Woody's Boys: 20 Famous Buckeyes Talk Amongst Themselves

When Alan Natali-ex-athlete, professor, writer-set out to record conversations with some of the greatest players in Ohio State University's storied football history, he didn't anticipate that the liveliest, most quotable, and most dominant Buckeye would be a man who had been dead for nearly a decade-OSU's legendary coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes. What began as a book of interviews ended as a striking, insider's picture of bigtime college football. Woody's Boys, artfully shaped, is a collection of first person stories, as though the fan could meet Archie Griffin or Rex Kern at a neighborhood bar, and just talk. It spans the entire Hayes era, and it includes Hayes making quarterback Tom Matte return from the east coast to finish his college degree, and it continues through the Gator Bowl incident-told from a dozen different perspectives-that led to Hayes' retirement. The voices of these men-Jim Parker, Champ Henson, Tom Cousineau, Cornelius Greene, Archie Griffin, Rex Kern, Ken Kuhn, to name a few-reflecting upon their years around a central and all-consuming event-OSU football-become across time powerful echoes of great deeds, valor, dedication, and loyalty-echoes of greatness. Illustrated by artist Greg Storer who played tight end for Woody Hayes on the Rose Bowl team of 1976, the Orange Bowl team of 1977, and the Sugar Bowl team of 1978. 528 pages. Hardcover.