Bücher von Chris Willis

This book tells the remarkable story of a small-town athlete from the farming plains of Minnesota who became one of the greatest players in NFL history.

This book tells the little-known story of the Oorang Indians, a traveling professional football team comprised entirely of Native Americans. Created by dog kennel owner Walter Lingo and coached by star athlete Jim Thorpe, the team spent two seasons in the NFL in 1922 and 1923 traveling throughout the country and drawing crowds wherever they went.

The San Francisco 49ers entered the 1984 season determined to erase the memory of their three point loss to the Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game the year before. Nineteen games later, they had not only won the Super Bowl, they had redefined NFL history by becoming the first team to win 18 games in a single season. Led by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh and future Hall of Fame players Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, and Fred Dean, the 1984 San Francisco 49ers finished the season with just one defeat. A Nearly Perfect Season: The Inside Story of the 1984San Francisco 49ers will chronicle for the first time ever the story of one of the NFL's greatest teams who came within one game of perfection. Including original interviews with over 30 players from the team, coaches, the GM, and the owner, this book provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of a season to remember.

Very little has been documented about the early days of pro football and the pioneers who had a major influence in the history of the NFL. Chris Willis, head of the Research Library at NFL Films, seeks to address this neglect. In this collection of original and archival interviews, former players, owners, fans, family members and league officials provide a rare glimpse into the origins of professional football. Full of rich anecdotes, early stars such as Red Grange, Jim Thorpe, Dutch Clark, Glenn Presnell, and Pete Henry are brought back to the playing field. The interviews also reveal how small towns in Ohio such as Canton, Akron, Columbus, and Dayton came to host franchises, as the state became a major force in the founding and growth of the NFL.Old Leather provides the reader with a firsthand look at a period that has largely been ignored. It recalls what the era of professional football was like in the age of leather helmets, no television, dirt fields, small salaries and when playing for the love of the game was its own reward. This book will appeal not only to historians, sportswriters, and scholars, but also to die-hard fans and general history buffs who can never get enough of America's favorite sport. Contains 17 photographs of players, owners, and teams.

In 1901 workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus, Ohio formed a professional football team called the Columbus Panhandles. The railroad workers, mainly European immigrants, learned the game of football not on college gridirons, but on the sandlots of railroad yards during their lunch breaks. With the leadership of an innovative team manager and its tough physical play, the Panhandles went on to play for more than twenty years as one of the most successful teams in the rag-tag days of professional football.Incorporating original interviews and actual newspaper accounts, Chris Willis recreates the largely forgotten story of this unique squad of men. In The Columbus Panhandles: A Complete History of Pro Football's Toughest Team, 1900-1922, Willis shows how team manager, future NFL commissioner Joseph Carr, used the perks of free railroad travel for employees and the gate attraction of the famous Nesser brothers to build pro football's most successful traveling team. Season by season, Willis provides a fascinating account of the team's spectacular triumphs and crushing losses.Full of wonderful newspaper quotes, entertaining anecdotes, and many original photos, The Columbus Panhandles also profiles a number of principle figures in the team's history, most notably manager Joe Carr and the six Nesser brothers who comprised the heart of the squad for many years. Written to honor the legacy of the Columbus Panhandles, this book will be of interest to historians, sportswriters and general football fans eager to learn about the early days of professional football.

In 1963, 17 charter members were inducted into the newly established Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining the likes of Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, and Sammy Baugh was Detroit Lions quarterback Dutch Clark. A bona fide superstar for the NFL in the 1930s, Clark led the Lions to success on the gridiron and helped establish the NFL in one of America's most passionate sports cities. Throughout his seven-year NFL career (19311932, 19341938), Clark was selected first team NFL All-Pro six times, led the league in scoring three times, was team captain of the Detroit Lions, and helped the Lions win the 1935 NFL Championship in their second season in Detroit. The triple-threat star could do everythinghe could run, he could pass, and he could kick.In Dutch Clark: The Life of an NFL Legend and the Birth of the Detroit Lions, Chris Willis tells the remarkable story of an athlete from a small town in Colorado who would become one of the NFL's greatest players. To recount the story of this sports pioneer, Willis had complete cooperation from the Clark family and unlimited access to personal letters, the Dutch Clark Scrapbooks, and family photos. Appendixes include Clark's football statistics and a list of his honors and awards. Supplemented with archival interviews, never-before-seen photos, newspaper quotes, and anecdotes, Dutch Clark tells the rags-to-riches story of one of the NFL's first stars.