story of how Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at
the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed
football into a truly national pastime
During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement,
Bear Bryant and Joe Namath—two of the most iconic and controversial figures in
American sports—changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and
urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different
men—Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals
that threatened his career; and Namath, a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town
in Pennsylvania—led the Crimson Tide to a national championship.
To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one
could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965—from the
Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the
assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and
Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965
Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during
prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation.
Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian
Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions—football
and Dixie—collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will
to win, Rising Tide captures a
singular time in American history. More than a history of college football, this is the
story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of
two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.
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