The Real All Americans

Abridged
Author: Sally Jenkins
Narrator: David Pittu
Genres: Sports, United States, Football, iPod Audiobooks
Publisher: Random House (Audio)
Date: May 2007
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 0/5
Formats:
  • iPod

Overview

If you’d guess that Yale or Harvard ruled the college gridiron in 1911 and 1912, you’d be wrong. The most popular team belonged to an institution called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Its story begins with Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt, a fierce abolitionist who believed that Native Americans deserved a place in American society. In 1879, Pratt made a treacherous journey to the Dakota Territory to recruit Carlisle’s first students.

Years later, three students approached Pratt with the notion of forming a football team. Pratt liked the idea, and in less than twenty years the Carlisle football team was defeating their Ivy League opponents and in the process changing the way the game was played.

Sally Jenkins gives this story of unlikely champions a breathtaking immediacy. We see the legendary Jim Thorpe kicking a winning field goal, watch an injured Dwight D. Eisenhower limping off the field, and follow the glorious rise of Coach Glenn “Pop” Warner as well as his unexpected fall from grace.

The Real All Americans is about the end of a culture and the birth of a game that has thrilled Americans for generations. It is an inspiring reminder of the extraordinary things that can be achieved when we set aside our differences and embrace a common purpose.

Author Details

Author Details

Jenkins, Sally

Sally Jenkins is a columnist for the Washington Post. In 2002 she won the Associated Press Columnist of the Year Award. She has co-written many bestselling sports books, including "It's Not About the Bike" and "Reach For the Summit" with Pat Summitt.