Kilmeade - Its How You Play the Game: The Powerful Sports Moments That Taught Lasting Values to Americas Finest

My first book, The Games Do Count, examined the early sports lives of seventy-three of Americas best and brightest, not one of whom was a professional athlete. The letters, e-mails, and requests for autographs poured into my small office at Fox & Friends at an incredible rate. The book made a home for itself on the bestseller list for weeks and sold well for over a year. Why?

Well, judging from the letters, readers bought it because it was the first book that told stories we could all relate to. Most of us dont play professional sports, but when we did play in our childhood, we played with passion and conviction, and our experiences on the field marked us for life. The Games Do Count showed that we werent alone, that many men and women ascribed many of the attributes that made them successful to their early experiences playing sports.

At book signings, I got another clue as to what made the book work. I was asked not just to autograph the book but to make it out to my coach, my teammate, my mom, my dad, and so on. Obviously, the book helped many players, coaches, and parents connect at all levels, and for that I am honored.

I believe that Its How You Play the Game will do what the first book did and more. What do I mean? Well, for starters, what do 5'3" Muggsy Bogues and Pope John Paul II have in common? What can Senator Bob Dole and Mary Lou Retton share the next time they see each other? What can NASCARS Jimmie Johnson and NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana tell you about quitting? The answers to these questions and many more will be answered in the upcoming pages.

Its How You Play the Game was not written to teach you how to fight like Lennox Lewis, run like Gale Sayers, or focus like Gary Player. It was written to give you an insiders view of how these great athletes played the game and how playing the game the way they did impacted their lives. Perhaps the lessons they learned can impact yours, too.

A word about how this book is constructed. All the italics are my comments and questions. With the exception of the historic people in the bookRichard Nixon, John Wayne, and George Patton, for instanceeveryone was interviewed exclusively for this project.

Amazingly, I found as much in common between Cal Ripken Jr. and his dad as I did between The Views Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her dad. How could that be the case? Because the results of the game and the colors of the jersey do not matter. Instead, its the effort, ethics, and values that emerge from the sport that counts.

Did you know World Cup star Marcelo Balboa got cut from his soccer team by his dad? Did you know racing legend Tony Stewart was all but finished in his sport before he was twenty because of his dad? What they did when they hit those walls is what this book is about.

This is the only book that I know of that attempts to mesh together historical figures like Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln and grassroots legends like Coach Ken Carter and Notre Dames Rudy, as well as all-time greats like Arnold Palmer, George Foreman, and Mia Hamm. This melding of historical figures with contemporary sports heroes works because the era, the sport, and the place do not matter. What does matter is the way they played the game and how they acted and reacted under pressure, when no one was looking.

Can you really learn values, ethics, and morals by taking part in sports? You bet! After ninety separate interviews with an incredibly interesting collection of people, I have come to the conclusion that sports is the best classroom for life. Im not saying that everyone in this book passed the test every game, every practicenot by a long shot. In fact, many learned the most after ugly moments, like when Ben Crenshaw snapped on the golf course and embarrassed his mom. Stedman Graham, once a demanding, short-tempered basketball teammate and now an ultrasuccessful inspirational businessman, would be the first to admit that if he had never been that fiery hoops star, he would not have become the well-rounded businessman and person he is today.

The inspirational and instructional stories in Its How You Play the Game can give parents a valuable resource to fall back on when your kid isnt playing enough, or playing well, or playing hard, or wants to quit the game. This book can also teach you how to relate to your child if he or she is making every all-star team on the planet, or if he or she couldnt make one on your block.

A player reading this book may find inspiration when he or she needs a kick in the pants. It can also be a source of hope when you think youre the only one struggling on the field. Youll see that the trials and tribulations are just part of the process, and that a coachs insightful, caring, and often stern words can flat-out change a players life. It did for Sean Elliot, George Foreman, Jack Kemp, and countless more.

Why just take in tired axioms, catchphrases, and mottoes when you can expose yourself directly to sports experiences of the men and women you know from politics, business, sports, and history?

What readers wont find in this book are tales of winning. In fact, I was stunned at how little talk there was of championships. Winning is certainly part of their stories, but its not what makes people who they are. After all, its not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game.

BRIAN KILMEADE

• NFL HALL OF FAME, 1989
• 4-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 2-TIME SUPER BOWL MVP, 1979, 1980
• NFL MVP, 1978
• NFL QUARTERBACK, PITTSBURGH STEELERS, 19701983

This isnt nuclear physics, its a game. How smart do you really have to be?

TERRY BRADSHAW

I was a child who needed to be outdoors, and I loved playing any game. My attraction to football was the fascination with throwing this little rubber football. I cant explain it other than to ask, Why do people sing? Why do people dance? Why do people show horses? When I was introduced to a football, it just consumed me. I was determined to make that thing spiral. I didnt know how to do it, but I kept trying. On top of that, every Sunday I watched football with my dad, and I just had to throw the ball like the guys on TV did.

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How did I finally learn to throw? Well, in one word, practice. I was living in Iowa and my dad had this huge blanket. I would lay it on this snowbank and throw the ball into the blanket, and the snowbank would absorb the shock and the ball would roll back down.

And then, in the words of Jim Lampley after George Foreman KOd Michael Moorer, It happened!

One day, I threw it and it spiraled. To make sure I really had it figured out and that it wasnt just a fluke, I did it a few more times until I was convinced. I remember running into the house and hollering to my mother and asking her to come outside and watch this. She knew I was serious, so she came out and sure enough, I did it again. She knew I thought it was a special moment, and that was good enough for her. I havent forgotten it, but this is the first time I ever told that story. Here I was, nine years old, and it was the first thing I did well.