From Darkness to Dynasty
The First 40 Years of the New England Patriots
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Narrated by:
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Chris Andrew Ciulla
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By:
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Jerry Thornton
About this listen
Love them or hate them, what the New England Patriots have been able to do over the past 15 years is nothing short of remarkable. In addition to their four Super Bowl championships, the Patriots have the best coach in the league, a smart and savvy front office, and a future Hall of Fame quarterback who is internationally recognized as the face of the NFL. The longer the Patriots continue to dominate on the field, as well as in the media and the American pop culture landscape, the harder it becomes for anyone to remember them as something other than a model franchise and the ultimate paradigm of success and accomplishment.
Anyone, that is, except for Jerry Thornton. It wasn't always sunshine and roses for the Patriots; in fact, for the bulk of their existence, it was exactly the opposite. Though difficult to fathom now, the New England Patriots of old weren't just bad - they were laughably bad. Not so long ago, the Pats were the laughing stock of not only the NFL, but also the entire sporting world.
From Darkness to Dynasty tells the unlikely history of the New England Patriots as it has never been told before. From their humble beginnings as a team bought with rainy-day money by a man who had no idea what he was doing, to the fateful season that saw them win their first Super Bowl, Jerry Thornton shares the wild, humiliating, unbelievable, and wonderful stories that comprised the first 40 years of what would ultimately become the most dominant franchise in NFL history.
Witty, hilarious, and brutally honest, From Darkness to Dynasty returns to the thrilling, perilous days of yesteryear - a welcome corrective for those who hate the Patriots, and a useful reminder for those who love them that all glory is fleeting.
©2016 Jerry Thornton (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL.
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Good but very business heavy vs football milestones
- By Katie Durr on 07-29-24
By: Joe Horrigan
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Tanking to the Top
- The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports
- By: Yaron Weitzman
- Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre. Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game.
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Great history of tanking by Sixers
- By Alan Bernstein on 03-11-23
By: Yaron Weitzman
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Amazing Tales from the Chicago Bears Sideline
- A Collection of the Greatest Bears Stories Ever Told
- By: Steve McMichael, John Mullin, Phil Arvia
- Narrated by: Tony Craine
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The Chicago Bears are more than a football team - they are a legend. Founded in 1919, the Bears have won more regular season games than any other NFL franchise. With 26 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and thirteen retired jerseys, it’s no wonder the Bears can be defined by three phrases: Big, tough, and full of characters. The Bears, like Chicago, are not just people. They are personalities. In Amazing Tales From the Chicago Bears Sideline, Bears fans can hear about the men who have made the Bears one of the greatest franchises in pro football....
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Steve mcmichael
- By teamjed on 08-13-24
By: Steve McMichael, and others
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A Season in the Sun
- The Inside Story of Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Making of a Champion
- By: Lars Anderson
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The extraordinary behind-the-scenes story of how Coach Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came together to deliver one of the most improbable Super Bowl victories in NFL history.
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Forever Tom Brady
- By Michael G. Salardino on 12-26-21
By: Lars Anderson
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Raise a Fist, Take a Knee
- Race and the Illusion of Progress in Modern Sports
- By: John Feinstein, Doug Williams
- Narrated by: John Feinstein
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on dozens of shocking interviews with some of the most influential names in sports, this is the urgent and revelatory examination of racial inequality in professional athletics America has been waiting for. With an encyclopedic knowledge of professional sports, and shrewd cultural criticism, John Feinstein uncovers not just why, but how, pro sports continue to perpetuate racial inequality.
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Another Feinstein triumph
- By Glenn Canning on 12-06-21
By: John Feinstein, and others
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Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
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Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
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Badasses
- The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
- By: Peter Richmond
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A book that explores the enduring legends of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders, Badasses is the definitive biography of arguably the last team to play old-fashioned tough-guy football. Peter Richmond, co-author of the New York Times best seller The Glory Game, offers a fascinating look at the 1970s Oakland Raiders, led by colorful greats from another era.
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Good story, slightly obnoxious author and reader
- By Harry Seaward on 01-06-19
By: Peter Richmond
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Golden Days
- West's Lakers, Steph's Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Jack McCallum
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.
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Very interesting and fun to read
- By Joe on 06-12-18
By: Jack McCallum
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Scribe
- My Life in Sports
- By: Bob Ryan
- Narrated by: Bob Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever since he joined the sports department of the Boston Globe in 1968, sports enthusiasts have been blessed with the writing and reporting of Bob Ryan. Tony Kornheiser calls him the "quintessential American sportswriter". For the past 25 years, he has also been a regular on various ESPN shows, especially The Sports Reporters, spreading his knowledge and enthusiasm for sports of all kinds.
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No my idea of a memoir
- By Michael Friedman on 12-19-14
By: Bob Ryan
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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Tall Men, Short Shorts
- The 1969 NBA Finals: Wilt, Russ, Lakers, Celtics, and a Very Young Sports Reporter
- By: Leigh Montville
- Narrated by: Leigh Montville
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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They don’t set up any better than this. The greatest basketball player of all time–Bill Russell–and his juggernaut Boston Celtics, winners of ten (ten!) of the previous twelve NBA championships, squeak through one more playoff run and land in the Finals again. Russell’s opponent? The fearsome 7’1” next-generation superstar, Wilt Chamberlain, recently traded to the LA Lakers to form the league’s first dream team. Bill Russell and John Havlicek versus Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
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Very good book with a caveat
- By Hebern on 12-06-21
By: Leigh Montville
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Saban
- The Making of a Coach
- By: Monte Burke
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.
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Narrator is awful.
- By kenneth on 08-12-15
By: Monte Burke
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The Yucks
- Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History
- By: Jason Vuic
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before their first Super Bowl victory in 2003, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did something no NFL team had ever done before and that none will ever likely do again: They lost 26 games in a row. It started in 1976, in their first season as an expansion team, and it lasted until the penultimate game of the 1977 season, when they defeated Archie Manning and the New Orleans Saints on the road. It was the beginning of a new streak for a team that had come to be called "The Yucks".
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Fun Listen
- By Dan Junevicus on 08-10-24
By: Jason Vuic
What listeners say about From Darkness to Dynasty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joshua Offenhartz
- 04-20-20
Must Read for Pats Fans
As a millennial, the only Patriots organization I’ve known is a winning one. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and winning football is one of the few constants in an otherwise rapidly changing world. From Darkness to Dynasty is a fabulous, thorough, and humorous review of the first forty years of Patriots’ history and all the turmoil and losses from those years. This book is a must read (or listen) for any Pats fan, especially as the Tom Brady Era comes to an end.
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- jonathan meharg
- 04-18-20
Perplexed
this was a very enjoyable book but for somebody that's pretty big football fan you'll notice there are several facts that are completely wrong. Like Lou Saban being a coach for the Patriots and saying his son Nick had won national titles at Alabama. Well that's not it sucks I think they said they were distant cousins. Then when the hiring of Ron Meyer was brought up it said he just lad SMU to the National Title which SMU never won a national title. There were several other glaring errors that I didn't feel like including but if you're looking for Perfection this book is not for you if you're looking for an enjoyable book about a team you didn't know much about I definitely recommend it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- HBS & MGS
- 11-20-21
Fabulously Narrated
One of the best narrated books that I have listened to. and I have listened to many audio books.
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- Davidgonzalezsr
- 09-19-20
Bazinga
A great history of the Patriots organization from inception to the start of the Dynasty after their first SuperBowl win. I enjoyed learning the history before I was born. I recommend to any Patriots fan or NFL fans in general. The narrator did a great job.
Disclaimer: My enjoyment of the narrator is based on my listening speed. I only leave 5 stars for books I've listened to multiple times. I'll update my review if I listen again.
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- BenRias
- 01-25-18
great narration, great book
for those interested in the current patriots, this book ends at their first super bowl victory in 2001. this book is all about the lead-up to this first victory, and the official start of the Dynasty.
I really appreciated the narrator taking time to add emphasis, use Boston accents, and even nail sarcastic quotes. It was almost like having the author read it himself. Very entertaining read/listen.
the story itself was colorfully written, and the author successfully kept his bias in check, and at minimum, admitted where he was being openly biased.
love or hate the patriots, football fans will enjoy hearing the ugly and hilarious history of such an iconic team.
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3 people found this helpful
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- J. Piper
- 11-11-21
A must for all Pats fans
I lived a lot of this (as a long time fan) and although many times were cringe worthy, Thornton puts a smile on most of the embarrassments. I was at several of the games profiled in the book as well - giving even more perspective. Hard to imagine any franchise has seen the highs and lows that the Patriots have.
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- digger
- 10-23-17
Before Brady and Belichick
Jerry's love of the team and how it interfered with his development in his pre adult years shines through. Funny, well researched and really hits the sweet spot for anyone who grew up a huge Patriots fan before all this crazy success. It's hard to believe there was once a franchise that were bigger screw ups than the Jets, but it actually was the case here in New England. From broken toilets to Clive Rush to the Fairbanks Fiasco, to electrocuted fans, to Zeke Mowatt- all the ugly and insane comedy is here. The narrator captures Jerry's voice.
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2 people found this helpful
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- C Fox
- 03-22-17
Great History
Great stories from the Patriots' past tied together to show how the empire was built.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tom P.
- 01-01-17
A must for the sports fan
A truly well written and hilarious story of rags to riches . This is a must listen for those of us who lived through it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- RICHARD AUFFREY
- 12-30-20
Super Fun Book
I totally enjoyed the book, being a Pat's fan from the start, but forgot about much of the crap that went on.
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