Bücher von Mike Freeman

He was a giant among men, a symbol of a different era in sports . . .The NFL in the 1970s was a ruthless league, rife with concussions, broken bones, unmatched egos, and frequent racial strife. In the midst of this madness, commanding the Oakland Raiders (perhaps the baddest team of them all) was quarterback Ken Stabler?aka Snake?an unassuming and lethal threat as a player. On the field, he was cool and con-fident, but off of it he was a legendary woman chaser and babe magnet, carrying a larger-than-life persona at odds with the performance-drenched focus that characterized the rest of the NFL. Yet the Stabler that would eventually emerge was more than a playboy. No quarterback was tougher or more uniquely talented; his accuracy, particularly with deep throws, was as good as any quarterback's the league had ever seen; he'd won 100 games faster than any quarterback in history, as well as a Super Bowl, and most of all, he helped redefine the Raiders from losers to champions. In Snake, Bleacher Report columnist Mike Freeman details Stabler's childhood in racially segregated Alabama, his emergence as a rare high school talent, his raucous college days under the legendary Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama, and his famed career as a quarterback for the Raiders and, later, the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. Freeman expands his story by offering a rare, personal look at Stabler after his football days?including his warm affection as a husband, father, and grandfather?and even describes how Stabler's death, and subsequent Hall of Fame induction, paved the way for greater CTE awareness, as a 2016 autopsy revealed Stabler had been suffering from the disease. This work examines the complete Stabler portrait: the good, the bad, and the unbelievable. Poignant, blunt, and eye-opening, Snake is a towering biography about a man who forever left his mark on football, the quarterback who studied his playbook by the light of a jukebox.

Patsy Cline's story - both professional and personal - unfolds in this collection of letters written from 1955-1959 to her friend and first fan club president, Treva Miller. In her own words, Patsy talks of the recording sessions, television appearances and tours, but behind the glamor she writes candidly about having flat tires, not getting paid (even after her big hit "Walkin' After Midnight") and what it's like to be a mother and housewife while building a career as a recording artist. Few stars have the longevity of Patsy Cline. She died in a plane crash in 1963, yet her voice still moves us, so much so that she consistently appears on the best country artist lists from publications such as Rolling Stone and Billboard.A collection of 48 letters written from 1955-1959 to her first fan club president and friend gives us a rare opportunity to glimpse the woman behind the songs. She doesn't come across as bold and brassy, as some movies have portrayed her. Although she was traditional in her attitudes about family, she was determined to succeed as a recording artist. Against the backdrop of her recording sessions, tours and television appearances she was also a housewife who often did the family cooking, laundry and ironing before going on stage. It didn't always pay as expected, either. In 1957 she wrote to Treva: "Bill McCall still hasn't give me my money on "Walkin." I've got 2 lawyers working on it."One can imagine, through these letters, that Patsy is sitting across the table from her friend, chatting about her job, her loves and everyday life. We get to know Treva through these letters too. When Treva plans to marry against her mother's objections, Patsy said, "You are all she has and you are her baby, but then too, all these chickens have to find out about life their own way."In September 1960 Treva was killed in an automobile accident. Less than a year after that, Patsy was a passenger in a near fatal, head-on car crash. Two months later, still on crutches, Patsy recorded one of her defining hits, "Crazy." Her career was finally taking off.The introduction is written by Margo Price, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, who became an overnight success with her album, Midwest Farmer's Daughter. When not appearing solo with her band, she joins Chris Stapleton, Tim McGraw, and Willie Nelson on their tours.

Undefeated explores the Miami Dolphins' legendary 1972 season, the only perfect season in NFL history, and the journey to the championship—a story of heartbreaking injuries, miraculous finishes, and tested relationships.Coach Don Shula transformed the team—through hard work, long practices, and his no-nonsense attitude toward the game—from a laughingstock expansion team, where careers went to die, into a championship franchise. Led by such greats as Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, Nick Buoniconti, Larry Little, Mercury Morris, and Jake Scott—the Dolphins were undefeated in the regular season and went on to win Super Bowl VII, in one of the greatest feats of toughness, perseverance, and discipline the NFL has ever seen.Based on years of research and interviews, Undefeated examines what is perhaps the single greatest accomplishment in team sports history: the unforgettable NFL season in which the Dolphins never lost a single game. There has never been a football team like those Miami Dolphins, and there may never be again.

An honest, uncensored look at the National Football League that captures the good, the bad, and the bloody. Award-winning sports reporter Michael Freeman goes were few civilians dare: inside the locker rooms, boardrooms, and everywhere in-between to offer an entertaining and provocative portrait of the National Football League. In Bloody Sundays he dissects the NFL, spotlighting the personalities and the politics that shape the game on and off the field, exploring how the game has influenced American life and culture, and identifying the issues and challenges facing the game today--from violence on the field to the maniacal coaching methods of Super Bowl winner Jon Gruden, to physical injury and longevity, to race and labor relations. Here, too, are the legends, heroes, and plays that make the game what it is, including a groundbreaking exclusive interview with an active gay player. Part investigative journalism, part critical analysis, and part tribute, Bloody Sundays uniquely captures the entirety of the league in all its greatness and ugliness.

He intimidated people on and off the football field. He was brutal yet brilliant, narcissistic yet magnanimous, relentless yet unyielding. Most of all, he was the greatest football player of all time. He was Jim Brown.Jim Brown was an astonishing physical specimen with tremendous skills and intelligence. An athlete who played a number of sports at Syracuse University, he ultimately discovered that it was the violence of football that appealed to him most. The idea of physically dominating other men, surviving ferocious battles on the field against opponents who would just as soon call him a nigger as try to gouge out his eyes fueled an astonishing, record-making NFL career that led to the Hall of Fame. He battled his defenses, sometimes his teammates, and often the Cleveland Browns' legendary head coach Paul Brown.But Jim Brown had ambitions greater than football. He used his athletic brilliance to launch a movie career, becoming Hollywood's first black action hero, culminating in a scandalous love scene with America's sweetheart Raquel Welch. He leveraged his popularity into helping the NFL's black players and becoming a civil rights activist. Never shy about expressing his opinions, Brown would become the subject of FBI investigations and surveillance throughout parts of his life.Then there were the women. The patient wife who was essentially a single mother and who endured public humiliation. The girlfriends he ran through and the scandalous accusations of violence made by some of them.A complex and fascinating story, Jim Brown is a towering biography of a living legend.