St. Ambrose High, one of the most storied programs in high-school-football history, didn't even have its own football field. But success pulsated from three-story building in Detroit between 1957 and 1967, when tiny St. Ambrose produced five football All-Americas and 12 all-state performers. Many would go on to play major-college football on the campuses of Houston, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Wyoming, and the University of Detroit. Two St. Ambrose products, ends Tom Beer and Gary Nowak, would extend their careers into the National Football League. Two of the coaches, Tom Boisture and his successor George Perles, would go on to win a combined six Super Bowl rings in the NFL. They were all products of St. Ambrose, a place where old-fashioned values reigned, where teamwork was more important than individual glory, and where the football squad was an integral part of a tight-knit community. Rick Gosselin masterfully tells the unique story of the champions of St. Ambrose.
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"Rick not only did an amazing job telling this story, but he did so in a way that causes you to feel like you are a part of the story. Close your eyes and you are there. You feel like you are a member of the St. Ambrose family. You are walking the halls of St. Ambrose. You are at Mass with the entire team -- in full uniform, no less -- just hours before a huge game. You are on the sideline cheering on your teammates against rivals Royal Oak Shrine, Redford St. Mary, and Servite." -- Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz --Introduction
"This book tells a great story of some tremendous athletes and great coaches. It chronicles some of the most dominant high-school football ever played in the state of Michigan. If you re a football historian, you ll recognize many of the names that are mentioned. But, more than anything, it tells of how hard work, team spirit, and community support combined to create a special era at a very special place St. Ambrose High School." -- Former NFL Head Coach Tony Dungy --Foreword
Gosselin is the well-respected NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News and one of the most trusted voices inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame meeting room when the new class is elected each year. At the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis every year, he scurries from one player to the next, meeting all 330 prospects and coming away with a vivid opinion of each. When people ask me about the football writers who love the game the most, I mention Paul Zimmerman and Gosselin first. They don't just love the game; they live it. So when I heard he was writing a football book, I figured it'd be good. Maybe something about the Cowboys, or the old teams he covered in Kansas City. But then I heard it was a high school story, about his old football team in Detroit. St. Ambrose High is a city school, and its story of greatness two generations ago bears retelling. Gosselin does it vividly. St. Ambrose was the "Hoosiers'' of football, a school of 200 students that won five city championships in an eight-year span, beginning 50 years ago ... despite not having a football field to its name. They did it with talented, driven coaches like Tom Boisture and George Perles, both of whom had careers that culminated in Super Bowls. But ask them about their happiest times in football, and St. Ambrose High will be mentioned before the Giants or the Steelers. Gosselin tirelessly explains why. --Si.com
"This book tells a great story of some tremendous athletes and great coaches. It chronicles some of the most dominant high-school football ever played in the state of Michigan. If you re a football historian, you ll recognize many of the names that are mentioned. But, more than anything, it tells of how hard work, team spirit, and community support combined to create a special era at a very special place St. Ambrose High School." -- Former NFL Head Coach Tony Dungy --Foreword
Gosselin is the well-respected NFL columnist for the Dallas Morning News and one of the most trusted voices inside the Pro Football Hall of Fame meeting room when the new class is elected each year. At the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis every year, he scurries from one player to the next, meeting all 330 prospects and coming away with a vivid opinion of each. When people ask me about the football writers who love the game the most, I mention Paul Zimmerman and Gosselin first. They don't just love the game; they live it. So when I heard he was writing a football book, I figured it'd be good. Maybe something about the Cowboys, or the old teams he covered in Kansas City. But then I heard it was a high school story, about his old football team in Detroit. St. Ambrose High is a city school, and its story of greatness two generations ago bears retelling. Gosselin does it vividly. St. Ambrose was the "Hoosiers'' of football, a school of 200 students that won five city championships in an eight-year span, beginning 50 years ago ... despite not having a football field to its name. They did it with talented, driven coaches like Tom Boisture and George Perles, both of whom had careers that culminated in Super Bowls. But ask them about their happiest times in football, and St. Ambrose High will be mentioned before the Giants or the Steelers. Gosselin tirelessly explains why. --Si.com
About the Author
Rick Gosselin is the NFL columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He is from Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., and graduated from St. Ambrose High School and Michigan State University. He has covered the NFL for 35 years in New York City, Kansas City and Dallas and won the Dick McCann Award in 2004 for long and distinguished reporting on pro football. He was also enshrined in the 2007 Hall of Fame of The State News, the Michigan State student newspaper.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chuck,
By Coffee Maven (MT PLEASANT, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Goodfellows (Paperback)
Great reading. If you lived in Detroit in the 50's you will remember St Ambrose. Mr. Gosselin captures their story and this era in the Motor City.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
East side memories,
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This review is from: Goodfellows (Paperback)
I absolutely loved this book. As a former east sider and a graduate of the first graduating class (1956) of Austin Catholic High School, I remember Coach Tom Boisture from that 1955 football season. In fact, I interviewed him for the Austin Friar, our school paper, as the sports editor.
This book starts during the summer of 1956, right after I graduated from high school. It very adequately covers an era when high school sports were big in the city of Detroit, especially on the east side. The Goodfellow Game was the biggest game of the year. There is one slight correction concerning an athlete at Austin who graduated in 1957. His correct name was Don Messing, not Don Messie, as he is referred to in the book. Other than that error, the author did a terrific job.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Modern Day David vs. Goliath Story,
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This review is from: Goodfellows (Paperback)
Not only has Rick Gosselin done an historically accurate job of describing how tiny St. Ambrose High School became the football champion of Detroit in the 1950's and 1960's, he has also revealed an intimate portrait of Catholic schools in the same era. The priests, nuns, coaches and players who gave the school its winning spirit are profiled, as well as the behind-the-scenes political maneuvering and recruiting tactics that took St. Ambrose from obscurity to triumph. Gosselin's well-honed writing style make this a fun and exciting read for any fan of high school football, anyone who ever attended parochial schools, or anyone with ties to the Detroit area.
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