Football Audiobooks | Sports & Recreation

Strength of a Champion: Finding Faith and Fortitude Through Adversity

Full of profound revelations and never-before-told anecdotes, Strength of a Champion is a celebration of the human spirit from a man who left everything on the field. As the Baltimore Ravens made their improbable march to victory in Super Bowl XLVII, they turned to their senior advisor of player development, O. J. Brigance, for inspiration each and every Sunday. Following a stellar twelve-year career as a linebacker, including a Super Bowl win with Baltimore in 2000, O. J. "Juice" Brigance joined the Ravens' front office. But in 2007, Brigance was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—also known as Lou Gehrig's disease—and told he had only three to five years to live. As a player, he'd battled hundreds of injuries and setbacks. None of them prepared him to face ALS. With faith and determination in his heart and his wife, Chanda, praying by his side, Brigance fought back against the debilitating disease, even as ALS robbed him of the ability to walk and speak. He kept working, smiling, and touching his players' lives all the way through their remarkable Super Bowl run—more than five years after his diagnosis. Now, Brigance shares his incredible story, offering lessons in resilience and reflecting on the championship team that inspired him in turn. Along with his own journey, Brigance recounts the struggles and successes of Ravens players, including Ray Lewis, Joe Flacco, and Torrey Smith, as well as the strength of head coach John Harbaugh. Having watched their season from the best seat in the house, Brigance highlights their perseverance, confidence, and leadership, and the best that sports can bring out in people. Full of profound revelations and never-before-told anecdotes, Strength of a Champion is a celebration of the human spirit from a man who left everything on the field. O.J. Brigance never asked to be a hero. That's what makes his story so courageous.

O. J. Brigance, Peter Schrager (Author), Sean Crisden (Narrator)

Audiobook

League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth

“PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS DO NOT SUSTAIN FREQUENT REPETITIVE BLOWS TO THE BRAIN ON A REGULAR BASIS.” So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America’s most popular sport. That judgment, implausible even to a casual fan, also contradicted the opinion of a growing cadre of neuroscientists who worked in vain to convince the NFL that it was facing a deadly new scourge: A chronic brain disease that was driving an alarming number of players -- including some of the all-time greats -- to madness. League of Denial reveals how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, sought to cover up and deny mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage. Comprehensively, and for the first time, award-winning ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru tell the story of a public health crisis that emerged from the playing fields of our 21st century pastime. Everyone knew that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know – and what the league sought to shield from them – is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football; that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage. In a fast-paced narrative that moves between the NFL trenches, America’s research labs and the boardrooms where the NFL went to war against science, League of Denial examines how the league used its power and resources to attack independent scientists and elevate its own flawed research -- a campaign with echoes of Big Tobacco’s fight to deny the connection between smoking and lung cancer. It chronicles the tragic fates of players like Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who was so disturbed at the time of his death he fantasized about shooting NFL executives; and former Chargers great Junior Seau, whose diseased brain became the target of an unseemly scientific battle between researchers and the NFL. Based on exclusive interviews, previously undisclosed documents and private emails, this is the story of what the NFL knew and when it knew it – questions at the heart of crisis that threatens football, from the highest levels all the way down to Pop Warner.

Mark Fainaru-Wada, Steve Fainaru (Author), David H. Lawrence XVII (Narrator)

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The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football

AN EXPLOSIVE AND REVELATORY PORTRAIT REPORTED FROM DEEP BEHIND THE SCENES OF BIG-TIME NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL: THE PASSION, THE THRILLING ACTION—AND THE SHOCKING REALITIES THAT LIE BENEATH THIS COLOSSAL, MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS COLLEGE FOOTBALL has never been more popular—or more chaotic. Millions fill 100,000-seat stadiums every Saturday; tens of millions more watch on television every weekend. The 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game between Notre Dame and Alabama had a viewership of 26.4 million people, second only to the Super Bowl. Billions of dollars from television deals now flow into the game; the average budget for a top-ten team is $80 million; top coaches make more than $3 million a year; the highest paid, more than $5 million. But behind this glittering success are darker truths: “athlete-students” working essentially full-time jobs with no share in the oceans of money; players who often don’t graduate and end their careers with broken bodies; “janitors” who clean up player misconduct; football “hostesses” willing to do whatever it takes to land a top recruit; seven-figure black box recruiting slush funds. And this: Despite the millions of dollars pouring into the game, 90 percent of major athletic departments still lose money. Yet schools remain caught up in an ever-escalating “arms race”—at the expense of academic scholarships, facilities and faculty. Celebrated investigative journalists Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian were granted unprecedented access during the 2012 season to programs at the highest levels across the country at a time of convulsive change in college football. Through dogged reporting, they explored every nook and cranny of this high-powered machine, and reveal how it operates from the inside out. The result: the system through the eyes of athletic directors and coaches, high-flying boosters and high-profile TV stars, five-star recruits and tireless NCAA investigators and the kids on whom the whole vast enterprise depends. Both a celebration of the power and pageantry of NCAA football and a groundbreaking, thought-provoking critique of its excesses, The System is the definitive book on the college game.

Armen Keteyian, Jeff Benedict (Author), Mark Deakins (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Tradition of Troy: The 1989-90 University of Southern California Rose Bowl Winning Football Seas

Welcome to the 1989-90 University of Southern California football season. A regular season which saw the Trojans stand tall among their Pac-10 conference rivals registering 9 wins including exciting victories against Washington, Arizona and a dramatic, last-second triumph over Washington State. Led by quarterback Todd Marinovich , Junior Seau, Mark Carrier, and Ricky Ervins, the Trojans concluded this fantastic season with a 17-10 victory over Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Wolverines in the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl classic. So sit back and relive one of the great season from a school rich in college football tradition. Fight on! Thanks to Mike Garrett, USC Athletic Director ; Beth Woodin, USC Athletic Department; Caryn Eaves, Tournament of Roses; Liz Kennedy, USC Licensing; Sharon Adamson, USC Licensing; and George Nicholaw, KNX 1070 AM. Sept. 4 Illinois 13-14; Sept. 16 Utah State 66-10; Sept. 23 Ohio State 42-3; Sept. 30 Washington State 18-17; Oct. 7 Washington 24-16; Oct. 14 California 31-15; Oct. 21 Notre Dame 24-28; Oct. 28 Stanford 19-0; Nov. 4 Oregon State 48-6; Nov. 11 Arizona 24-3; Nov. 18 UCLA 10-10; Jan. 1 Rose Bowl Michigan 17-10

Pete Arbogast, Pete Arbogast (Author), Fred Gallagher, Pete Arbogast, Pete Arbogast, Winifred Gallagher, Winifred Gallagher (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Dream Team: The 1988-89 University of Michigan NCAA Championship Basketball Season

During its six-game NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship run, number three-seeded Michigan defeated fourteen-seeded Xavier 92–87, six-seeded South Alabama 91–82, two-seeded North Carolina 92–87, five-seeded Virginia 102–65, one-seeded Illinois 83–81, and three-seeded Seton Hall 80–79 in overtime. The team, coached by Bill Fisher in the tournament, featured the following future NBA players: Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Terry Mills, and Sean Higgins.

Larry Henry, Larry Henry (Author), Larry Henry, Larry Henry (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Year To Remember: The 1993-94 University of Florida Football & Basketball Seasons

Join Mick Hubert, Voice of the Gators, as he relives, through radio high-lights, the 1993-94 Gator football and basketball seasons – a year which saw the University of Florida climb to the top of collegiate athletic programs. Capturing a second consecutive SEC Eastern Division title, the Florida Gators avenged a loss to Alabama the year before by beating the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game and earning a berth in the Sugar Bowl. Along the way, the Gator scored more points, totaled more yards and passed for more touchdowns than any team in conference history. Against undefeated West Virginia, the Gators rolled to a 41-7 Sugar Bowl win, for a school-record eleventh victory and a #5 ranking in the final AP poll. The Florida basketball team began the 1993-94 season largely unheralded, but shocking critics and fans alike, marched to victory after victory leaving in their wake major powers Kentucky, Texas and Oklahoma State. On their way to a school-record 29 victories, the Gators become SEC Eastern Divisions CO-Champions, SEC Tournament Runner-ups and ranked #14 in the final AP poll. Seeded a #3 in the NCAA Tournament, Florida defeated James Madison and Pennsylvania, stunned UConn and rallied against Boston College to capture the East Regional Title. They had, in fact, “ Found A Way” to the final Four… It was A year To Remember!

Alfred C. Martino, Alfred C. Martino (Author), Mick Hubert, Mick Hubert (Narrator)

Audiobook

Immortal

George Best is considered the greatest footballer of our time. No other imposed himself so completely on to the romantic imagination. No other was so emblematic of the era during which he flourished. And no other will ever be as memorable as George Best. On the field Best's skills were sublime and almost other-worldly. Off it, he had a magnetic appeal. He was treated like a pop icon and a pin-up; a fashion-model and a sex-symbol. Every man envied him and every woman adored him. To mark the 50th anniversary of his debut for Manchester United, Duncan Hamilton examines Best's crowded life and premature death. But most importantly, Hamilton presents Best at his glorious peak - the precocious goals, the labyrinthine runs, the poise and balletic balance and the body swerves. This is George Best: footballing immortal.

Duncan Hamilton (Author), John Telfer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Bobby Moore: By the Person Who Knew Him Best

THE STORY WHICH INSPIRED THE MAJOR ITV DRAMA TINA AND BOBBY. Bobby Moore's untimely death in 1993, at the age of 51, had a profound impact on the people of this country. As the only English football captain ever to raise the World Cup, he was not just a football icon but a national one. Yet Bobby was an intensely reserved, almost mysterious personality. Only one person was his true friend and confidante - his boyhood sweetheart, Tina, whom he met at 17 and married soon after. Tina Moore's story of her life with Bobby, the triumphs and crises of his football career, the break-up of their marriage and what happened afterwards, is a moving tribute to a national icon by the person who knew him better than anyone.

Tina Moore (Author), Tina Moore (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Big Red Road To The Rose Bowl: The 1993-94 University of Wisconsin Rose Bowl Winning Football Se

The Big Red Road To The Rose Bowl: The 1993-94 University of Wisconsin Rose Bowl-Winning Football Season. On New Year's Day 1963, the Wisconsin Badgers played in one of the most exciting Rose Bow games ever, overcoming a 28-point deficit only to fall short against Southern Cal 42-37. Much to the disappointment of Badger players, fans and alumni since that season the Wisconsin program has been absent from the Pasadena Classic. However, that drought came to an abrupt end. Welcome to the 1993-1994 University of Wisconsin football season. A season which once again places Badger football among the elite college programs!

Brian Manthey, Brian Manthey (Author), Brian Manthey, Brian Manthey (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Kids Got It Right: How the Texas All-Stars Kicked Down Racial Walls

Jim Dent (Author), Brian Hutchinson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who'

Fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy basketball, even fantasy sumo wrestling: the world of fantasy sports is huge, and still growing. Today, more than 35 million people in the United States and Canada spend hours upon hours each week on their fantasy sports teams. And as the Senior Fantasy Sports Analyst for ESPN, Matthew Berry is on the front lines of what has grown from a niche subculture into a national pastime. In Fantasy Life, Berry celebrates every aspect of the fantasy sports world. Brilliant trash talk. Unbelievable trophies. Insane draft day locations. Shake-your-head-in-disbelief punishments. Ingenious attempts at cheating. And surprisingly uplifting stories that remind us why we play these games in the first place. Written with the same award-winning style that has made Berry one of the most popular columnists on ESPN.com, Fantasy Life is an audiobook for both hard-core fantasy players and people who have never played before. Between tales of love and hate, birth and death, tattoos and furry animal costumes, the White House Situation Room and a 126-pound golden pelican, Matthew chronicles his journey from a fourteen-year-old fantasy player to the face of fantasy sports for the largest sports media company in the world. Fantasy will save your life. Fantasy will set you free. And fantasy life is most definitely better than real life. You'll see.

Matthew Berry (Author), Matthew Berry (Narrator)

Audiobook

Earn the Right to Win: How Success in Any Field Starts with Superior Preparation

An inspirational guide for leaders by the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach of the New York Giants. Preparation is easy to praise but very hard to master. No modern coach, in any sport, understands that better than NFL veteran Tom Coughlin. He led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories (2008 and 2012) with his system of relentless preparation andold-school tough-mindedness.. He teaches his players that you can never guarantee a win, but you can always earn the right to win-with focus, consistency, hard work, and anticipation of obstacles. And if you've earned the right to win, you can sleep soundly before a big game and take the field with confidence.. Now Coughlin brings his best advice and anecdotes to a wider audience, and shows how they apply beyond the gridiron. As he likes to say, the more you sweat, the less you bleed. He explains his attention to detail and his passion for knowing even the smallest bits of information that might affect a game. He also shows how to build flexibility into your plan and prepare for the unexpected.. Coughlin blends insider stories with practical insights from his forty-year career, creating a powerful guide for leaders in any field.

Tom Coughlin (Author), Geoffrey Cantor (Narrator)

Audiobook

Football Audiobooks in Sports & Recreation