Another Season

Stallings, a survivor of Coach Bear Bryant's infamous boot camp at Texas A&M in 1954, became one of Bryant's proteges and subsequently coached at his alma mater, then as an assistant with Bryant and Tom Landry in Dallas and as a head coach for the St. Louis (later Phoenix) Cardinals. He compiled an inconsistent record until he went to Alabama in 1989, where he won 70 games during the next seven years until he retired in 1996. But of as much concern to him, he relates here, as his gridiron victories were the small gains made by his son, Johnny, born in 1962 with Down's syndrome and a defective heart. Writing with freelancer Cook, he relives his initial reaction to the doctor's announcement--""We think maybe your baby is a mongoloid""-- and recalls his confused feelings of shock, anger and self-pity. But he and his wife, Ruth Ann, when told that their son had only a year to live, rejected that diagnosis and set about helping him develop his maximum potential, with aid from his four sisters. Johnny is now 35, holds a paying job and has a fine sense of social adjustment. This story has many moving moments that should give heart to others raising a child with Down's syndrome. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)