The orphans, in spite of being outweighed by at least thirty pounds per man, were the toughest football team around. Enter Rusty Russell, a lean mean football coaching machine. In the 1930s, the Masonic Home for Orphans was a quiet place on a hillside east of Fort Worth, Texas. Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football by Jim Dent (Thomas Dunne Books) If you’re an audiophile, check out the audiobook, which is read by John Grisham and Jack Cristil, the longtime voice of Mississippi State University athletics. Former players relive their glory days of high school football (cough cough every guy I know does this cough cough), and Neely must decide whether or not to finally forgive his high school coach and himself for what happened in Messina all those years ago. Fifteen years after graduating, he returns to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who established the Spartans as an unbeatable dynasty. Grisham’s novel Bleachers is about high school All-American quarterback, Neely Crenshaw, the greatest player to ever play for the Messina Spartans. John Grisham’s most underrated books are the ones that don’t fit in his well defined legal thriller genre. If there was one football related book that I would recommend to anyone, regardless of whether or not they are a fan of the game, it’s Rammer Jammer. One couple missed their own daughter’s wedding because it coincided with an Alabama football game. John spent an entire season RVing in style with the hardest of the hardcore Alabama fans and offers up some of the greatest “stranger than fiction” stories. This is more of a travel story/study in culture book about football fandom than a book about the sport itself, but it’s too good not to read. If you know an Alabama fan, I’m willing to bet they have one, too. John, a lifelong Alabama fan, begins Rammer Jammer with HIS Bear Bryant story. To give credit where credit is due, those folks do football right. I’ll preface this by saying, if you have never been to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for a football weekend put it on your bucket list. Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania by Warren St. If you’re looking for an indepth look of how the game is played, read The Blind Side. If you’re looking for Oher’s side of the story, read his book I Beat the Odds (Gotham). (Fun fact: “Coach Cotton” is actually Hugh Freeze, current head football coach at Ole Miss) While the book tells Oher’s story, it dives deep into the evolution of modern offensive football and the position of left tackle, which is one of the most important and highest paid positions in professional football. I was a student at Ole Miss when Oher was being recruited, and even in 2005 it was a big deal. Sandra Bullock earned a Best Actress Academy Award for her almost frighteningly accurate portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy, Oher’s adoptive mother. Unless you were hiding under a rock in 2009, the story of Baltimore Raven’s offensive lineman Michael Oher should be vaguely familiar. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis (W.W.
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