American Football

Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start were committing a political act simply by being on the field.

Die Frauen liegen Julian zu Füßen. Der talentierte Footballspieler ist der neue Star bei den New York Titans. Bis er ausgerechnet Liv in die Arme läuft. Die erfolgreiche Architektin lebt für ihren Beruf, der Liebe hat sie abgeschworen. Julian und sie sind grundverschieden, und doch waren sie einmal ein glückliches Paar. Bis ein schreckliches Ereignis sie trennte. Das Wiedersehen lässt alte Gefühle erwachen: Noch immer knistert es gewaltig zwischen ihnen.

On November 29, 1941, Army played Navy in front of 100,000 fans. Eight days later, the Japanese attacked, and the young men who battled each other in that historic game were forced to fight a very different enemy. Author Lars Anderson follows four players - two from Annapolis and two from West Point - in this epic true story. The tale of these men is woven into a dramatic narrative of football and war that's unlike any other.

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s won an unprecedented and unmatched four Super Bowls in six years. A dozen of those Steelers players, coaches, and executives have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and three decades later their names echo in popular memory: "Mean" Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth.

Being a University of Michigan football fan should be joyful. Michigan is an elite academic institution whose football team boasts 43 Big Ten championships. But these days, college football is complicated. The NCAA is corrupt and exploitative, and Michigan keeps losing to Ohio State. It’s hard not to wonder, as Ben Mathis-Lilley does in this book: why are we doing this? The Hot Seat is a chronicle of one of the wildest years in Michigan football history, but also a search for the truth about fandom, from the pages of history books to the wilderness of online forums.

With dreams of football on the horizon, a young and gifted high school athlete finds himself living through hell on earth and must, somehow, find the strength to overcome a formidable enemy bent on his destruction. Even before Jimbo entered adulthood, he had all the traits he learned in sports and from family to navigate the adversity thrown his way, but will he find the courage to trust his instincts to win a bigger game?

But that’s exactly what Marc was. Repeatedly bullied and overweight, Marc was an unpopular kid who turned pain into fuel to transform his body, train his mind, and change the course of his entire life. What started as self-defense became an unquenchable thirst for self-improvement from pre-dawn sprints at his high school track to living in a storage closet while training for the NFL draft. It took blood, sweat, sacrifice - and his mom’s heartfelt advice - for Marc to go from an insecure boy to a professional NFL athlete.

One football fan's 50-year wait to see his team play at Wembley, the national stadium. The book has proved popular in the UK.

From prison to premiership glory: This is Marlion Pickett’s extraordinary story. It’s the third quarter in the biggest game of the season. A young man lines up for goal. The 100,000 strong crowd leaps to its feet and roars as Marlion Pickett sends the ball soaring through the goalposts for his first ever major, celebrated by every teammate....

Wie schafft man es als deutscher American-Football-Spieler in die NFL? Die beeindruckende Geschichte von Sebastian Vollmer zeigt: Talent ist nur eine Voraussetzung. Genauso wichtig sind unbändiger Wille, Training und Liebe zum Sport. Damit lassen sich Hindernisse überwinden - wovon es in Vollmers Karriere einige gab: Sein erster Coach nannte ihn einen "kleinen Fisch in einem großen Teich". Vollmer biss sich durch und ergatterte 2003 ein Footballstipendium an einem US-College.

Standing a stellar five feet, seven inches and weighing in at a magnificent 150 pounds, you wouldn't think Richie would be much of a football player. Instead he looks more like a chess player. Richie Contartesi is a small-town kid who dreamt his entire life of playing big-time college football in the SEC. He had the heart, passion, tenacity, and love for the game, but there was a nagging problem that haunted him from youth football through college: his size.

Revealing how an obscure young assistant coach, in less than a decade, progressed to become a head coach, general manager, league commissioner, and controlling partner of the Oakland Raiders franchise, this biography pays tribute to the late Al Davis. Contrary to Davis’s notoriously quirky and reclusive reputation, this account is based on the inside scoop he personally gave the author, lending his full cooperation to relate the account of his life and career.

In 1976, Vince Papale was a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher, part-time bartender, and season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he'd grown up rooting for. He had always loved football, but the closest he'd ever come to playing on Sundays was in local rough touch leagues. Until fate stepped in. Vince was 30 years old and wondering what he would do with his life, when he heard that Coach Dick Vermeil was holding open tryouts for the Eagles.

He was a lovable rogue--a gambler, a billiards champion, a cardshark, a dance contest winner, a college student, and perhaps the finest all-around athlete the world has ever known. He was a maverick, a loner, his own man, almost reclusive, yet he was loved and admired by millions while he was alive and mourned nationwide after he died at the young age of 25.

What if your life hinged on a decision you had to make in a split second? That's the story of NFL referee Lance Easley. As a 'replacement referee' during 2012's referee lockout, Easley thought he'd earned his dream job - until he made a call that would profoundly change his life and career.

En 2009 el Real Madrid pagó cerca de 80 millones de euros para hacerse con Cristiano Ronaldo con la intención de frenar a un F.C. Barcelona que parecía imbatible. Desde ese día nació un duelo histórico entre Messi y Cristiano Ronaldo, dos de las más importantes figuras de la historia del fútbol. Nunca antes dos estrellas de esta categoría habían convivido en un mismo momento histórico y en un mismo campeonato.La liga española lleva seis años disfrutando de un pulso entre dos jugadores que no dejan de superarse a sí mismos y cuya ambición no parece tener fin.

In November 1934, the Princeton football team - unbeaten in its last 15 games - faced the 3-3 Yale Bulldogs, who gave new meaning to the term underdogs. As much a thrilling play-by-play account of college football at its finest as it is a fascinating work of sports history, this book chronicles the season that brought Princeton and Yale together in a game like no other since.

Ultras are football fans like no others. A hugely visible and controversial part of the global game, their credo and aesthetic replicated in almost every league everywhere on earth, a global movement of extreme fandom and politics is also one of the largest youth movements in the world. Yet they remain unknown: an anti-establishment force that is transforming both football and politics. In this book, James Montague goes underground to uncover the true face of this dissident force for the first time.

How Football Explains America is a fascinating, first-of-its-kind journey through the making of America's most complex, intriguing, and popular game. ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio explores just how crucial football is to understanding the American psyche. Paolantonio tackles varying American themes from Manifest Destiny to “fourth and one” as he goes deep in order to answer the age-old question: Why does America love football so much?

There is no profession in sports like the NFL tight end. None. You must mash 320-pound defensive ends in the run game. You must twist your torso at impossible angles to make acrobatic catches downfield in the pass game. You must have a certain element of crazy to you, too. The tight end is a blend of brain and brawn and bruises…so many bruises. BLOOD AND GUTS tracks the fascinating rise of this position one tight end at a time, from Mike Ditka and John Mackey in the '60s to Rob Gronkowski today.