers a rare and insightful view of the team’s storied leader, Coach Vince Lombardi.
 
Bringing the book back into print for the first time in more than a decade, this new edition of Instant Replay retains the classic look of the original and includes a foreword by Jonathan Yardley and additional rarely seen photos from the celebrated “Lombardi era.” As vivid and engaging as it was when it was first published, Instant Replay is an irreplaceable reminder of the glory days of pro football.
Price=$22.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:40 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/instant-replay.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/instant-replay.htm
This autobiography offers a fascinating view of the remarkable life of Dave Dixon, who revolutionized the sports world and especially the sports world of New Orleans. He was instrumental in bringing the Saints NFL franchise to town and in getting the Louisiana Superdome built, and even had an insider's perspective of at least one national political scandal.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:41 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-saints-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-saints-the.htm
I Am Third is the memoir of Gale Sayers, one of the best running backs in the history of the NCAA and pro football. It is also the story of his friendship with Brian Piccolo. Known also as a community leader and great friend to all, Sayers's credo is, "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third."
Price=$14.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:42 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/i-am-third-tv.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/i-am-third-tv.htm
THE BEST FOOTBALL PLAYER EVER, PERIOD.
--Mike Ditka

Walter Payton played running back with a devastating combination of grace and ferocity. Though standing an inch and a half short of six feet and just a shade over two hundred pounds, he led the beleaguered Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title, broke Jim Brown’s career rushing record and won the unconditional love of millions of NFL fans.

How did a small-town daydreamer in Mississippi end up taking the cellar-dwelling Bears from awful to awesome? Walter Payton simply worked harder and with more purpose than any football player in history. And he did it with a smile.

PAYTONcaptures the life of an on-field superstar who wanted most to be the consummate team player. He was a man who left everything on the field, always put family first and committed himself to giving back to the community. Sweetness indeed.

Includes a DVD with NFL Films' "Pure Payton," a collection of extraordinary highlights of Walter Payton's football career. This DVD--only available here--offers striking, never-before-seen footage of Payton both on and off the field, and completes any serious Bears fan's collection.
Price=$29.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:43 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/payton.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/payton.htm
This entertaining autobiography recounts the life and times of one of Pittsburgh's most colorful characters. Famed for his raspy voice and his willingness to be a ham, broadcaster Myron Cope has been on the sidelines of Steelers? football for more than 30 years and has witnessed an essential part of the team's history. In Myron Cope: Double Yoi! the author gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at famed Steeler players and management. He peers behind Terry Bradshaw's ?aw-shucks? persona, reveals the man behind the steely-eyed mask of Chuck Noll, and recounts stories about the famed ?Steel Curtain.? Along with being a well-known broadcaster, Cope was once a writer, as well. He enjoyed creating profiles about the interesting oddballs that the sports world has in abundance and interviewed some of the most eccentric figures.
Price=$16.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:44 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/myron-cope.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/myron-cope.htm

When I die and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me. That is the way it should be. For reasons known only to God, I was asked to write an autobiography. Most people who knew me growing up didn't think I would ever read a book, let alone write one.

—Lou Holtz

Few people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz. Winner of the three national Coach of the Year honors, the only coach ever to lead six different schools to season-ending bowl games, and the ninth-winningest coach in college football history, Holtz is still teaching and coaching, although he is no longer on the gridiron.

In his most telling work to date, the man still known as "Coach" by all who cross his path reveals what motivated a rail-thin 135-pound kid with marginal academic credentials and a pronounced speech impediment to play and coach college football, and to become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in history. With unflinching honesty and his trademark dry wit, Holtz goes deep, giving us the intimate details of the people who shaped his life and the decisions he would make that shaped the lives of so many others.

His is a storied career, and Holtz provides a frank and inside look at the challenges he overcame to turn around the programs at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, and Minnesota. From growing up in East Liverpool, Ohio, to his early days as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, to his national championship runs at Notre Dame and his final seasons on the sidelines in South Carolina, Lou Holtz gives his best, a poignant, funny, and instructive look into a life well lived.

When Bill Belichick arrived in New England, the Patriots were a laughingstock, an organization with a losing record and a roster of overpaid, underperforming players. So how did a head coach with a questionable record transform this team, garner three Lombardi trophies in four years, and -- with the Pats' 2005 Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles -- cement the team's place as an NFL dynasty?

With unprecedented access granted by Belichick and his staff, author Michael Holley spent two years with the coach, his team, and his brain trust. Holley provides insights into how Belichick and his coaching cabinet prepare for opponents, evaluate talent, run the draft, and design their offensive and defensive schemes. Patriot Reign captures Belichick at his most candid, and what emerges is a portrait of a complicated man who is cerebral, yes, but also tough, demanding, stubborn, funny, profane, and a master strategist.

Frank, uncompromising, and stunning, Patriot Reign is required reading for football fans who want to understand what makes a champion tick

Though both father and son get equal billing, this is really Archie's book, his story, and the story of his family that he wants to tell. He gets the first word and the last in this hybrid joint first-person memoir with chapter intros and structural transitions provided by Sports Illustrated veteran John Underwood. Like most sports biographies, it's rife with inspiration, decisions to be made, challenges to face (Peyton's older brother had to cut short his career when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal spinal cord disease), tragedy faced (Archie's father killed himself while Archie was in college), and expectations exceeded. But it also has a lot of straight talk from Archie about family and football, and he's not above throwing a few penalty flags on the game. He's loud and clear on college recruiting abuses--as is Peyton. He worries about youth leagues putting pressures to succeed over fun in playing, hates all the taunting and celebrating in the NFL, and thinks there's just too darned much money and too little team loyalty in football's veins these days. The fire still smolders in his belly, and Manning is at its most interesting when he stokes up the flames. --Jeff Silverman
Price=$7.99
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:47 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/manning.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/manning.htm
Four decades ago, Gale Sayers allowed his remarkable running ability on the football field to speak for him. Today, Sayers has a powerful and poignant message to pass along not only to athletes, but to everyone, and it's a message straight from his heart. Sayers, who grew up in modest surroundings in Omaha, Nebraska, chose to attend the University of Kansas, where he became an All-American halfback before being selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1965 draft. He later became the youngest man ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at age 34. The story of Sayers's friendship with former Bears teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer in 1970, was immortalized in the 1971 made-for-TV movie Brian's Song, starring James Caan as Piccolo and Billy Dee Williams as Sayers. The loss of Piccolo helped Sayers put his life in proper perspective. He later realized his serious knee injury was just a minor blip on the radar when it comes to life and death matters. Since leaving pro football, his enduring message to young athletes is to respect the game, give back to the community, and prepare for the future. Those are words he has lived by his entire life, and they make Sayers one of the most compelling sports memoirs in recent years.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:49 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/sayers-my-life.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/sayers-my-life.htm
Football icon Joe Montana said, ?Outside of my dad, he was probably the most influential person in my life.? Bill Walsh simply considered himself a teacher. When the legendary former San Francisco 49ers coach passed away on July 30, 2007, at age 75, he was fondly remembered across the nation as one of the game's great innovators. A Pro Football Hall of Famer and two-time NFL Coach of the Year, Walsh led the 49ers to 102 wins and three Super Bowl titles in 10 seasons as head coach in the 1980?s. His signature West Coast offense and contributions to minority coaching forever changed the NFL. His coaching tree of former assistants is a ?Who's who?? of NFL head coaches. Former 49ers star Ronnie Lott remarked that his first head coach will ?Forever be cemented with the likes of George Halas, Paul Brown, and Vince Lombardi as the best ever.? Now Bay Area fans can celebrate Walsh's amazing life through pictures and words, including numerous looks back at his tremendous career.
Price=$12.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:50 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bill-walsh.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bill-walsh.htm

A rebellious and gutsy gunslinger out of Western Pennsylvania's Beaver Valley, Joe Namath redefined the meaning of underdog. After winning a NCAA National Championship for Paul "Bear" Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide, he embarked on a professional football career unlike any before or since.

Known on and off the field for his astronomical contract, fur coats, Fu Manchu mustache and playboy lifestyle, "Broadway Joe" was one of the most gifted and cagey quarterbacks ever. The only quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in a 14-game season, he did it all with battered knees and unsurpassed charisma. While his Super Bowl III guarantee would make him a pop culture icon, it was Namath's battle-tested grit and courage that took him into the Hall of Fame.

Price=$29.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:54 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/namath-icons.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/namath-icons.htm
Coming this fall: the tie-in to the Disney Pictures release starring Mark Wahlberg -- the true story of the NFL's oldest rookieIn 1976, Vince Papale was thirty, a former schoolteacher and part-time bartender, and a season ticket-holder for his beloved Philadelphia Eagles. When he heard that Coach Dick Vermeil was holding open tryouts, he decided to give it a shot. Shocking himself and the coaches, he ran an explosive 40-yard-dash in just 4.5 seconds -- a world-class time -- and was offered a contract on the spot. When he joined the team, Papale became the oldest non-kicking rookie in NFL history, a fan favorite who played for four years and was named a team captain.Invincible is Vince Papale's story, and a tie-in to the Disney Pictures film of the same name starring Mark Wahlberg as Papale and Greg Kinnear as Vermeil. But more than just a tie-in, it tells Papale's story in his own words, covering subjects not included in the film. Like Rudy, Glory Road, and Rookie, it is the true story of an ordinary man who achieves an extraordinary goal.
Price=$12.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:55 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/invincible-my.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/invincible-my.htm
Filled with lessons from his years of coaching, this book puts readers inside the mind of a legend in modern sports.
Price=$15.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:56 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-bowden-way.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-bowden-way.htm
TAYLOR is a high octane ride through the life of the boldest, baddest linebackers to ever play the game. Featuring never before seen photographs TAYLOR includes a full length highlight DVD of LT's greatest hits, candid insights, and most telling interviews with teammates and competitors.

Leader of the New York Giants' "Big Blue Wrecking Crew" Lawrence Taylor is widely acknowledged as the most feared defenseman to ever play professional football. Unleashed on the NFL in 1981, his instincts, skills, smarts, and fury changed the way players, coaches and fans viewed football. The personification of "shock and awe," LT was equally adept at sacking quarterbacks, intercepting passes, and forcing fumbles- he created on-field chaos.

TAYLOR, who often played despite pain (torn shoulder ligaments, a detached pectoral muscle, or a broken bone in his foot) was better known for inflicting it with his punishing tackles.

In a game that had become highly regimented, Taylor took football back for the individual player and showed how a savvy adrenaline-fueled defenseman could be a titanic star.
Price=$29.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:56 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/taylor-icons.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/taylor-icons.htm
Like his no-nonsense tenure as one of the dominating linebackers in NFL history, Dick Butkus's no-nonsense autobiography covers plenty of ground, offers no excuses, scares the hell out of you (you will never look at your knees--or your doctors--in quite the same way again), and, in the end, entertains with his candor and verve. Butkus has axes to grind, and he grinds them wonderfully, but he also is capable of examining his own behavior. What emerges is a portrait of an athlete willing to explore--roots, warts, and all--the aggression and rage he rode to glory on the field, and the challenges he faced trying to harness those same emotions off the field.
Price=$22.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:50:57 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/butkus-flesh.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/butkus-flesh.htm

On the football field, Lawrence Taylor was an unstoppable force of nature -- arguably the best defensive player in the game and, quite possibly, ever. But off the field, the life of a player who enjoyed a record ten Pro Bowl appearances and led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories was an all-out blitz, fueled by drugs, sex, and booze, and charging at breakneck speed toward total self-destruction. This is the shocking true story of a giant's fall ... and his remarkable journey back to the world.

WHERE THE DREAM BEGAN

Football fans everywhere know of Dan's amazing NFL career and his dozens of league records, but little is publicly known about the early path he took on his road to superstardom. Where the Dream Began chronicles Dan's formative years growing up in Pittsburgh, starring in both football and baseball for Central Catholic High School, and his All-American career at the University of Pittsburgh. The rare video footage is accentuated by present-day interviews with Dan and several of his coaches and teammates as they all reflect on the beginning stages of what ultimately became one of the greatest careers in NFL history.
Price=$29.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:08 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/dan-marino-my.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/dan-marino-my.htm

Superstar Deion Sanders tells his powerful life story and reveals how power, money and sex could not satisfy the void in his life-a void ultimately satisfied by his relationship with Christ. A photo section included in this national best-seller.

Off the field, Bill Romanowski was a caring father and devoted husband.

On the field, Romo was unstoppable, terrorizing the NFL for sixteen brutal years.

Some players called him a throwback, some called him mean, some called him dirty. But they all respected him and would much rather have played with him than against him. Coaches loved Romo for the heart and soul he gave to the game. He was rewarded with two Pro Bowl appearances and four Super Bowl rings, but it all came at a heavy price: dozens of concussions that have led to dizzy spells, memory lapses . . . and questionable choices that undermined his integrity. Would he do it all over again? Romo the intimidating linebacker would in a heartbeat. Bill Romanowski, however, would do things differently today.

Whether it was in high school, at Boston College, or with the NFL, Romo vowed to himself that he would outwork and outhustle everyone else. Practice? Loved it; he'd play like it was a game and attack his teammates as if they were opponents. Game day? He'd work himself into a state of invincibility. If you were a tight end, running back, or quarterback with the wrong uniform, you were marked for elimination. Nutrition? He would consult top nutritionists, looking for the best foods, an extraordinary range of supplements, and alternative remedies, anything that would help give him an edge. It would lead to a controversial relationship with BALCO.

Treatment? He would try almost anything that would help with his performance, keep his body healthy, and help it recover from the beatings he took and gave on Sundays. Phentermine, THG, hyperbaric chambers, IVs. He would experiment with substances and methods that the NFL had never heard of, and he'd become an expert who teammates and friends would turn to. Endurance? He never missed a game to injury, and once played an entire season with a partially torn knee ligament. Intimidation? From trash talk to mind games to nasty hits and breaking fingers, Romo would roam the field seeking confrontation -- and usually find it.

Through it all -- through his years with the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Denver Broncos, and the Oakland Raiders -- Romo was driven by something else: the fear of failure, the fear of losing it all. Who knew what a head coach or an owner would be thinking or what young player was in the wings ready to take his hard-won position. He didn't dare allow someone else to decide his fate, so he did whatever it took to live his dreams and ward off the dragons of self-doubt that pushed him . . . until his body betrayed him and his morality was compromised.

Romo is a jolting, candid, and inspiring rocket ride into the heart of the NFL and a look at what it costs to be an elite athlete today in a world of impossible expectations. Read it -- and try not to wince.

By establishing a solid foundation, adhering to fundamentals and demanding an uncommon toughness from his players, Alvarez became the architect of three Rose Bowl triumphs in the `90s and became the school's all-time winningest football coach. While changing the culture of the sport on the Madison campus, raising expectations to heretofore unthinkable levels, Alvarez left an indelible mark on the Badgers during his 16 seasons on the sidelines. Not only did Alvarez take over a Big Ten footwipe and build the program into national prominence, but he sustained the success by sticking to a plan rooted to his upbringing in Western Pennyslvania and his exposure to three legendary coaches, Nebraska's Bob Devaney, Iowa's Hayden Fry and Notre Dame's Lou Holtz.

In his autobiography — Don't Flinch — Alvarez talks about the lessons that he learned from his mentors, the hurdles that he had to overcome as a young assistant and high school coach, and the challenge of taking over his own college program while living in a fishbowl, especially from his family's perspective. Alvarez maps out a strategy and game plan for young coaches who are seeking to achieve similar goals, and he also talks about his future as Wisconsin athletics director, and the future of college football.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:16 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/don-t-flinch.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/don-t-flinch.htm
In Go Long! Jerry Rice shares the inspirational lessons and empowering practices that have helped him attain success, both on the football field and off. Through the ups and downs of Rice’s life and incomparable career, we discover how self-motivation, determination, and humility are the keys to achievement and true fulfillment.

It’s been a long journey for Jerry Rice, from his childhood as a bricklayer’s son in Crawford, Mississippi, to a berth in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along the way, Rice has been fueled by tireless effort and a belief in a few simple principles, among them that achievement is a voyage, not a destination; that modesty and perseverance, not talent, are what determine how far you will go; and that everyone should strive to be a role model. Rice even demonstrates these rules in action, breaking down the greatest games from his stellar career.

Go Long! is an inspiring book by a living sports legend. More than that, however, it is the story of how Jerry Rice awakened the champion within, illustrating how we, too, can unlock inner greatness.

“Rice was nobody’s fool as a player. He kept his tongue in check for most of his twenty-one-year career, understanding performance, not oratory, was his occupation. Now retired, Rice has taken the muzzle off [and] it is that persona which emerges from the book.”
–Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California)
Price=$14.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:19 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/go-long-my.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/go-long-my.htm
Joe Paterno called him ?one of the great football coaches of all time.? Lou Holtz called him ?his own man.? Tom Osborne called him ?a genuine football man.? Bo Schembechler asked to be called something else entirely, however. When asked what his player's called him, he replied, ?They call me ?Bo.? We?re on a first-name basis here.? When Bo Schembechler passed away on November 17, 2006, at the age of 77, he was being fondly remembered around America as one of college football's titans. He was Michigan football's all-time winningest coach, a seven-time Big Ten coach of the year who compiled a 194-48-5 record at Michigan from 1969-89 and a 234-65-8 lifetime record. He never had a losing season. Thirteen of his Wolverine teams won or shared the Big Ten championship, and 15 finished ranked as one of the top 10 teams in the country. In Bo, fans of Michigan football can celebrate Schembechler's amazing life through pictures and words, including numerous looks back at his tremendous career.
Price=$12.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:20 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bo-bo.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bo-bo.htm
This is Esera Tuaolo's own searing story of terror and hope. A Samoan raised on a Hawaiian banana plantation, he had a natural talent, football. He went on to play for five NFL teams: the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Carolina Panthers, and the Atlanta Falcons in the 1999 Super Bowl. But for the nine years he played professional football he lived in terror that when his face flashed upon the TV screen, someone would divulge his darkest secret. Esera Tuaolo is gay.

Alone in the Trenches takes you inside the homophobic world of professional football and describes fears that almost drove him to suicide. He evokes heartbreak--how his older brother, Tua, died of AIDS--and hope when, Esera, a deeply devout Christian fell in love and started a family.

"Tuaolo emerges in these pages as a complex, intellectually curious and fascinating individual defined neither by his choice of career nor by his sexual orientation." --Booklist

"Tough, tender and brutally honest." --Robert Lipsyte, former New York Times sports columnist

"Even I was not prepared for his amazing life story." --Billy Bean, author of Going the Other Way

Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:22 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/alone-in-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/alone-in-the.htm
A "high porch picnic" is a Texas expression for "an exceptionally good time" During Hayden Fry's glorious career as one of college football's most unique coaches, that's a good way to describe his life. Ranked 10th on the all-time collegiate list for Division 1 victories, Fry successfully combined his football coaching savvy with a down-home charm to make him one of the game's most colorful personalities. Hayden Fry tells of his childhood days in Odessa, Texas, his introduction of African-American athletes to the Southwest Conference, his relationships with various celebrities such as George Bush and Roy Orbison, and his rise to fame as the State of Iowa's most recognizable citizen.
Price=$22.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:22 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/hayden-fry-a.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/hayden-fry-a.htm

Price=$9.94
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:23 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/fields-of.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/fields-of.htm
If ever a sports franchise could afford to run on cruise control, the Green Bay Packers could, with their guaranteed sellouts and 65,000-person season ticket waiting list. But Bob Harlan never let that happen. Harlan joined the team in 1971, was elected as its president in 1989 and became the single biggest force in re-establishing the Packers as an elite NFL organization both competitively and financially. In the 18 years that Harlan was in charge, the Packers went to the playoffs ten times, played in two Super Bowls, won one of them and lived through only three losing seasons an incredible feat in the era of salary caps and free agency. Perhaps Harlan s greatest moment as chief executive came in 2000 when he was widely recognized as the driving force behind the passing of a local referendum allowing for the renovation of historic Lambeau Field. In his autobiography Green and Golden Moments Harlan invites Packers fans to reminisce with him about the highs and lows of a career spent in sports. From his time at Marquette University with legendary coach Al McGuire to winning a World Championship with Stan Musial and the St. Louis Cardinals to his 36 years with the Green & Gold, Harlan shares his stories and offers a behind-the-scenes look at one of the greatest franchises in professional sports: the Green Bay Packers. This is the story of how a kid from Iowa who wanted to be a sports writer built a career, in his own low key, unassuming way, as one of the most effective executives in any game in America.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:23 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/green-and.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/green-and.htm
Tom Brady is the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl. He's won three of them, actually, in just his first four years as a New England Patriots starter. And, oh yeah, he's been named MVP of the NFL's big dance--twice. Brady is also 9-0 in postseason play, the field general of an NFL-record 21-game winning streak, and the Joe Cool of high-pressure situations. Time and again, he makes fairy tales come true.

Even as a California boy and Michigan Wolverine, Brady showed the dedication and character that propelled him from sixth-round draft pick to NFL champion by the age of 24. He's also remained humble, people say, despite becoming a pop culture phenomenon.

Is he too good to be true? You might think so. But in this book you'll find that he's also human, and his amazing life's story is told candidly by some of the country's best reporters and photographers who cover him daily for The Boston Globe.

Tom Brady, they say, is a legend in the making. Tom Brady is for real. Tom Brady embodies greatness because he's an ordinary man with an extraordinary gift for winning.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:25 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/greatness-the.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/greatness-the.htm
Buck Buchanan was the beloved equipment manager for the Dallas Cowboys for 25 years, during which time the Cowboys won four Super Bowls. Written with the consent and support of the Dallas Cowboys organization, Buchanan provides a unique behind-the-scenes look--from the logistics of moving equipment for away games, to the proclivities and needs of individual players. On the sidelines for every Cowboys game, he also describes how the coaches and players interacted during some of the team's most legendary moments.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:25 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/glory-days.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/glory-days.htm
Josh Heupel's road to a national championship with Oklahoma was filled with obstacles, from the near-death experience of his mother to a serious injury that could very easily have ended Josh's career.

In "The Road to Glory: The path of faith that led to Oklahoma and a national championship." Josh Heupel writes about the lessons he's learned and how young people can take that information and apply it to their own lives. He also writes about the proper way for parents to be involved in their children's sports careers, and how faith has led to Josh's development as a person.

The book also honors the National Championship season at Oklahoma in 2000, with game boxes and personalized stories from Josh about each game. In addition to having COMPLETE regular season game boxscores and game notes, there is also complete play-by-play action from the Big 12 Championship and Orange Bowl National Championship Games, making this book a keepsake for Sooner fans for decades.

Through hard work and commitment, Josh was able to see the journey through to the finish at Oklahoma, as he now looks forward to his next challenge: The NFL. This 192-page book has a 16-page photo section. The Foreword is by Oklahoma's Football Coach, Bob Stoops, and the Introduction is by Sooner Coaching Legend Barry Switzer.
Price=$12.99
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:28 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-road-to.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/the-road-to.htm
Paul "Bear" Bryant created legendary, successful football programs at Kentucky, Texas A&M, and the University of Alabama. Bryant redefined coaching excellence through his unique communication and care for players. Using his coaching methods, he achieved an amazing 323 victories and shaped players such as Babe Parilli, Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow, and Joe Namath. In Bear and the audio CD, Bear Bryant: Speaking from the Heart, Bryant tells his life story with candor and insight, giving the reader a chance to understand the man behind the legend.
Price=$24.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:29 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bear-my-hard.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/bear-my-hard.htm
Chicago Bear running back Brian Piccolo died of cancer at age 26, leaving behind a young wife, three daughters, a host of friends - and a legend.More than 100,000 copies of this classic sports biography have been sold in cloth and mass-market editions. Now available for the first time as a trade paperback. Special 25th anniversary introduction by Jeannie Morris.
Price=$12.95
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:30 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/brian-piccolo.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/brian-piccolo.htm

He intimidated people on and off the football field. He was brutal yet brilliant, narcissistic yet magnanimous, relentless yet unyielding. Most of all, he was the greatest football player of all time. He was Jim Brown.

Jim Brown was an astonishing physical specimen with tremendous skills and intelligence. An athlete who played a number of sports at Syracuse University, he ultimately discovered that it was the violence of football that appealed to him most. The idea of physically dominating other men, surviving ferocious battles on the field against opponents who would just as soon call him a nigger as try to gouge out his eyes fueled an astonishing, record-making NFL career that led to the Hall of Fame. He battled his defenses, sometimes his teammates, and often the Cleveland Browns' legendary head coach Paul Brown.

But Jim Brown had ambitions greater than football. He used his athletic brilliance to launch a movie career, becoming Hollywood's first black action hero, culminating in a scandalous love scene with America's sweetheart Raquel Welch. He leveraged his popularity into helping the NFL's black players and becoming a civil rights activist. Never shy about expressing his opinions, Brown would become the subject of FBI investigations and surveillance throughout parts of his life.

Then there were the women. The patient wife who was essentially a single mother and who endured public humiliation. The girlfriends he ran through and the scandalous accusations of violence made by some of them.

A complex and fascinating story, Jim Brown is a towering biography of a living legend.

Terrell Owens joined the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2004 season hoping to help the Eagles win the Super Bowl. The Eagles almost did it, losing a close game to the New England Patriots. TO expected to have a long and productive career in Philadelphia. But less than halfway through the 2005 season it all fell apart. TO was suspended, first for a game, then for the season, as the Eagles blamed him for a variety of infractions.

Now TO speaks out about what really happened in Philadelphia. He takes readers behind the scenes -- and into the huddle -- to show how he was unfairly blamed for conduct detrimental to his team. After setting an Eagles record for touchdown receptions, TO was badly injured late in the 2004 season. Most observers thought his season was over. But TO put himself through a grueling rehab, which he describes here, to recover in time to join his teammates in the Super Bowl, turning in a remarkable performance. Convinced that the Eagles could win it all in 2005, TO became only the sixth receiver in NFL history with 100 touchdown receptions. He explains in T.O. how and why his relationship with Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb deteriorated. The situation worsened when TO agreed with Michael Irvin that the Eagles would be better off with Brett Favre as their quarterback. A fight in the team locker room, where an injured TO had to defend himself, caused further friction. Before long he was suspended from the team for the entire season. TO contested his suspension and took his case before an arbitrator. In this book TO brings readers into the hearing room and shows how unfair the arbitrator's precedent-setting decision really was. The decision was so wrong that even the NFL agreed to pass a rule specifically reversing it.

But T.O. is a story of triumph and dedication. TO never lost his commitment to the game, and whenever he had the chance, he performed like the sensational athlete he is. He knew he would play again, and his faith was rewarded when he signed a three-year, $25 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys prior to the 2006 season. Throughout his ordeal, TO remained true to himself, the same outsized personality who has rocked the NFL and become a football superstar.

Price=$25.00
Buy ]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:51:32 -0500 http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/t-o.htm http://www.hat-trick.org/store/products/books-and-biographies/t-o.htm

The first truly comprehensive biography on George Halas, the father of professional football

The founder of the National Football League and father of the Chicago Bears, George Halas single-handedly changed the way Americans spend their Sundays. Papa Bear tells the incredible story of how one man grabbed an outlaw game by the throat, shook it up, and made it into the richest and most popular spectator sport on the planet.

Nearly 20 years after his death, Halas remains one of the towering figures of professional sports--rivaling the legendary Vince Lombardi--yet there has never been an authoritative biography published about this great American success story. At last, Papa Bear fills that gap. Written with unprecedented access to Halas's family, his closest friends, and associates, this thoroughly researched account includes exclusive interviews and a treasure trove of never-published archival materials on the Hall of Famer and his enduring legacy.

At 23 years old, Josh Bidwell felt as if he were on the top of the world. A stellar college kicking career at the University of Oregon earned him a fourth–round NFL draft pick. But everything seemed to fall apart at the Packers’ training camp when he received a diagnosis of aggressive testicular cancer. Now Josh shares his gripping story of overcoming adversity and eventually becoming one of the NFL’s leading punters.

From his insider’s view, Josh describes what life is really like in the high–pressure world of professional sports—and how he is able to maintain a vibrant faith in a seemingly secular environment. He offers an inspiring tribute to those who influenced him along the way, and he provides tremendous motivation to readers who seek to overcome their own adversity or encourage others to become the people God created them to be.