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Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story
Courage Beyond the Game The Freddie Steinmark Story Author:Jim Dent Freddie Steinmark was an under-sized but scrappy young man when he arrived in Austin as a freshman at the University of Texas in 1967. Despite the pronouncement by many coaches that he was too small to play college football, Freddie was a tenacious competitor who vowed to start every game as a varsity Longhorn. By the start of the 1969 season, F... more »reddie was making his mark on the college gridiron, but he?d also developed a crippling pain in his thigh that worried his high school sweetheart, Linda. But despite the increasingly debilitating pain, Freddie continued to play throughout the season, helping the Longhorns to rip through opponents like pulpwood. His last game came when the Longhorns rallied to beat Arkansas in a legendary game that has become known as ?the Game of the Century.? Tragically, bone cancer took Freddie off the field when nothing else could. But nothing could extinguish his irrepressible spirit or keep him away from the game?he shocked his doctors and teammates by appearing on crutches on the sidelines of the Cotton Bowl just a month after his leg was amputated at the hip to cheer the Longhorns on to victory over Notre Dame. Although his struggle with cancer would be short-lived, Freddie?s fight would inspire the nation as well as thousands of cancer victims, earning him a special citation from President Nixon. Today, a picture of Freddie hangs in the Longhorn stadium, where players touch it on their way into every game. With this moving story, reminiscent of the cult favorite Rudy and Brian?s Song, Jim Dent once again brings readers to cheers and tears with a truly American tale of resolution and bravery in the face of the worst odds.« less