Overview
Sunday's Heroes was born out of Whittingham's many years of researching the league and its history. His work culls together the best first-person stories from the greatest players to ever take the field. Regardless of your favorite team, player or era, Sunday's Heroes has the stories you want to hear from the players you either love or love to hate.
Reviews
"Occassionally, a book sets itself apart with both its content and its graphic presentation. This is one of those books, and to boot, one of the few that adquately deals with the early history of the National Football League. Previous histories of the game's early years have recycled the same photographs time after time, but this work features several truly unusual and outstanding pictures that this reviewer has never seen before.Whittingham, who has written extensively about pro football, interviewed many of the early figures and gathered reports on many who have died to produce a collection of anecdotes that is one of the finest books about the history of the NFL to appear in the mass market. The author is particularly adept at weaving the personal anecdote and interview with the historical record. Professional fans, no matter what their age, and even younger followers will find this to be a fine introduction to the history and people who were so important in the formation of what is probably today truly America's national pastime. Enthusiastically recommended." ~ Library Journal
"Whittingham spans most of the NFL's history and prsent a collection of observations and anecdotes about many of observations and anecdotes about many of pro football's legends, including John Madden, George Halas, Terry Bradshaw, Dick Butkus, Sam Huff and Red Grange. The numerous black-and-white photos show coaches, players and scenes from key games." ~ Sacramento Bee, Allen Pierleoni
"If 'old school' is hot, then this book about the NFL is trying to teach the past couple generations that the NFL is more than just a cool jersey. This oversized book is a combination picture book and narrative history of the NFL from its 'legends.' It should say something that Paul Hornung wrote the foreword, Pat Summerall the introduction and Mike Ditka the afterword. It is in very easy-to-read format that allows you to start wherever you open it. If anything, it shows you that the NFL didn't used to be the polished, made-for-TV behemoth that it is now."~ Nashville Tennessean, Bill Bradley
Author Biography
Richard Whittingham is the author of more than 30 books, including two novels: State Street and Their Kind of Town. Among his non-fiction works are Rites of Autumn, The Story of College Football, a companion volume to the 10-episode ESPN series of the same name; Martial Justice, The Last Mass Execution in the United States, the source for a History Channel one-hour television special; What a Game They Played, a Library of Congress/NFL honored book on the early days of professional football in America; and numerous sports' histories including What Giants They Were, Hail Redskins and What Bears They Were. Whittingham has also collaborated on book projects with Sir Edmund Hillary, Joe DiMaggio, and LIFE magazine. His articles have been published in such national outlets as the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Richard lives in the Chicago area.Pat Summerall has been associated with the NFL as a player and broadcaster for more than 50 years. Widely recognized in recent years as one of the best television commentators in the business, Summerall announced his retirement from TV in 2003. For 21 years, Summerall partnered with John Madden (CBS 1981-1993, Fox 1994-2002) to become the pre-eminent broadcasting duo covering NFL games. During his time as a distinguished broadcaster, Summerall earned the Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1994. That same year Summerall was also presented the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the NFL Alumni's selective Order of the Leather Helmet to honor his lifetime work in professional football. Summerall's career in pro football began after a stellar career at the University of Arkansas. Though drafted in 1952 by the Detroit Lions, he never played in Motown thanks to a trade with the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). He played for the Cardinals from 1952 to 1957 and finished his playing days with the New York Giants from 1958 to 1961, playing in the NFL Championship each year with the Giants except for 1960. Both a kicker and tight end in the NFL, Summerall retired with 567 career points (101 field goals, 258 extra points, one touchdown). Summerall currently lives in the Dallas area and is very involved in his own professional studio, Pat Summerall Productions.
Press Releases
For more than 80 years, professional
football has been the focus of the sports world during the fall.
Generations of fans and reporters have likened those weekly games to wars
and fields of battle.
Sunday\'s Heroes: NFL Legends Talk
About the Times of Their Lives
allows the combatants on the field, the \'heroes\' of countless fans
everywhere to share their thoughts, remembrances, regrets and personal
glories from their playing days.
Stitching together first-person accounts
from players who span the spectrum of playing days - from yesteryear\'s
strapless, leather helmets to today\'s air-pumped, visor-masked ones - Sunday\'s
Heroes takes fans not only inside the sport, not only inside
specific games, but inside the mind of the men making the violent action
happen.
For decades, Richard Whittingham has
covered professional football as a reporter and researcher. Sunday\'s
Heroes is the product of all that work, with anecdotes and
accounts gathered from interviews and reports on football icons such as:
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• John Madden
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• George \'Papa Bear\' Halas
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• Pat Summerall
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• Dick Butkus
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• Frank Gifford
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• Sam Huff
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• Terry Bradshaw
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• Johnny \'Blood\' McNally
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• Red Grange
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No matter your favorite team. No matter
your favorite era. No matter your favorite player. They\'re all here and
their stories are waiting for you, laid out in a conversational format that
makes you feel as if you are actually speaking with them.
No other book this fall captures the scope
and detail across the decades, from team to team, that Sunday\'s
Heroes offers the casual or diehard fan.
About the Author
Richard Whittingham is the author of more than 30 books, including
two novels: State Street and Their Kind of Town. Among his
non-fiction works are Rites of Autumn, The Story of College Football,
a companion volume to the 10-episode ESPN series of the same name; Martial
Justice, The Last Mass Execution in the United States, the source for a
History Channel one-hour television special; What a Game They Played,
a Library of Congress/NFL honored book on the early days of professional
football in America; and numerous sports\' histories including What
Giants They Were, Hail Redskins and What Bears They Were.
Whittingham has also collaborated on book projects with Sir Edmund Hillary,
Joe DiMaggio, and LIFE magazine. His articles have been published in
such national outlets as the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine and
the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Richard lives in the Chicago area.
Pat Summerall has been associated with the NFL
as a player and broadcaster for more than 50 years. Widely recognized in
recent years as one of the best television commentators in the business,
Summerall announced his retirement from TV in 2003. For 21 years, Summerall
partnered with John Madden (CBS 1981-1993, Fox 1994-2002) to become the
pre-eminent broadcasting duo covering NFL games. During his time as a
distinguished broadcaster, Summerall earned the Lifetime Achievement Award
for Sports from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in
1994. That same year Summerall was also presented the Pete Rozelle
Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was
inducted into the NFL Alumni\'s selective Order of the Leather Helmet to
honor his lifetime work in professional football. Summerall\'s career in pro
football began after a stellar career at the University of Arkansas. Though drafted in 1952 by the Detroit Lions, he never played in Motown
thanks to a trade with the Chicago Cardinals (now the Arizona Cardinals). He played for the
Cardinals from 1952 to 1957 and finished his playing days with the New York Giants from 1958 to 1961, playing in
the NFL Championship each year with the Giants except for 1960. Both a
kicker and tight end in the NFL, Summerall retired with 567 career points
(101 field goals, 258 extra points, one touchdown). Summerall currently
lives in the Dallas area and is very involved in his own professional
studio, Pat Summerall Productions.
