New biographies and memoirs bring to the fore the sportscasters who spend their careers lauding the accomplishments of others. Plus there’s a full roster of books by and about high-profile as well as lesser-known athletes.
At the Mic
The Steamer
Andy Furillo
Santa Monica, May
For 60 years, Bud Furillo covered Southern California sports on local radio and in his Los Angeles Herald Examiner column, “The Steam Room.” Andy Furillo, his son and a longtime reporter for the Sacramento Bee, tracks L.A.’s rise as a dynamic sports town through the prism of his father’s work.
Playing Hurt
John Saunders
Da Capo, June
A sportscaster on ESPN and ABC, Saunders chronicles his lifelong battle with depression against the backdrop of professional sports, an arena in which discussion of psychological illness has historically been taboo.
Lucky Bastard
Joe Buck
Dutton, Nov.
The NFL and MLB broadcaster for Fox Sports discusses the job he loves and pays tribute to his father, Jack Buck, the longtime announcer for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Big & Boldface
Back from the Dead
Bill Walton
Simon & Schuster, Mar.
Walton, widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history, recounts his injuries and recoveries, his UCLA days under John Wooden, his stellar professional career (1974–1987), and his affinity for the Grateful Dead.
Out of the Rough
Steve Williams
Viking, Apr.
Tiger Woods’s former caddy describes the aftermath of the golf pro’s very public marital scandal and shares stories of life among the sport’s elites over the course of his 36-year career.
Making Waves
Shirley Babashoff, with Chris Epting
Santa Monica, July
U.S. swimmer Babashoff tells of speaking out against performance-enhancing steroids at the 1976 Olympics in this memoir, subtitled My Journey to Winning Olympic Gold and Defeating the East German Doping Program.
The Mannings
Lars Anderson
Ballantine, Aug.
Peyton Manning’s blaze of glory at Super Bowl 50 is only a piece of the story of a family who has dominated football for two generations, from Archie, a quarterback from 1971 to 1984 for the New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers, and Minnesota Vikings, to sons Peyton and Eli.
Belichick & Brady
Michael Holley
Hachette Books, Sept.
The author of two earlier books about the New England Patriots now focuses on the relationship between star player Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick. Through interviews and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Holly explores how the two have worked together, dealt with controversies such as Deflategate, and succeeded in winning two Super Bowls.
QB
Steve Young, with Jeff Benedict
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Oct.
The Super Bowl MVP, two-time NFL MVP, and first-ballot Hall of Famer, who was quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 1987 to 1990, candidly discusses his physical and emotional struggles. A devout Mormon with a perfect GPA and a law degree, Young reveals the difficulty of being an ordinary-size man in a league of giants, his long-undiagnosed anxiety, and the loneliness of not getting married until well after is typical for his Mormon peers.
Gunslinger
Jeff Pearlman
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Nov.
A portrait of Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl–winning, record-breaking Hall of Fame quarterback whose NFL career began in 1991 and spanned nearly two decades. Pearlman is the author of several previous sports books, including 2008’s Boys Will Be Boys (Harper), a biography of the Dallas Cowboys, which has sold more than 92,000 copies in hardcover and trade paper, per Nielsen BookScan.
Uncommon Feats
Moonwalker
Alan Rowan
BackPage, Apr.
With a leavening dose of self-deprecation, Rowan recounts the after-work, all-night excursions during which he climbed every Munro, or Scottish mountain more than 3,000 feet high. Such peaks are named after Hugh Munro, who published the first catalogue of them in 1891.
This Road I Ride
Juliana Buhring
Norton, May
To overcome her grief after the death of the man she loved, Buhring set off from Naples, Italy, to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike.
The Boy Who Runs
John Brant
Ballantine, Aug.
Born into poverty in Uganda, Julius Achon went from boy soldier to world-class runner and Olympian. He is also the founder of Achon Uganda Children’s Fund, a charity that strives to improve the quality of life in rural Northern Uganda.
