Synopses & Reviews
On the freezing afternoon of December 12, 1982, the Patriots and Dolphins were deep into the 4th quarter of a snowy scoreless tie. New England, having advanced the ball to the 16 yard line, called timeout as they planned to attempt a 33-yard field goal. At that moment, a John Deere Model 314 tractor came streaking across the field, plowing a swath of grass exactly where kicker John Smith needed to stand. Aided by their freewheeling groundskeeper, the Patriots drove home the game's only points, winning by a 3-0 score.
This remains one of the most enduring moments in the team's 50-year history. Its story, along with that of the miraculous 2001 Super Bowl, the perfect regular season of 2007, and many others, is told in this riveting book. Jim Baker and Bernie Corbett take their oral history format to one of the NFL's most successful and popular franchises, giving voices to key Patriot players and showing us the plays, stunts, and negotiations that built a championship team.
Baker and Corbett let the players themselves tell the war stories that all New England fans love to relive, and in so doing, construct an engrossing and exciting history of the Patriots.
Synopsis
Tom Brady marching the team upfield in the final minute of the 2001 Super Bowl. Troy Brown playing offense, defense, and special teams. The Tuck Rule. A rogue groundskeeper plowing a path for kicker John Smith at the end of a scoreless, snowy game. Gino Cappelletti setting the AFL record for points in a game against the Houston Oilers. These are the moments Patriots fans love to remember, now retold by the players who lived them.
Once a top team in the AFL in the 1960s, the Patriots have returned to glory as one of the NFL's best franchises during the past decade, and enthusiasm for them has never been higher. Sportswriters Jim Baker and Bernard M. Corbett relive the evolution of the team, getting war stories from players like Cappelletti, John Hannah, and Steve Grogan. Moving through the team's biggest games, they put a fresh spin on the stories all Pats fans love, with detail and color from the players who were there, on the field, making history.
The Most Memorable Games in Patriots History is a perfect gift for the serious fan-not just a collectible, but the kind of book you can hunker down and enjoy.
About the Author
Jim Baker is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's "Page 2," which receives more than 100,000 hits daily. He is the coauthor of The Most Memorable Games in Giants History, as well as Change Up: An Oral History of 8 Key Events That Shaped Baseball (Rodale, 2008) and has contributed to such popular books as The Bill James Abstract (a New York Times best-seller); The Bill James Historical Abstract (named one of the best baseball books of all-time by Time Magazine); Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning; and Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders. He was also a regular contributor to the Baseball Prospectus website as well as its annuals. He resides in Austin, Texas, and has spent a lifetime rooting for the football Cardinals. Bernard M. Corbett is the radio voice of Harvard University football and Boston University hockey. He is the author and coauthor of fifteen books, including The Most Memorable Games in Giants History; The Only Game That Matters: The Harvard/Yale Rivalry (Crown/Random House, 2004), as well as The Beanpot: Fifty Years of Thrills, Spills and Chills; On the Ice (with Wayne Gretzky); and On the Court (with Grant Hill). He lives in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and is a lifelong New York Football Giants fan and season-ticket holder.