Football Life

On the second oldest football pitch in the world, Jonathan Sayer stands atop a beer crate to address the assembled fans of Ashton United FC. As his initial optimism and disillusionment begin to slip through his fingers, the new co-chairman and co-owner (alongside his dad) starts to realise the scale of the challenge ahead.

Upton Bell grew up at the knee of the NFL's first great commissioner, his father, the legendary Bert Bell, who not only saved the game from financial ruin after World War II but was one of its greatest innovators. Present at the Creation details Bell’s firsthand experiences. Over the past 53 years, Bell has been an owner, a general manager, a personnel executive, a scouting director for two Super Bowl teams, a television commentator and analyst, and a talk-radio host. He has seen the NFL from the inside and has experienced many of the most important moments in NFL history.

In his memoir Son of Bum, decorated NFL coach Wade Phillips shows that the roots of his knowledge come from his father, Bum Phillips. A beloved character in NFL history, Bum taught Wade from the beginning that "coaching isn't bitching", as well as how to have perspective on the game during tough times. These are lessons that apply both on the field and off, and Wade has passed this wisdom down to his son, Wes Phillips, an NFL coach himself.

There's no one quite like Klopp. Players love him, Liverpool fans love him - even those who should hate him want a hug from him. He's charismatic, charming, a master tactician and his unrivalled passion for his team and the game has made him one of football's most beloved personalities. So, let's face it, in these uncertain times, we all could do with being a bit more like Klopp.

In the fall of 2012, after working on a presidential campaign that suffered a devastating loss, Stuart Stevens, having turned 60, realized that he and his 95-year-old father had spent little time together for decades. His solution: a season of attending Ole Miss football games together, as they'd done when college football provided a way for his father to guide him through childhood - and to make sense of the troubled South of the time.

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Dabo's World and learn about how Dabo Swinney used his energy, faith, and determination to turn the Clemson Tigers into a football powerhouse.

The Wizards FC was a team of former school friends who - with the help of a few star ringers - slogged their way through mud, skinheads, and Staffordshire bull terriers to win the Edmonton Sunday League. Team captain Ewan Flynn brings alive a world of young men giving it their all on sloping pitches a million miles from the glamour of the Premier League, and officials who volunteer to maintain some sort of order. Along the way, he charts the bittersweet stories of mates who brought success to the Wizards.

Troy White is a star quarterback who can predict a football play before it happens. Ty Lewis is the football hero - a wide receiver with exceptional speed, living in the shadow of his NFL superstar brother. Both boys are striving to win the 7-on-7 tournament that's being held at the Super Bowl in Miami, sure that they can claim victory for their team. From the moment the two football champs cross paths, Troy and Ty begin to size each other up.

Wisconsin native Phil Hanrahan moved from Los Angeles to Green Bay to chronicle the Packers 2008 football campaign, the first season in 17 years without quarterback Brett Favre. He is there as new starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers begins what one football writer called "the toughest job in professional sports".

Troy Aikman has always been a winner. In high school, he won the state championship - in typing! Of course, he was a football star in high school, too. And in college. And he was a number one NFL Draft pick. As a quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, Troy won three Super Bowls - and was once the Super Bowl MVP. Then he became a football analyst for Fox Sports, where millions of fans watch and listen to his commentary. He's even been nominated for four Emmys for sportscasting! What will Troy Aikman win next?

Both in football and life, the players need to define the goals, invent the playbook, and execute the plays. Move the Ball draws upon the football playbook to teach you how to do this and realize your dreams. Great players don’t settle for being ordinary. They have a strong belief in themselves and strive to be extraordinary. They have M.A.D. P.R.I.D.E. This book teaches you how you can use M.A.D. P.R.I.D.E. to overcome any obstacle and win.

Life is hard in Barrow, Alaska. Football mom Cathy Parker first caught a glimpse of this reality from the comfort of her Jacksonville, Florida, living room while watching a 2006 ESPN report on the Barrow Whalers, a high school football team consisting mostly of Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo natives playing in the most difficult of conditions. These players found themselves playing on a gravel field. And while the community of Barrow felt a strong pride for their boys, many felt football was not worth the investment. That is, until Cathy Parker became involved.

Award-winning journalist Vicki Mayk raises a critical question for football players and their communities: Does loving a sport justify risking your life? This is the insightful and deeply human story of Owen Thomas - a star football player at Penn, who took his own life when he was 21, the result of the pain and anguish caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

In these uncertain times we all need a coping mechanism. And Laura Lexx has found the obvious one - imagining life married to the sensible, no-nonsense man of our dreams, Jürgen Klopp. She thinks maybe he has something to do with football? More importantly, he definitely knows how to efficiently stack a dishwasher and would tell you honestly if you were being unreasonable about a colleague.

In his first ever book, The IF in Life: How to Get Off Life’s Sidelines and Become Your Best Self, NFL running back and Dancing with the Stars champion Rashad Jennings shares his inspiring story and experiences, imparts practical advice, and encourages listeners to follow their dreams.

Marcellus Wiley has never had a problem expressing his opinion, whether it was growing up in Compton with a football tucked under his arm, or going to college at Columbia University, where he learned to survive Advanced Calculus and self-important pseudo-intellectuals. Or making it to the NFL against all odds, where he put together a 10-year career of massive paydays, massive painkillers, and massive sacks of everyone from Steve Young to Peyton Manning. Now, in Never Shut Up, Wiley doesn't hold back as he goes off on everything that's controversial with the game today.

The journal of Michael "Storky" Pomerantz tells the tumultuous tale of life as a high-schooler - complete with the fact that the love of his life is dating a high-school football player. As he chronicles the highs - and, of course, the most embarrassing lows - of his freshman year in high school, Storky paints an amusing and oftentimes hilarious portrait of an average teenager. But Michael is a not-so-ordinary kid, with a wit and charm that is atypical of average teens, and you will soon be cheering for him to lose his nickname and win the girl.

Clay is a quarterback's dream. When he zips across the field, arms outstretched, waiting for the ball to sail into his hands, there's no denying him the catch. Like most Texans, Clay is never more at home than when playing football. And his coach, a former star player for the Dallas Cowboys, is just like a second father. But as the football season kicks off, Clay begins to notice some odd behavior from his coach....

In a small Alabama town in Zion County, life is finally looking up for 20-year-old Donnette Sullivan. Having just inherited her aunt's old house and beauty shop, she's taken over the business, and her husband Tim, recently crippled in an accident, is beginning to cope not just with his disabilities but also with the loss of his dreams. Once a promising artist who gave up art for sports, Tim paints a sign for Donnette's shop, Making Waves. The raising of the sign causes ripples through the town.

Charlie LOVES football. In fact, it is his life. He practises morning, noon and night and all of his dreams come true when he gets a spot on a pro football team. However, at Charlie’s school things aren’t going so well as one of his friends starts leaving him out during football. Charlie notices that other children are being left out too – just because they are different. But Charlie knows that football is for EVERYONE so he starts a team where ALL are welcome, no matter who you are or what you look like.