Spanning seven decades, the notorious loss of Super Bowl III, and an historic undefeated season with the Dolphins, Shula is the definitive biography of a coaching legend. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, Don Shula remains the winningest coach of all time with 347 career victories and the only undefeated season in NFL history. But before he became the architect of the Dolphins dynasty, Shula was a hardworking kid selling fish on the banks of Lake Erie, the eldest of six children born during the Depression to Hungarian immigrant parents. As acclaimed sports biographer Mark Ribowsky shows, Shula met serious resistance at home when he asked to play high school football, but when his parents finally relented, they discovered that their son, though perhaps short on the physical gifts of the truly blessed, had an unmatched mind for the game’s strategy and a stomach for its brutality. With rugged determination, the jut-jawed Shula started as a defensive back in the 1950s, later beginning his thirty-two-year coaching career as the then-youngest coach ever with the Baltimore Colts. The Colts had several successful years, but Shula never quite recovered from the historic loss to the upstart New York Jets in Super Bowl III, and when a lucrative job opened in Miami, he took his talents to South Beach, where he led the Dolphins to the first perfect season in NFL history. Tracing Shula’s singular rise from his blue-collar origins to his glory days in the Miami heat, Ribowsky reveals a man of grit and charisma who never lost sight of a simple creed: “All I’ve ever done is roll up my sleeves, figure out what to do, and start doing it.”
The story of America’s most sacred and carefully constructed football dynasty is revealed in this unflinching family portrait.
He faded back and hit Tony Hill with a 20yard pass, Preston Pearson twice for 22 and 25 yards, dodging a heavy rush both times. Fromthe Redskin's 33, hemoved the ball tothe 8yard line with 42 seconds left. Staubach now called “Hot Left ...
A Biography of the Winningest Coach in NFL History Carlo DeVito. relationships with Larry Csonka, ... The Greater Cleveland area would always be home in his heart and was the seed of his character. Wherever he went and whatever he ...
Led by such greats as Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Nick Buoniconti, Larry Little, Mercury Morris, and Jake Scott—as well as players discarded from other franchises who were transformed into key contributors once they were indoctrinated into ...
“All of a sudden, Chuck set his cards down on the table and put both arms straight out,” said Morrison, ... At the sound of Chuck's scream, trainer Leo Murphy grabbed his bag from a luggage compartment and hurried back to the last row, ...
An emotional memoir from Hall of Fame, Super Bowl winning former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers and current CBS analyst, Bill Cowher.
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The football writer for the Sun , Cameron Snyder , was a twofisted , burly , and opinionated little man who once had to be restrained from punching Burt Lancaster . Though drinking was known in his profession , Snyder wasn't a heavy ...
My mom had sent a note to school the previous week to alert teachers that my brother Joe and I would miss a few days of classes to go to the Super Bowl. Every teacher except Mrs. Brown, my English teacher, had asked with an exaggerated ...
Garvey had called a strike in 1974 before the start of that season, but no games were lost. In fact, the '74 strike was a complete failure. Garvey had the players walk out in training camp, demanding that the owners give players the ...