Colin Cowherd
The Herd Host and New York Times Bestselling Author
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Colin Cowherd
“The Dynasty is Jeff Benedict's latest masterpiece. . . . It's a relationship book, it's a football book, it's a business book. . . . I was surprised at the level of detail in Robert Kraft's quotes and his willingness to allow [the book] to go to some pretty painful places. . . . If you love football the way I do, you'll just eat up these stories.” (from Amazon)
Jeff Benedict(you?)
Jeff Benedict(you?)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Now a 10-part docuseries on Apple TV+ From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots—the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It’s easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades? In The Dynasty, acclaimed journalist Jeff Benedict provides richly reported answers in a sweeping account based on exclusive interviews with more than two hundred insiders—including team executives, coaches, players, players’ wives, team doctors, lawyers, and more—as well as never-before-seen recordings, documents, and electronic communications. Through his exhaustive research, Benedict uncovers surprising new details about the inner workings of a team notorious for its secrecy. He puts us in the room as Robert Kraft outmaneuvers a legion of lawyers and investors to buy the team. We listen in on the phone call when the greatest trade ever made—Bill Belichick for a first-round draft choice—is negotiated. And we look over the shoulder of forty-year-old Tom Brady as a surgeon operates on his throwing hand on the eve of the AFC Championship Game in 2018. But the portrait that emerges in The Dynasty is more rewarding than new details alone. By tracing the team’s epic run through the perspectives of Kraft, Belichick, and Brady—each of whom was interviewed for the book—the author provides a wealth of new insight into the complex human beings most responsible for the Patriots’ success. The result is an intimate portrait that captures the human drama of the dynasty’s three key characters while also revealing the secrets behind their success. “The Dynasty is…[a] masterpiece…It’s a relationship book, it’s a football book, it’s a business book…you’ll just eat up these stories” (Colin Cowherd).
Recommended by Colin Cowherd
“It is absolutely fantastic. [The] level of reporting is insane. …This book is so fun, it really is. When you bring in the Bob Knight stuff, it is jet fuel to this book. You can’t get enough of this….An absolute must read.” (from Amazon)
Ian O'Connor(you?)
Ian O'Connor(you?)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The definitive biography of college basketball’s all-time winningest coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Mike Krzyzewski, known worldwide as “Coach K,” is a five-time national champion at Duke, the NCAA’s all-time leader in victories with nearly 1,200, and the first man to lead Team USA to three Olympic basketball gold medals. Through unprecedented access to Krzyzewski’s best friends, closest advisers, fiercest adversaries, and generations of his players and assistants, three-time New York Times bestselling author Ian O’Connor takes you behind the Blue Devil curtain with a penetrating examination of the great but flawed leader as he closes out his iconic career. Krzyzewski built a staggering basketball empire that has endured for more than four decades, placing him among the all-time titans of American sport, and yet there has never been a defining portrait of the coach and his program. Until now. O’Connor uses scores of interviews with those who know Krzyzewski best to deliver previously untold stories about the relationships that define the venerable Coach K, including the one with his volcanic mentor, Bob Knight, that died a premature death. Krzyzewski was always driven by an inner rage fueled by his tough Chicago upbringing, and by the blue-collar Polish-American parents who raised him to fight for a better life. With updated coverage of Coach K’s stunning final season, O’Connor shows you sides of the man and his methods that will surprise even the most dedicated Duke fan. “Basketball fans might feel as though they already know Coach K—or Mike Krzyzewski, the decades-long coach of the Duke Blue Devils who’s set to retire after this season. In this insightful biography, sportswriter O’Connor captures the formative experiences and inner drive that catapulted the coach to icon status. Even the most die-hard fans will learn something.” — Washington Post