Sports Biographies Football

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of My Story by Steven Gerrard, read Michael Ryan. Steven Gerrard is the former captain of Liverpool football team and of the England national football team and is the only player ever to have scored in a FA cup final, a league cup final, a UEFA cup final and a champion's league final. His entire career, since 1998, has been spent at Anfield with Liverpool.

The Super Bowl champion wide receiver for the New England Patriots shares his inspiring story of an underdog kid who was always doubted to becoming one of the most reliable and inspiring players in the NFL. Relentless is the story of Edelman's rise, and the continuing dominance of the Patriot dynasty, filled with memories of growing up with a father who was as demanding as any NFL coach, his near-constant fight to keep his intensity and competitiveness in check in high school and college, and his celebrated nine seasons with the Patriots.

Nate Jackson’s Slow Getting Up is an unvarnished and uncensored memoir of everyday life in the most popular sports league in America - and the most damaging to its players - the National Football League. After playing college ball at a tiny Division III school, Jackson, a receiver, signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers, before moving to the Denver Broncos. For six seasons in the NFL as a Bronco, he alternated between the practice squad and the active roster, eventually winning a starting spot - a short, tenuous career emblematic of the average pro player.

Tom Berthel first met Hall of Fame football coach Hayden Fry when, in the mid-1980s, his investment firm, Berthel Fisher & Co., became a corporate sponsor of the University of Iowa Athletic Department. This business partnership not only helped Berthel Fisher establish a winning public image, but it also gave birth to one of the most important and enduring friendships of Tom Berthel’s life.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time, a dream he pursued from the age of just 12 when he left his humble origins on Madeira behind. It wasn't long before he had the biggest clubs in Europe knocking on his door, but it was Manchester United who won the race for his signature. Under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo developed into the complete footballer and athlete, winning three league titles and a Champions League along the way. He then became the biggest galáctico of them all when he transferred to Real Madrid for a record-breaking fee.

In Against Football Steve Almond details why, after 40 years as a fan, he can no longer watch the game he still loves. Using a synthesis of memoir, reportage, and cultural critique, Almond asks a series of provocative questions: Does our addiction to football foster a tolerance for violence, greed, racism, and homophobia? What does it mean that our society has transmuted the intuitive physical joys of childhood--run, leap, throw, tackle--into a billion-dollar industry?

The history of the Ivy League dates back to 1869 when Princeton played the first college football game against Rutgers. The Ancient Eight explores Ivy League football today. To play in the NFL, one must maintain the highest academic standards and be a great football player. The rivalries are as intense, as are the strict rules–but there is also a genuine purity in the Ivy League.

The extraordinary memoir from baseball icon Jackie Robinson - originally published in 1948, just a year after he shattered baseball’s color barrier, and now released as an audiobook for the very first time. “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me...all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” So says number 42, who comes alive to share his story, up to and through that historic first season, as told to famed sportswriter Wendell Smith, with a foreword by Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey.

There is nobody like Patrick Mahomes. In three seasons, he has won a Super Bowl and competed in another, earned the titles of First Team All-Pro, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and league MVP, and turned the Kansas City Chiefs from famed playoff failures into the most successful team in the NFL. With his unique and groundbreaking playing style, and winning personality both on and off the field, Mahomes has become a truly transcendent quarterback in a journey that mirrors and accentuates the rebirth of the once swingin’ cow town of Kansas City, Missouri.

Cristiano Ronaldo overcame poverty and childhood illness to become one of the best football players ever. Escaping the hot streets of Madeira, Ronaldo first proved himself as a wonder-kid at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, before becoming a legend for Real Madrid and Portugal. This is the story of how the gifted boy became a man, a team player and a legend.

Even people who don't know football know Pelé. The best of a generation of Brazilian players universally acknowledged as the most accomplished and attractive group of footballers ever to play the game, he won the World Cup three times and is Brazil's all-time record goalscorer. But how did this man - a sportsman, a mere footballer, like many others - become a global icon? Was it just by being the best at what he did, or do people respond to some other quality?

Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells dominated what may go down as the greatest decade in pro football history, leading their teams to a combined eight championships and developing some of the most gifted players of all time in the process. In interviews with more than 150 players, coaches, family members and friends, Guts and Genius digs into the careers of three men who overcame their own insecurities and doubts to build Hall of Fame legacies that transformed their generation and continue to impact today's NFL.

In between Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan there was Joe Namath, one of the very few sports heroes who transcended their game. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, Namath left the steel country of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for the Deep South, where he played quarterback for Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama. Almost four years later, he signed a $427,000 contract with the New York Jets that changed football forever, transforming a crude, violent game into show business.

La NFL es el deporte de equipo por excelencia y el rendimiento de cada jugador está en estrecha relación con lo que hace el resto del conjunto. A lo largo de más de veinte años de carrera profesional, Tom Brady ha puesto en cuestión este principio. Su juego es el que ha elevado el rendimiento de sus compañeros, a los que ha conducido en múltiples ocasiones hacia la más absoluta de las glorias: el anillo de campeón de la NFL. La historia de Brady se basa en la determinación, esfuerzo, confianza en sí mismo y éxito.

Are you looking for the perfect soccer book for young readers? Are you seeking an engaging book that will have your child wanting to read more? Do you need a gift for a kid who’s crazy about soccer? Do you have a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew who plays soccer, watches soccer, or wants to learn more about the sport? This book is the perfect read for any young soccer fan. It’s an all-encompassing guide that covers everything from the history of the game, stories of the greatest players and games, trivia to test readers' knowledge, and everything in between. The Soccer Book for Kids ...

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.

Dave Zirin's book redefines an American icon, and not always in a flattering light. At 81 years old, Brown continues to speak out and look for fights. His recent public support of Donald Trump and criticism of Colin Kaepernick are just the latest examples of someone who seems restless if he is not in conflict. Jim Brown is a raw and thrilling account of Brown's remarkable life and a must-listen for sports fans and students of the Black freedom struggle.

In July 2021, shortly after being named League Two's Player of the Season and Golden Boot, Paul Mullin sent shockwaves through the EFL by taking a downwards move to National League team, Wrexham AFC. Since then, 'Super Paul Mullin' has helped transform the Wrexham team, scoring dozens of goals and capturing the imaginations of football fans across the world in the process. Here for the first time, Mullin tells his own story: his roots in Liverpool, the highs and lows of English football's promotion race, lessons learnt from his young son, and what happens when Hollywood comes knocking.

From New York Times best-selling author Lars Anderson comes a revealing portrait of the first family of American sports. What the Kennedys are to politics, the Mannings are to football. Two generations have produced three NFL superstars: Archie Manning, the Ole Miss hero-turned-New Orleans Saint; his son Peyton, widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game; and Peyton's younger brother, Eli, who won two Super Bowl rings of his own.

Pep Guardiola is the most successful and sought after football coach in the world. After being appointed first-team manager in 2008, he transformed Barcelona into arguably the greatest club side of all time, winning an unprecedented 13 trophies in four years. Following a shock sabbatical from the game, he replaced Jupp Heynckes at the helm of Bayern Munich at the start of the 2013-14 season, twice winning the Double in his three years in charge.