High School Football in Texas: Amazing Football Stories From the Greatest Players of Texas

by Jeff Fisher

Overview

Savor stories from generations of Lone Star football. Here are tales from under the Friday Night Lights: Future Hall of Famer Drew Brees never got onto the field in his first scrimmage. Mean Joe Greene wanted to be a running back like Jim Brown. And much more!

From the best players to the best coaches and some of the most legendary schools and teams in US history, Texas high school football has it all. In the state that made “Friday Night Lights” famous, High School Football in Texas takes an inside look at the state’s greatness in the sport, from the best players when they were in high school to those who’ve gone on to be stars as collegiate players or pros. It’s about record-setters, trend-setters, and some of the most inspirational families and people you’ll ever meet. Some of the players and coaches featured include

• Mean Joe Greene
• Earl Campbell
• Andy Dalton
• Bob Lilly
• Andrew Luck
• Mike Singletary
• Eric Dickerson
• Tim Brown
• Johnny Manziel
• Y.A. Tittle
• Von Miller
• Forrest Gregg
• And many more!

High School Football America founder Jeff Fisher mixes amazing anecdotes and interviews with the many who’ve experienced Texas high school football from every imaginable angle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683581819
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,067,959
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jeff Fisher is an award-winning journalist and Founder/Editor-in-Chief of High School Football America. He’s an expert in high school football, underscored by his appearance on CNBC talking about the big business of the sport. His national rankings appear on iHeartRadio. Jeff resides in Southern California.

Table of Contents

Introduction: It Starts with a Simple Question xi

Chapter 1 Raymond Berry - Paris High School-Paris, Texas 1

Chapter 2 Bill Bradley - Palestine High School-Palestine, Texas 8

Chapter 3 Drew Brees - Westlake High School-Westlake, Texas 18

Chapter 4 Earl Campbell - John Tyler High School-Tyler, Texas 30

Chapter 5 Andy Dalton - Katy High School-Katy, Texas 38

Chapter 6 Eric Dickerson - Sealy High School-Sealy, Texas 47

Chapter 7 Derwin Gray - Judson High School-Converse, Texas 55

Chapter 8 "Mean Joe" Greene - Dunbar High School-Temple, Texas 65

Chapter 9 Ken Houston - Dunbar High School-Lufkin, Texas 72

Chapter 10 Craig James - Stratford High School-Houston, Texas 78

Chapter 11 Bob Lilly - Throckmorton High School-Throckmorton, Texas 86

Chapter 12 Andrew Luck - Stratford High School-Houston, Texas 93

Chapter 13 Don Maynard - Colorado City High School-Colorado City, Texas 99

Chapter 14 Mike Singletary - Worthing High School-Houston, Texas 105

Chapter 15 Lovie Smith - Big Sandy High School-Big Sandy, Texas 110

Chapter 16 LaDainian Tomlinson - University High School-Waco, Texas 117

Chapter 17 Elmo Wright - Sweeny High School-Sweeny, Texas 125

Chapter 18 Texas Heisman Trophy Winners 133

Tim Brown - Woodrow Wilson High School-Dallas, Texas 134

Baker Mayfield - Lake Travis High School-Austin, Texas 138

Johnny Manziel - Tivy High School-Kerriville, Texas 143

Robert Griffin III - Copperas Cove High School-Cooperas Cove, Texas 146

The Others 149

Chapter 19 Offensive Players 152

The Quarterbacks 153

Sammy Baugh - Sweetwater High School-Sweetwater, Texas 153

Chase Daniel - Southlake Carroll High School-Southlake, Texas 155

Y. A. Tittle - Marshall High School-Marshall, Texas 158

The Running Backs 162

David Overstreet - Big Sandy High School-Big Sandy, Texas 162

Adrian Peterson - Palestine High School-Palestine, Texas 164

The Receivers 167

Dez Bryant - Lufkin High School-Lufkin, Texas 167

Johnny "Lam" Jones - Lampasas High School-Lampasas, Texas 170

The Linemen 173

Forrest Gregg - Sulphur Springs High School-Sulphur Springs, Texas 173

Jerry Sisemore - Plainview High School-Plainview, Texas 175

Chapter 20 Defensive Players 179

Defensive Linemen 180

Brad Shearer - Westlake High School-Austin, Texas 180

Gene Stallings - Paris High School-Paris, Texas 182

Linebackers 185

Jessie Armstead - Carter High School-Dallas, Texas 185

Von Miller - DeSoto High School-DeSoto, Texas 187

Tommy Nobis - Thomas Jefferson High School-San Antonio, Texas 188

Defensive Backs 190

Darrell Green - Jones High School-Houston, Texas 190

Charles Tillman - Copperas Cove High School-Copperas Cove, Texas 192

Chapter 21 Lone Star State Legends 194

Ken Dabbs - Freer High School-Freer, Texas 195

Todd Dodge - Thomas Jefferson High School-Port Arthur, Texas 198

Johnathan Gray - Aledo High School-Aledo, Texas 204

Kenneth Hall - Sugar Land High School-Sugar Land, Texas 206

Alan Lowry - Irving High School-Irving, Texas 214

Chapter 22 Prairie View Interscholastic League 218

Cliff Branch - Worthing High School-Houston, Texas 220

Jerry LeVias - Hebert High School-Beaumont, Texas 221

Bubba Smith - Charlton-Pollard High School-Beaumont, Texas 224

Charley Taylor - Dalworth High School-Grand Prairie, Texas 225

Chapter 23 The Top Texas High School Football Teams Sending Players to the NFL 227

Ball High School Tornadoes NFL Alumni 228

South Oak Cliff High School Golden Bears NFL Alumni 229

NFL Players Ail-Time by State 231

NFL Players All-Time by Schools 231

Editorial Reviews

There's a reason Texas high school football inhabits a sacred place in America's sporting imagination and Jeff Fisher sits you down next to the Lone Star legends who explain how they put it there. His deft storytelling and understanding of how the power of a simple game turns boys into men and transforms their communities is a testament to his passion for the sport.”
—Joe Drape, author of The New York Times bestseller Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen

“The legendary origin stories of the game’s greatest players from high school football’s most mythic landscape: Texas! From Drew Brees to “Mean Joe” Green to Earl Campbell, Jeff Fisher goes deep to probe their lives, motivations and field-of-dreams memories. This is Friday Night Lights through the eyes of those who lived and breathed it, a book that both enlightens and entertains. Bravo!"
—Drew Jubera, author of Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and its Team and producer of the Netflix hit documentary series Last Chance U

“Texas High School Football conjures up many things, but at the heart of it all lies stories of wide-eyed teenagers playing for the love of the game and for the communities they represent. Jeff Fisher does a masterful job capturing the essence of being “the best of the best.” He takes you into the hearts and minds of some of Texas’ best and what made them special. He expertly brings each subject back to the innocence of their high school football career and the reader has a front row seat in the press box.”
—Chuck Petersen, Texas high school football coach/former player and 2003 AFCA Assistant College Football Coach of the Year at Air Force

“As a small boy growing up in Texas, I couldn’t get enough of high school football. Other than Dave Campbell’s annual Texas Football magazine, the information was hard to come by. But now, decades later, Jeff Fisher’s book tells the Texas high school football stories of so many of the players I enjoyed growing up watching, like Raymond Berry, Bill Bradley, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, and the list goes on and on. I could not put it down. It’s an enjoyable and easy read and I can’t wait for the next edition!”
—Mark Ball, longtime Texas head coach/athletic director and member of the Texas High School Athletic Director's Hall of Honor

“Fisher has conducted firsthand interviews with several of the biggest Texas names in the world of professional football. They reflect on their high school coaches, teammates, and games, and discuss choices that helped them achieve early stardom. Gridiron fans both in the Lone Star State and outside the state’s borders should find much to enjoy in High School Football in Texas.”
—Si Dunn, Lone Star Book Reviews

"Central Texas is well-represented among the list that Fisher put together, including Temple Dunbar’s “Mean Joe" Greene, the Copperas Cove pair of Robert Griffin III and Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Rosebud-born LaDanian Tomlinson, Lampasas’ Johnny “Lam” Jones, and a posthumous look at Temple-born legend Sammy Baugh. Texas is an obvious gold mine from which to explore."
—Tim Waits, Temple Daily Telegram

"It’s hard to overlook or pick a favorite of the unique anecdotes that Fisher dredges out of his subjects, but some of the forgotten chapters from even the more recent stars are illuminating."
—Cam Smith, USA Today

“There's a reason Texas high school football inhabits a sacred place in America's sporting imagination and Jeff Fisher sits you down next to the Lone Star legends who explain how they put it there. His deft storytelling and understanding of how the power of a simple game turns boys into men and transforms their communities is a testament to his passion for the sport.”
—Joe Drape, author of The New York Times bestseller Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen
“The legendary origin stories of the game’s greatest players from high school football’s most mythic landscape: Texas! From Drew Brees to “Mean Joe” Green to Earl Campbell, Jeff Fisher goes deep to probe their lives, motivations and field-of-dreams memories. This is Friday Night Lights through the eyes of those who lived and breathed it, a book that both enlightens and entertains. Bravo!"
—Drew Jubera, author of Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and its Team and producer of the Netflix hit documentary series Last Chance U
“Texas High School Football conjures up many things, but at the heart of it all lies stories of wide-eyed teenagers playing for the love of the game and for the communities they represent. Jeff Fisher does a masterful job capturing the essence of being “the best of the best.” He takes you into the hearts and minds of some of Texas’ best and what made them special. He expertly brings each subject back to the innocence of their high school football career and the reader has a front row seat in the press box.”
—Chuck Petersen, Texas high school football coach/former player and 2003 AFCA Assistant College Football Coach of the Year at Air Force
“As a small boy growing up in Texas, I couldn’t get enough of high school football. Other than Dave Campbell’s annual Texas Football magazine, the information was hard to come by. But now, decades later, Jeff Fisher’s book tells the Texas high school football stories of so many of the players I enjoyed growing up watching, like Raymond Berry, Bill Bradley, Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, and the list goes on and on. I could not put it down. It’s an enjoyable and easy read and I can’t wait for the next edition!”
—Mark Ball, longtime Texas head coach/athletic director and member of the Texas High School Athletic Director's Hall of Honor
“Fisher has conducted firsthand interviews with several of the biggest Texas names in the world of professional football. They reflect on their high school coaches, teammates, and games, and discuss choices that helped them achieve early stardom. Gridiron fans both in the Lone Star State and outside the state’s borders should find much to enjoy in High School Football in Texas.”
—Si Dunn, Lone Star Book Reviews

"Central Texas is well-represented among the list that Fisher put together, including Temple Dunbar’s “Mean Joe" Greene, the Copperas Cove pair of Robert Griffin III and Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Rosebud-born LaDanian Tomlinson, Lampasas’ Johnny “Lam” Jones, and a posthumous look at Temple-born legend Sammy Baugh. Texas is an obvious gold mine from which to explore."
—Tim Waits, Temple Daily Telegram

From the Publisher