Sports Biographies Football

Sir Alex Ferguson CBE, born 31st December 1941, is a former Scottish football player and was manager of Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. During his 26 years in charge of United, he won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football. Packed with nearly 80 entertaining and exclusive interviews from those who know Ferguson best - friends, colleagues, associates and those who worked with him at both Aberdeen and Manchester United share their unique insight into the innermost secrets of Ferguson’s fascinating life and hugely successful career.

When a potentially career-ending shoulder injury left quarterback Drew Brees without a team - and facing the daunting task of having to learn to throw a football all over again - coaches around the NFL wondered, Will he ever come back? After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving more than 80 percent of the city underwater, many wondered, Will the city ever come back?

In Unbreakable, Jay Glazer talks directly to you, his teammates, and shares his truth. All the success from his screeching-and-swerving joy ride through professional football, the media, the MMA fighting world, Hollywood, the military-warrior community, comes with a side of relentless depression and anxiety. Living in the gray, as Jay calls it, is just a constant for him.

Five running backs were selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Jamaal Charles was not among them. Despite piling up the fourth-most rushing yards at the University of Texas in just three seasons, he waited for eight other running backs to get selected ahead of him. The Middle School Rules of Jamaal Charles features the stories and lessons of Jamaal’s childhood, defined by people overlooking him.

The Middle School Rules of Charles Tillman will feature the defining childhood stories of a young, well-traveled boy nicknamed “Peanut,” who had to deal with racism, adapt to constant relocation, and endure the divorce of his parents. Inspired by faith and family, Tillman persevered and carved out an indelible mark both on and off the field.

No coach in National Football League history endured more playoff heartache than Marty Schottenheimer. Despite racking up two hundred regular-season victories (only five coaches in the entire ninety-year history of the NFL ever won more games), Marty never reached the Super Bowl during his coaching career. Martyball tells the story of a man who persevered through an avalanche of misfortune and playoff agony that would have brought most men to their knees. But Marty never lost sight of why he fell in love with coaching in the first place: he wanted to teach and mold men through the game of football.

At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, the last thing Adolf Hitler expected was to see a black man compete and win. But Jesse Owens didn't just win. He was dominant in the track and field events, winning four gold medals and helping to set a world record. Now listeners can witness one of the most iconic moments in sports history as Owens proves that people of all races can compete and win at the Olympic games.

This classic sports book takes listeners inside the 1967 season of the Green Bay Packers, following that storied team from training camp to their dramatic victory in Super Bowl II. Candid and often amusing, Jerry Kramer describes from a player's perspective a bygone era of sports, filled with blood, grit, and tears. No game better exemplifies this period than the classic "Ice Bowl" conference championship game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which Kramer, who made the crucial block in the climactic play, describes in thrilling detail.

As a kid Khalil Mack loved basketball, not football. He didn't even start playing football until his senior year of high school. That season he racked up 140 tackles, an amazing total. From then on, football became Mack's focus, and he proved to be a force on the gridiron. In the National Football League, he was named defensive player of the year in 2016, and today he is widely recognized as one of the most dominant players in the pro game. It's easy to see why in this engaging, hard-hitting biography.

Alex Morgan first joined a soccer team when she was 14 years old, quickly impressing her peers and coaches with her skills. From there, she grew to become a world-class soccer player, reaching incredible heights including a FIFA Women's World Cup championship and an Olympic gold medal. Learn about Alex's rise in soccer in this electric biography in the Stars of Sports series.

Ruud Gullit knows better than anyone else that to understand soccer you have to understand strategy. When he started playing soccer, his only "strategy" was to get the ball, outrun everyone else to the other end of the field, and score. At first it served him well, but as he advanced through the sport, he learned that it takes much more than speed to make a winning team.

Mohamed Salah has competed at the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. His speed, smarts, and skill have made him a top player on soccer fields around the world. Meet this top-scoring footballer as he strikes at victory.

In 2015, FIFA - the multibillion dollar governing body of the world's most-loved sport - was brought down by allegations of industrial-scale bribes, kickbacks, money laundering, racketeering, and tax evasion. Beginning with early morning raids in Zurich and the indictment of 27 executives by the US Department of Justice, the rottenness at the core of FIFA seemed to extend throughout all of soccer, from the decision to send the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar to lesser known cases of embezzlement from Trinidad to South Africa.

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland is only in his first season at Manchester City and yet he has taken the Premier League - and world football stage - by storm. At the halfway point in the season, in just 20 games, the distinctive star has scored 25 goals, beating last year's PL golden boot winners Son Heung-Min and Mo Salah. He is well on his way to beating the record of 34 goals in a single season - a record no one has beaten in 27 years. Known for his speed, strength and goal scoring, Haaland is a fascinating character who doesn't fit the mould of a modern-day professional footballer.

Al Davis was such a polarizing figure that people either admired or despised him. Most cared about what Davis thought on any issue, and he was captivating before an audience. Yet Davis rarely revealed much about himself, his philosophy and decision-making. Everyone knew of Davis and his catchy slogans, especially "Just Win, Baby". But no one knew much about the man. Everyone, it seemed, had a strong opinion about Davis, but precious few had enough information about Davis to proffer an informed description.

12 is the propulsive story of this gritty comeback. It's a drama that unfolds in the locker room, the court room, and under the brightest lights in all of sports - the Super Bowl. Now for the first time, listeners will have an exclusive look into Tom Brady's experience and the NFL's shocking strangle-hold on their players. With unprecedented access to Brady himself, his teammates, and his lawyers, we will see just how a football legend went up against one of the largest corporations in the world to stage the greatest comeback in NFL history and emerge a god of the gridiron.

Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996, Brian Dawkins fought to elevate not only his own game but that of his entire team. He sweat, bled, and dominated through sixteen seasons in the NFL, all the way into the Hall of Fame. Every step of the way, the Lord had his back. In the wake of his success, Dawkins comes forward to describe his journey to become one the best safeties in the NFL. Triumphs, pitfalls, love, and struggles—Dawkins shares them all, not for himself, but in gratitude to those who have helped him along the way.

Relive the greatest Giants moments through the eyes of the players themselves - newly revised to include Super Bowl XLVI! The New York Giants have long been one of the NFL’s most popular and storied franchises. Now fans of this dynamic football powerhouse will relive all the greatest gridiron moments through the eyes of the players themselves in this newly updated edition of Game of My Life New York Giants.

The most beloved and decorated player in Florida history takes fans behind the scenes and into the locker room for one of the greatest eras in the annals of college football. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, now retired from the NFL, has finally had the time to look back, reminisce, and share his thoughts about that magical time when he was referred to by some "as the greatest passer to ever play college football."

Tom Berthel first met Hall of Fame football coach Hayden Fry when, in the mid-1980s, his investment firm, Berthel Fisher & Co., became a corporate sponsor of the University of Iowa Athletic Department. This business partnership not only helped Berthel Fisher establish a winning public image, but it also gave birth to one of the most important and enduring friendships of Tom Berthel’s life.