The inside story of the Super Bowl champion 1986 Giants, the extraordinary friendships that resulted--and stunning revelations about the hardships they faced, based on new interviews with Bill Parcells, Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, and Bill Belichick. The 1986 New York Giants are legendary. A championship team coached by Bill Parcells and his wunderkind assistant Bill Belichick, featuring future Hall of Famers and All-Pros like Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor, Mark Bavaro, and Harry Carson. They were dominant on the field and formed a unique and lasting bond off of it. More than thirty years later, it's the friendships that have proved more important--a matter of life and death. In Once a Giant, bestselling football writer Gary Myers tells the story of that team and what became of it. Gridiron glory eventually faded; chronic pain, addiction, and in some cases crimes have followed. Many football players face these harsh realities, but the Giants have confronted and survived them together. With unprecedented access, Myers dives into such issues as Mark Bavaro's battle with injuries, the breakup and reconciliation of Parcells and Belichick, and Lawrence Taylor's struggles with sobriety. He creates a never-before-seen portrait of the team's run to the title, and their even more challenging fight to live after it ended.

Tom Brady's father is an estate planner. Aaron Rodgers' father is a chiropractor. Cam Newton's father tried to sell his son to Mississippi State when he was leaving junior college. Archie Manning played 14 years in the NFL and never made the playoffs, but his sons Peyton and Eli combined to win four Super Bowls. Joe Montana is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time, but his two sons bounced around college football with limited success. "Fathers and Sons," will go behind the scenes to explore the unique relationship between quarterbacks and their fathers. The book will appeal to two generations: Fathers and mothers and their sons and daughters. It will explore the various approaches to parenting through the stories of some of the best quarterbacks and their fathers and include the back stories of fathers who were successful quarterbacks with sons attempting to follow in their footsteps. It will provide life lessons and a guide to what to do and what not to do raising children with special athletic skills. Can young athletes overcome helicopter parents? Todd Marinovich was basically bred by his father Marv to be an NFL quarterback and although he was a first-round pick and drafted ahead of Brett Favre, he turned out to be a bust with many off the field issues. What would have happened if he was allowed to live a normal childhood? Kerry Collins had an overbearing father who moved him out of his home and to a different highs school because he didn't like the way his son was being coached. It took an emotional toll on Kerry and destroyed family relationships. Brady came from a family with an athletic mother and three older sisters who all played college sports. He had such a close relationship with his father that when he decided to play at Michigan rather than stay in the Bay Area and play at Cal, his father needed months of counseling to overcome the separation. Even so, he never tried to influence Tom where to attend college, not wanting to be blamed if it turned out to be the wrong choice. How did the kids with NFL aspirations deal with fathers who made it in the NFL? What kind of pressure did they have to overcome? What kind of pressure did the father who succeeded put on their son to be an athlete? Would the expectations be lower and the results greater if the father was an attorney or doctor? Was it better for the fathers to be overbearing or border on disinterested? "Fathers and Sons" will be the real-life compelling stories of quarterbacks growing up and how they took advantage or overcame the relationships with their fathers.

Many books have been written about the Cowboys, but there's never been an account like this one. HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS tells the story of the NFL's most successful franchise, with special access to its outspoken owner, Jerry Jones, his sons Stephen and Jerry Jr., daughter Charlotte, and dozens of interviews of current and former players and coaches, and characters from across Cowboy Nation. While tracking the successes and controversies of some of the biggest names in the NFL on and off the field, HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS? remembers the legends of previous generations, and explains why the star on the helmet has become iconic, and how a little expansion team from North Texas has evolved into a global $5 billion brand. Primed for their make-or-break 2018 season, HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS? delivers a fun and surprising account of America's Team, its greatest celebrities, its mercurial management, the vicious rivalries, and the enduring saga that makes this the most popular and polarizing team in sports.

How many great catches have there been in the history of the NFL? Hundreds? Thousands? Mention "The Catch,"though, and fans will think of only one: Joe Montana to Dwight Clark, the NFC Championship game, the Dallas Cowboys vs. the San Francisco 49ers, January 10, 1982. It changed the game and The Game. This is the story of the pieces that fell into place to allow it to happen and what it meant to the players, to the fans, and to the future of professional football.
Drama like this couldn't be scripted any better. Dallas was still reigning as America's team. San Francisco was hungry for a ticket to its first Super Bowl. With less than a minute left, the 49ers were one touchdown and extra point away from pulling it off, six yards from the end zone. Too Tall Jones and the Cowboys' celebrated defense were primed to stop Montana and the 49ers. The play came in from head coach Bill Walsh: Sprint Right Option. It almost never worked in practice. But this was game on. It had to work. Montana took the snap and rolled right. With 700 pounds of prime defensive talent bearing down on him, leaning backward, in his last moment of upright balance, Montana sent the ball to the back of the end zone. The primary receiver had slipped and was not in place. But the secondary receiver, Dwight Clark, was streaking toward the corner, leaping higher than he ever had or ever would again. With his arms reaching for the sky, his fingers splayed, he snatched the impossibly high pass, briefly lost control, regained it . . . touchdown
Franchises, careers, lives, and dynasties all changed in that moment.
Sports journalist Gary Myers was there, and now with fresh revelations from key players, including Montana, Clark, Ronnie Lott, Randy Cross, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Charlie Waters, and others, he takes fans back to an iconic game and one of the NFL's most breathtaking plays. Myers presents new details on the rise of Montana and the 49ers and the fall of the '80s Cowboys. He reveals what Bill Walsh saw in an overlooked third-round draft pick named Joe Montana and how Walsh accidentally discovered Dwight Clark. He shows how legendary Dallas head coach Tom Landry, who as reputed did put winning first, was not above crying over players whose personal careers had to come second. He celebrates forgotten heroes like journeyman running back Lenvil Elliott, who picked that particular game-and that final drive down the field-to shine. It's all here, from the death threat that spooked Montana during the game to 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo's bad luck when his view of the historic play was literally blocked by a horse's ass.
"The Catch" is both the ultimate replay of a sports moment for the ages and a penetrating look into the inner dynamics of the NFL."
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"From the Hardcover edition."

DARK WISDOM is a collection of horror fiction Gary Myers, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft & the Cthulhu Mythos, who was first published by Arkham House in 1975 in the classic collection THE HOUSE OF THE WORM. This new collection of tales has been long-awaited by fans of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.