The 19 of Greene narrates Tony Barnhart’s experience with integration in small-town Georgia as a member of Greene County’s first integrated football team. The longtime sportswriter, also known as Mr. College Football, details the Tigers’ surprisingly successful season, the enduring relationships he formed with his teammates, and the difficulties of school sports integration. As he witnessed the specific role that football played in the "success" of integration at Greene, his foundational experiences continue to help Barnhart navigate the persistent blight of racism more generally. The early chapters set the stage for Greene County’s 1970 football season by outlining the roots of integration in the South beginning with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and how it and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 eventually led to Georgia, and Greene County in particular, being integrated in the classroom and on the athletic field. Barnhart discusses how the three high schools in Greene County—Greensboro, Union Point, and Corry—eventually became one by the fall of 1970. In addition, he outlines the rollout of integration of the Greene County school district population in 1965–66 and how it eventually led to athletics being integrated in the fall of 1970. Returning to each of the players, as well as the coaches, teachers, and administrators who contributed to that 1970 season, Barnhart interviews his old contacts to revisit this important time in all their lives. Their stories make plain that football merely served as the backdrop for the sociological interactions and events taking place in Greene County, Georgia, the South, and the United States at the end of the civil rights era and how change would be as rewarding as it was difficult.

Find Your Purpose Driven Life of Joy, Passion and SuccessWhen Angela Duckworth wrote her best-selling book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance she could have been describing Sam Bracken who is the embodiment of living a life of grit and grace. Learn self-empowerment. In GUTS, Bracken explains why we need to dig deep and do soul searching to see what lights our fire within. Bracken's backstory would make Dr. Phil turn tail and run. His childhood and upbringing are unimaginably tough with years of abuse, even to the point where a relative set him on fire. What didn't kill Sam Bracken made him stronger. Now he is on a mission to bring self-empowerment to others. Grit and grace. When we say something takes guts, we usually mean it takes courage to do it. It takes guts to go skydiving or to run a marathon or to try out for the school play. We call it luck or stamina or intestinal fortitude in conquering the hard, albeit exciting, things in life. Look back at the great personalities who made a difference in history. What did they all have in common? Determination and tenacity. In short, GUTS! They might have had talent too, but without guts they would have gone nowhere. Science now tells us that lots of talented individuals produce great stuff, but very few produce a lot of great stuff and even fewer produce a lot of great stuff over a long career. What do these few highly productive people have in common? Grit and grace and a large helping of self-belief. Purpose driven life. GUTS is about actually getting there. You'll have to push past failure again and again. And it is also about beating the odds no matter how high they are stacked against you. To be a true leader, you have to start with yourself. Are you ready to do some soul searching and learn the secrets to guts, self-empowerment, and a purpose driven life? If you have read Girl on Fire, Attitudes of Gratitude, or Sam Bracken's other book My Orange Duffel Bag, you will want to read GUTS.