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, Neb., is the son of a car polisher and mechanic. After fielding 75 college scholarship offers, he selected Kansas, where he became an All-American halfback before being selected in the f...

In October 1960, Omaha Central and Creighton Prep met for what many Nebraskans consider the greatest high school football game ever played. Future NFL Hall of Famer Gale Sayers scored seventy points while leading Central’s powerful offense through its first four games. Prep’s strong defense, on the other hand, allowed only twenty points all season. Legendary coaches patrolled both sidelines, and Prep was aiming for its third straight state championship. The stage was set for a Friday-night...

New York Times Bestseller: The "fascinating" true story of John Dale Cavaness, a much-admired Illinois doctor—and the cold-blooded killer of his own son ( The Washington Post).Fusing the narrative power of an award-winning novelist and the detailed research of an experienced investigator, author Darcy O'Brien unfolds the story of Dr. John Dale Cavaness, the southern Illinois physician and surgeon charged with the murder of his son...

One the greatest NFL broadcasters distills the wisdom of two of the greatest coachesAs both a tight end and a place kicker for the 1958 Giants (back when special teams were part of the defense), Pat Summerall was the only person to be coached by both Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, the team's offensive and defensive coaches, respectively. In telling the story of that legendary season, which ended with the Giants losing to the Colts in the NFL championship game, Summerall explores th...

On the field, legends like Don Hutson, Ray Nitschke, and Brett Favre made the Green Bay Packers into a professional football powerhouse. But the history of the NFL’s only small-town franchise is as much a story of business creativity as gridiron supremacy. Behind every Packer who became a legend on the field, there was an Andrew Turnbull, Dominic Olejniczak, or Bob Harlan, leaders whose dedication and creativity in preserving the franchise were unwavering.Green Bay Packers: Tri...

Michigan State University's football history is overflowing with famous, interesting, and colorful figures. From Gideon "Charlie" Smith, who in 1913 became one of the nation's first black collegiate players, to George Webster, the "Greatest Spartan of All Time," to Morton Andersen, who still holds the Big Ten record for longest field goal-they are all Spartans. Earl Morrall, Bubba Smith, Lorenzo White... the list goes on. Added to this list of tremendous players are legendary coaches like ...

Launched in 1919 by William Horlick, the inventor of malted milk, Horlick Athletic Field has hosted two NFL teams, the Racine Belles professional women's baseball team (immortalized in "A League of Their Own)" and thousands of semiprofessional- and industrial-league games. But it is the drum and bugle corps shows that have made the stadium one of the most iconic landmarks in its corner of the state. From an archive of fond recollection and painstaking record, Alan Karls has pieced together...

In Ohio State Football: The Forgotten Dawn, Bob Roman draws on extensive archival research to tell the untold story of the early days of football at Ohio's flagship public university. The game was different. Fields were rarely level and often rocky. Eleven men played both sides of the ball, quarterbacks were often the smallest men on the team, and coaches were not allowed to communicate with the players during a game. The travel was different. The faculty of rival Ohio Wesleyan forbid thei...

When the Michigan Wolverines arrived in Minneapolis to battle the Minnesota Gophers in 1903, a simple 30", five-gallon Red Wing stoneware water jug began football's first rivalry trophy game. The "Little Brown Jug" has been the subject of conspiracy theories, theft, national championships, and most of all pride, with each game's victor prominently displaying the jug on its campus--until it is fought for again.

The author of Horror in the Heartland delves deep into the dark and sordid annals of the region where Hoosier history began.Prepare to take a tour of some dark, strange moments of southern Indiana's history. From the scheming wife who wanted her dull husband out of the way to make room for a young love affair and the husband who stomped his wife to death because she wouldn't stop singing an irritating song, to the man who murdered an entire family to pay o...

A hilarious diary of a young American soccer fan, who supports Malcolm Glazer's new Manchester Buccaneers'My name is Roswell P. Shambling. I'm a 12-year-old Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. I saw Malcolm Glazer bought EPL soccer side Manchester and they are now my favourite franchise. Manchester rules, man!'Roswell is an American youngster who likes Malcolm Glazer and has decided to support Manchester United (or Manchester as he calls them). From his home in Tampa...

In the first half of the twentieth century, Jack Trice, Ozzie Simmons, and Johnny Bright played college football for three Iowa institutions: Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and Drake University, respectively. At a time when the overwhelming majority of their opponents and teammates were white, the three men, all African American, sustained serious injuries on the gridiron due to foul play, either because of their talents, their race, or, most likely, an ugly combination of ...