Sometimes They Even Shook Your Hand

John Schulian's work has been included in Best American Sports Writing and Sports Illustrated's Fifty Years of Great Writing. His many books include The John Lardner Reader and Twilight of the Long-Ball Gods: Dispatches from the Disappearing Heart of Baseball, both available in Bison Books editions. William Nack is the author of Secretariat: The Making of a Champion and Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance.

"These pieces, and Schulian's longer profiles written for other publications around that time—such as a fine portrait of the cerebral but hard-hitting Bears safety Gary Fencik, for GQ—have traveled well and together capture an era ever worth remembering."—Alan Moores, Booklist "If today's center fielders and point guards seem like lesser figures than men like Maravich and Charleston, that's primarily because they are so much more heavily covered but also because so much of that coverage is needlessly cruel. Without falsely inflating them or hiding their weaknesses, Mr. Schulian made one generation of athletes worthy subjects of wonder. Had Hollywood not called, you suspect, he'd have done the same for another."—Tim Marchman, Wall Street Journal "Whether discoursing on boxing, horse racing, tennis players or Olympic swimmers, John Schulian delivers tales replete with the elements that make fiction come alive. Readers of a certain age will experience a walk down memory lane and others will have the pleasure of meeting some of the greatest, most interesting and human sports figures they have never heard of."—Phyllis Hanlon, New York Journal of Books "Like a pinch hitter who steps to the plate at a crucial point in the game, John Schulian rises magnificently to the occasion. . . . These essays are pungent and heartfelt and knowing. They come at you straight and strong."—Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune "Whichever way you take the title, the book is full of fine writing. Schulian deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as some of his heroes, including the aforementioned Smith and Heinz. Thanks to University of Nebraska Press for collecting this work."—NPR's Only a Game "Looking back through the years in sports reveals much about the culture and society in which we live. It's hard to imagine Babe Ruth getting away with his trysts in a TMZ society. Or Wilt Chamberlain saying whatever comes into his head on Twitter. This is why John Schulian's recent book, Sometimes They Even Shook Your Hand, is an intriguing look back at a time when athletes behaved a lot differently with their fan base."—Krystina Lucido, PressBox

• Foreword by William Nack      Acknowledgments   Introduction      Part 1. Hundred-Yard WarriorsChuck Bednarik: Concrete Charlie    Walter Payton: The Poetry of Silence      Terry Bradshaw: A Country Boy Can Survive Bear Bryant: A Win, and a Coach, for All Time   Dan Hampton: A World of Hurt  John Matuszak: Me and the Tooz      John Matuszak: The Other Side of the Story      John Riggins: Runaway   Dan Marino: A Kid Among Legends     Joe Montana: Easy to Underestimate, Hard to Beat      Gary Fencik: Boola! Boola!     Part 2. Legends of the Box ScoreWillie Mays: Out of the Past  Stan Musial: The Man, Forever Reggie Jackson: The Ego Is a Lonely Hunter      Pete Rose: Pete Belongs in Cooperstown    Nolan Ryan: On Second Thought Johnny Bench: Old Too Young   Earl Weaver: The Earl of Baltimore  Gene Mauch: The Toughest Loss of All      Dick Allen: More a Ghost Than a Legend    Frank Robinson: Hard Game, Hard Man Brooks Robinson: Honored To Be a Hero     Ernie Banks: Mr. Cub Remembers      Bill Veeck: "Bionic Man I'm Not"    Carl Yastrzemski: Family Tradition  Bill Lee: Spaceman      Mark Fidrych: Bird with a Broken Wing     Steve Bilko: The Slugging Seraph    George Brett: Lipstick on a .407 Batting Average      Willie Stargell: The Pirates' Patriarch   Fernando Valenzuela: And a Rookie Shall Lead Them     Jim Palmer: Good-bye Doesn't Come Easy    Oscar Charleston: A One-Way Ticket to Obscurity  Part 3. Hoops and Horses and Everything in BetweenPete Maravich: The Pistol's Parting Shot  Julius Erving: Sky King Larry Bird: The Ultimate Celtic     Big House Gaines: No Way to Treat a Legend      Al McGuire: Sunday's Jester   Ben Wilson: Only the Good Die Young Wayne Gretzky: Borderline Case      Jimmy Connors: Blue Collar at a Tea Dance John Carlos: The Olympic Ideal      Johnny Kelley: The Elder      Ron Turcotte: Rider Down      Buddy Delp: The Happy Anarchist     Bill Shoemaker: A Million for the Shoe     Part 4. Arts and LettersRed Smith: The Write Stuff    W. C. Heinz: The Professional A. J. Liebling: Joe     Mark Kram: Poet and Provocateur     F. X. Toole: One Tough Baby    Part 5. Sweet ScientistsMarvelous Marvin Hagler: The Proud Warrior      Sugar Ray Robinson: He Gave Style a Name  Joe Louis: Larger Than Life or Death      Tony Zale: Raise Your Glass to a Teetotaler     Paddy Flood: One of a Kind    Sugar Ray Leonard: The One-Eyed Man Ray Arcel: A Touch of Class   Roberto Duran: A Man of Stone Roberto Duran: He Cramped His Own Style   Larry Holmes: His Time and No One Else's  Muhammad Ali: No Garden Party Muhammad Ali: Marching Off to Slaughter   Muhammad Ali: Ali! Ali! Ali!  Source Acknowledgments