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Mavericks, Money, and Men
- The AFL, Black Players, and the Evolution of Modern Football
- Narrated by: Jim Woods
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
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Publisher's summary
The American Football League, established in 1960, was innovative both in its commitment to finding talented, overlooked players - particularly those who played for historically black colleges and universities - and in the decision by team owners to share television revenues.
In Mavericks, Money and Men, football historian Charles Ross chronicles the AFL's key events, including Buck Buchanan becoming the first overall draft pick in 1963, and the 1965 boycott led by black players who refused to play in the AFL All Star game after experiencing blatant racism. He also recounts how the success of the AFL forced a merger with the NFL in 1969, which arguably facilitated the evolution of modern professional football.
Ross shows how the league, originally created as a challenge to the dominance of the NFL, pressured for and ultimately accelerated the racial integration of pro football and also allowed the sport to adapt to how African Americans were themselves changing the game.
The book is published by Temple University Press.
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Story
In this revealing, in-depth look at the NFL's greatest quarterback controversy, Adam Lazarus takes listeners into the locker room and inside the huddle to deliver the real story behind the rivalry - when Joe Montana and Steve Young battled on and off the field and forged one of the finest football dynasties of all time. From 1987 to 1994, the two future Hall of Famers spurred each other on to remarkable heights, including three Super Bowl wins and four MVP awards, setting new standards for quarterback excellence.
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Excellent backstory of Montana and Young
- By Jason on 04-28-15
By: Adam Lazarus
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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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Football for a Buck
- The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump. Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America.
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Ahhh the USFL
- By Film Lover on 10-11-18
By: Jeff Pearlman
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The Gipper
- George Gipp, Knute Rockne, and the Dramatic Rise of Notre Dame Football
- By: Jack Cavanaugh
- Narrated by: Nancy Linari
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Win one for The Gipper. Has there ever been a better-known and widely-used exhortative phrase in sports? Not likely. But who was the "Gipper", this mythical-like sports figure whose nickname has aroused, in turn, awe, wonderment, curiosity, and amusement since the second decade of the 20th century, and why is his story important? Answering those questions is the formidable task taken on here by veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh.
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Not sure why my grade 1 teacher was reading this
- By Thomas on 07-23-13
By: Jack Cavanaugh
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Rising Tide
- Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie's Last Quarter
- By: Randy Roberts, Ed Krzemienski
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime. During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath - two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports - changed the game of college football forever.
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Love Alabama football? Read this!!
- By Miss Faulk on 07-16-15
By: Randy Roberts, and others
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The "Down Goes Brown" History of the NHL
- The World's Most Beautiful Sport, the World's Most Ridiculous League
- By: Sean McIndoe
- Narrated by: Sean McIndoe
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Sean McIndoe of Down Goes Brown, one of hockey's favorite and funniest writers, takes aim at the game's most memorable moments - especially if they're memorable for the wrong reasons - in this warts-and-all history of the NHL.
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Fun, fascinating education in hockey history
- By D. Trull on 03-27-19
By: Sean McIndoe
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The National Team (Updated and Expanded Edition)
- The Inside Story of the Women Who Dreamed Big, Defied the Odds, and Changed Soccer
- By: Caitlin Murray
- Narrated by: Andi Arndt
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The US Women’s National Soccer Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals, set record TV ratings, drawn massive crowds, earned huge revenues for FIFA and US Soccer, and helped to redefine the place of women in sports. But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they’ve endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues.
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Too much swearing
- By Rebecca Sheldon on 01-23-20
By: Caitlin Murray
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Players
- The Story of Sports and Money - and the Visionaries Who Fought to Create a Revolution
- By: Matthew Futterman
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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For fans of Michael Lewis, the astounding untold story of how professional sports transformed, in the span of a single generation, from a cottage industry into a massive global business. In the cash-soaked world of contemporary sports, where every season brings news of higher salaries, endorsement deals, and television contracts, it is mind-boggling to remember that as recently as the 1970s elite athletes earned so little money that many were forced to work second jobs in the off-season to make ends meet.
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Starts slow...
- By John on 08-09-16
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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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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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Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
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Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
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Tales from the San Francisco 49ers Sideline
- A Collection of the Greatest 49ers Stories Ever Told
- By: Matt Maiocco, Roger Craig
- Narrated by: David Crommett
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The San Francisco 49ers shaped the NFL throughout the 1980s with their unique blend of precision, panache, and preparation. Three decades later, NFL teams are still copying the system and the methods that made the 49ers unlike any other organization in professional sports. Now fans of this dynamic franchise will relive all the action and thrills of 49ers football through the eyes of one of the greatest San Francisco legends of all time: Roger Craig.
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Boring!
- By JayMK on 05-14-24
By: Matt Maiocco, and others
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The Missing Ring
- How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football's Most Elusive Prize
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Very few institutions in American sports can match the enduring excellence of the University of Alabama football program. Across a wide swath of the last century, the tradition-rich Crimson Tide has claimed twelve national championships, captured 25 conference titles, finished 34 times among the country's top ten, and played in 53 bowl games.
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Fantastic
- By John Rogers on 03-29-18
By: Keith Dunnavant
What listeners say about Mavericks, Money, and Men
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Steven Gerweck
- 10-20-23
A complete history of the AFL
Charles Ross does a superb job breaking down the color line in professional football in "Mavericks, Money, and Men." The NFL closed the door to black athletes, and gradually (and reluctantly) changed their policy over time. The last team to include a black player on their roster was the 1962 Washington Redskins. Attorney General of the U.S. Robert F. Kennedy issued an ultimatum: unless Marshall signed a black player, the government would revoke the Redskins' 30-year lease on D.C. Stadium.
The rival AFL debuted with black players on all of their team's rosters in 1960. Future hall of famer and Super Bowl champion Buck Buchanan was selected in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, however, he wasn't drafted by a NFL team until the 19th round. Buchanan attended Grambling State, a historically black college, and his draft status demonstrated the difference in priorities of the two leagues.
The AFL/NFL rivalry would finally come to an end, as the leagues agreed to a merger, allowing all existing AFL teams to join the NFL's sixteen existing franchises. in 1970. The NFL would adopt some of the AFL innovations such as the two point conversation, revenue sharing, and adding player's names of jerseys. Ross provides a definitive history of the AFL, with the formation of the league at the hands of Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams.
The author documents the black player's fight for equal rights, as many were not allowed to stay at the team's hotels, access Taxis, or dine at restaurants. Due to backlash on civil rights, the 1964 AFL all star game in New Orleans was boycotted. Ross lays out the AFL's timeline overlapping with the ever changing social fabric of the country, and the sport of football becoming the nation's national pastime.
"Mavericks, Money, and Men" is a welcomed addition to this NFL fan's library.
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- S. Jackson
- 04-14-17
Great history of the AFL and black players
Subject matter was excellent. Narrator was a bit stiff however. The lack of emotion in his tone takes away from the really great stories.
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1 person found this helpful
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- TA
- 01-19-23
Oooooowwwwweeeee!!!!
It was captivating from the beginning all the way to the last word spoken. Motivating!
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