Sports Biographies Football

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?

On January 12, 1969, the New York Jets astonished the nation when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III. The key to the Jets’ success was quarterback Joe Namath, whose superstar talent, revolutionary personality, cockiness, and charm made him an instant celebrity. But Namath didn’t do it alone. In Beyond Broadway Joe, the members of that legendary team share for the first time their often funny, sometimes poignant, and always perceptive personal stories and memorable anecdotes about the Super Bowl team, its players and coaches, and that legendary win.

Russell Wilson is a standout NFL quarterback. Learn about his childhood and his rise to becoming a football superstar.

Marcelo Bielsa is one of football's greatest eccentrics and greatest enigmas.This is the first English biography of one of football's most contradictory characters. A definitive and comprehensive biography, from growing up in Argentina under a military dictatorship to reviving the stricken power of Leeds United.

Michael Owen's new autobiography will enable him to open up about his football life for the first time and set the record straight once and for all. It promises to make for an explosive listen and one of the most hotly anticipated football books of the year. The legendary striker published his first book, Off the Record, in 2004 but feels he didn't have a voice during his playing days, and now, six years after hanging up his boots, he can finally lift the lid on what really happened during his career.

Dave Zirin's book redefines an American icon, and not always in a flattering light. At 81 years old, Brown continues to speak out and look for fights. His recent public support of Donald Trump and criticism of Colin Kaepernick are just the latest examples of someone who seems restless if he is not in conflict. Jim Brown is a raw and thrilling account of Brown's remarkable life and a must-listen for sports fans and students of the Black freedom struggle.

Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells dominated what may go down as the greatest decade in pro football history, leading their teams to a combined eight championships and developing some of the most gifted players of all time in the process. In interviews with more than 150 players, coaches, family members and friends, Guts and Genius digs into the careers of three men who overcame their own insecurities and doubts to build Hall of Fame legacies that transformed their generation and continue to impact today's NFL.

What are the greatest football games ever played? Debated in every pub, stadium and dressing room up and down the country, everyone has their own opinion and their own memories of the beautiful game. Sharing his views on the greatest matches he has played in or enjoyed as a fan, Jamie Carragher takes listeners into the dressing room, on to the tour bus and out on to the pitch as he relives the defining moments of his playing career and the games that have shaped his relationship with the sport.

Forty-seven years of joyous celebrations after victories and crushing disappointments after defeats are encompassed in Marv Levy: Where Else Would You Rather Be?, but it is about more than just touchdowns and interceptions - it’s about how a person like Marv Levy, dedicated to his life’s work, can begin his career as the obscure assistant coach of a high school junior varsity team and decades later lead a team to the Super Bowl.

John Madden is synonymous with football. He was the television face and voice of the nation’s most popular sport, the namesake of its best-selling sports video game, and the man with the highest career winning percentage of any NFL coach. Despite his international fame, there was a side of Madden known only to those who listened to morning radio broadcasts in the San Francisco Bay Area. That’s where Madden grew up, lived, and died. It's where for decades he found joy in a daily chat with his hometown radio station: a chance to unwind, tell stories, and impart his own brand of wit and wisdom.

Jeanne Marie Laskas first met the young forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2009, while reporting a story for GQ that would go on to inspire the movie Concussion. Omalu told her about a day in September 2002, when, in a dingy morgue in downtown Pittsburgh, he picked up a scalpel and made a discovery that would rattle America in ways he’d never intended. Omalu was new to America, chasing the dream, a deeply spiritual man escaping the wounds of civil war in Nigeria.

In 2019, R.K. Russell broke the mold when he came out as bisexual in an essay for ESPN that ignited the sports world. Now, in his powerful memoir, THE YARDS BETWEEN US, he shares his story and explores his love of football, men and women, walking the devastating tightrope of keeping his sexuality secret, the tension between his private and public lives, and the importance of crashing through barriers.

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.

Patrick Mahomes, the 2018 most valuable player in the National Football League, could have succeeded in any sport. Growing up, he played baseball, basketball, and football. After joining the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, he broke record after record, including most passing yards and most passes completed in a single season. Learn all the facts on Mahomes's meteoric rise in the NFL in this exciting biography.

The Players' Coach is a player-development masterclass. It is also an inspirational life story, from humble beginnings to becoming the quarterback for the University of Iowa, a college coaching career, and then to assistant-coach and offensive-coordinator roles in six different decades. This book is destined to be a football classic, a coaching Bible, and a must-listen on leadership.

Liverpool Football Club’s stunning 2020 Premier League title victory deserves a place in the official record of great sporting achievements. The Reds became the first team in British history to hold the European Cup, Super Cup, World Club Cup and domestic league title simultaneously in a masterclass of free-scoring, full throttle footballing prowess.

Football hero Jerry Rice grew up in Crawford, Mississippi, the son of a brick mason. He developed his hands by catching the bricks that his brothers threw at him. From these humble beginnings, Rice blazed a path to greatness, becoming the leading wide receiver in the NFL and winning three super bowl rings for the San Francisco 49ers.

Passé au travers des mailles du filet de la formation française, Antoine Griezmann n'a jamais porté le maillot d'un club hexagonal. Jugé trop frêle, il a dû s'exiler en Espagne, à la Real Sociedad, pour accomplir son rêve de gamin et devenir footballeur professionnel. Désormais star incontestée de l'Atlético de Madrid et fer de lance de l'équipe de France, le meilleur joueur de l'Euro 2016 incarne la nouvelle génération bleue.

As an All-American at Ohio State and All-Pro linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ryan Shazier was living his best life while excelling at the game he loves, a game that has given him so much. But then Ryan was forced to redefine success. Suddenly, it was no longer measured by tackles or sacks, but by purpose and faith.