Synopses & Reviews
The legendary Paul Bear Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team - and the beginning of the legend.
The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul Bear Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.
In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.
Jim Dent is the author of The Undefeated, King of the Cowboys, and You're Out and You're Ugly, Too (with Durwood Merrill). A graduate of Southern Methodist University, he is an award-winning journalist who covered the Dallas Cowboys for eleven years and worked in the sports media for more than two decades.
The legendary Paul Bear Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team--and the beginning of the legend.
In August of '54, the town of Junction was a flyspeck on the map of Texas. On a day late in the month, two Greyhound buses weaved through a twisting and narrow two-lane highway. The Texas A&M football team aboard, 115 men strong, would soon arrive in a tiny town with no stoplights, one service station, and precious little else; just outside town, they would find an unforgiving patch of land littered with spartan Quonset huts, rocks, sandspurs, cactus, yellow dust, and gnarled mesquite tress.
As Texas suffered from the devastating drought, so too did Texas A&M football suffer from a drought of heart and talent. To the rescue came Bear Bryant, already a legend in the making, who was in no mood for a picnic. It was in Junction that he would make his stand, and it was there that he would drive home an extreme brand of blood-and-thunder discipline. In a calculated move that many consider the salvation of Texas A&M football, Bryant put his players through the most grueling workouts ever imagined. Beneath a broiling Texas sun, practicing on a drought-scorched field, only a handful would survive the ten-day Aggie Death Camp. The ones who braved the torchlike heat and the burning passion of their coach helped turn a floundering team into one of the nation's best.
The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The 35 survivors bonded together like no other team in America (among the Junction survivors who would greatly influence the game of football were Gene Stallings and Jack Pardee). They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.
I heard the story of the Junction Boys from Gene Stallings when he was on my staff with the Cowboys. Those guys were some of the toughest to ever play the game. Jim Dent has really brought the story to life in a book any football fan would like to read.--Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys
Jim Dent has written a terrific book about a time when college football players cared a great deal more about current Saturdays than they did about future Sundays.--Dan Jenkins, author of Semi-Tough and Dead Solid Perfect
The Junction Boys is a powerful book about a transcendent moment in the history of American sports. Jim Dent's skillful use of dialogue brings Bear Bryant and his rugged band of survivors to life in vivid detail, making you feel their desperation to prove something fundamental and universal about themselves.--Keith Dunnavant, author of Coach: The Life of Paul Bear Bryant
The Junction Boys is destined to become a bright and shining gem in the literature of sport.--Carlton Stowers, author of To the Last Breath
From high school to the pros, the history of football in Texas is stepped in tall tales and tall deeds. But even fifty years later, absolutely nothing matches the legendary status of those ten days in Junction. Amazing stuff. I loved this book.--Randy Galloway, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The story of the Junction Boys remains one of the legendary stories in Texas football history. Jim Dent has brought the story to life in an intriguing style.--Blackie Sherrod, The Dallas Morning Star
Dent has captured the unique spirit and color of a college football season on the brink of hell. Great reading.--Mickey Herskowitz, The Houston Chronicle
The best book on a sports topic I've read in years.--Furman Bisher,
cf0The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
“Its the best sports book Ive ever read.”
- Pat Summerall, Fox Sports
"I heard the story of the Junction Boys from gene Stallings when he was on my staff with the Cowboys. Those guys were some of the toughest to ever play the game. Jim Dent has really brough the story to life in a book any football fan would like to read."
- Tom Landry, former coach of the Dallas Cowboys
"...the best book on a sports topic I've read in years."
- Furman Bisher, The Atlanta Journal Constitution
"Engaging."
- Sports Illustrated
"You'll want to laugh, you might even want to cry, but you'll know what legends are made of by the time you finish this book. They'll be talking about this book for a long time."
- Texas Aggie Magazine
"...highly readable...Dent manages to celebrate the myth and recreate the mystique of the Bear while not glossing over the consequences of the coach's uncompromising drive to win."
- The Birmingham News
Synopsis
The Junction Boy is now a television movie produced by ESPN, starring Tom Berenger as Bryant.
The legendary Paul Bear Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team - and the beginning of the legend.
The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul Bear Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.
In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.
Synopsis
The legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant is recognized nationwide as one of the greatest coaches ever. So why did he always cite his 1-9 A&M team of 1954 as his favorite? This is the story of a remarkable team--and the beginning of the legend.
The Junction Boys tells the story of Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's legendary training camp in the small town of Junction, Texas. In a move that many consider the salvation of the Texas A&M football program, Coach Bryant put 115 players through the most grueling practices ever imagined. Only a handful of players survived the entire 10 days, but they braved the intense heat of the Texas sun and the burning passion of their coach, and turned a floundering team into one of the nation's best. The Junction Boys is more than just a story of tough practices without water breaks. An extraordinary fellowship was forged from the mind-numbing pain. The thirty-five survivors bonded together like no other team in America. They profited from the Junction experience; the knowledge they took back with them to College Station, about themselves and what they were capable of, would be used for the rest of their lives.
In vivid and powerful images reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, Hoosiers, and The Last Picture Show, these young men and their driven coach come to life. The Junction Boys contains all the hallmarks of a classic sports story, and it combines America's love of college football with an extraordinary story of perseverance and triumph.
About the Author
Jim Dent is the author of
The Undefeated, King of the Cowboys, and
You're out and You're Ugly, Too (with Durwood Merrill). He is an award-winning journalist who covered the Dallas Cowboys for eleven years and worked in the sports media for more than two decades. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.