Hail to the Redskins
Gibbs, the Diesel, the Hogs, and the Glory Days of D.C.’s Football Dynasty
(William Morrow, Fall 2015)
A rollicking chronicle that takes fans behind the scenes of the legendary Super Bowl-champion Washington Redskins teams of the Joe Gibbs’ era and offers a revealing portrait of the NFL during the 1980s and early 1990s. Based on more than ninety original interviews, here is the inside story of the glory days of the famed Washington Redskins teams of the Joe Gibbs’ era—one of the most remarkable and unique runs in NFL history.
From 1981 to 1992, Gibbs coached the franchise to three Super Bowl victories, making the team the toast of the nation’s capital, both among the political elite and the city’s majority African-American population. Hail to the Redskins features an epic cast of characters: hard-drinking halfback John Riggins; the dominant, blue-collar offensive linemen known as “the Hogs” who became a cultural phenomenon; quarterbacks Doug Williams, the first African-American QB to win a Super Bowl, and Joe Theismann, a model-handsome pitchman whose leg was brutally broken by Lawrence Taylor on Monday Night Football; gregarious defensive end Dexter Manley, who would be banned from the league for cocaine abuse; and others including Darrell Green, Art Monk, Mark Rypien, owner Jack Kent Cooke, and more.
REVIEWS
Lazarus’ solid, unflashy reporting is celebratory without being worshipful, and his study of what made a winning Washington team click will inspire both nostalgia and yearning among fans.
Kirkus Reviews
A fascinating look at one of the breathtaking one-on-one battles in NFL history…Wonderfully done.
Jeff Pearlman
Author
I called every play in the years described here. Now I walk away from reading Adam Lazarus’s wonderful Hail to the Redskins with a better perspective on how that magic actually happened. Lazarus has talked to virtually everyone involved in coaching, playing for, and reporting on the teams that won three Super Bowl titles and the Hall of Fame coach who led them to glory. Finally, a writer has put it all together in a work that will help you fully appreciate what Joe Gibbs and those around him accomplished during the greatest decade in Washington Redskins history. Hail to Adam Lazarus for a job well done!
Frank Herzog
Former voice of the Washington Redskins
If there is one book to own about those glorious days, when Washington ruled the NFL world, this is it. A great literary ride about a special team. A must have for fans of the team.
Mike Freeman
Bleacher Report
The wildly successful Joe Gibbs era comes alive in Adam Lazarus’s riveting new book about the most important sports team in Washington. Gibbs took a proud but struggling franchise and turned it into a football dynasty. What a delight it is to read this detailed account and live that fascinating story all over again.
Christine Brennan
USA Today columnist
MEDIA
The Sports-Casters
8/26/15
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57
min
ESPN 980 DC The Drive
9/1/15
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10
min