Product Description

Bob Lilly is Mr. Cowboy. The humble man from Throckmorton, Texas, often called "the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history," shares his life's journey for the first time in A Cowboy's Life. Lilly recounts his humble beginnings in Texas, being the first player ever drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1961, his induction into the Ring of Honor, and his passion for photography. It's all here: Lilly's innumerable successes, his injuries, the stories of what he did after he retired from the Cowboys, and what he is doing today. Well supplemented with many never-before-published photographs taken by Lilly himself, A Cowboy's Life is the real story of Mr. Cowboy, straight from the man who lived it all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #584830 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From the Publisher
"A man like that comes along once in a lifetime. He is something a little more than great. Nobody is better than Bob Lilly."
--Tom Landry

"Regardless of whether Bob was double-teamed or even triple-teamed, he'd still beat you. There were times when he didn't even confront the opposition at all. He would either jump over them, go around them, or strategically outsmart them by making the play."
--Roger Staubach, from the foreword

From the Inside Flap
Young, spindly Bob Lilly of Throckmorton, Texas, did not aspire to play professional football. In fact, he almost didn't play football at all after his junior high coach knocked him silly while demonstrating a forearm block. But Lilly picked himself up off the ground and decided to give it one more try, a move that changed his life, and arguably the game of professional football, forever.

Upon graduating from Texas Christian University, Lilly was the number one draft pick of the brand-new Dallas Cowboys organization in 1961. In A Cowboy's Life, Lilly talks for the first time about his long journey from poverty in Throckmorton to his rise to fame as Mr. Cowboy. His insights about the Cowboys could only come from one who was there at the beginning, at the dawning of this new franchise that enchanted football fans across the country and became "America's Team." He breaks down the players, year-by-year, offering interesting and sometimes amusing anecdotes about many of the Cowboys' most famous, and infamous, players from his days on the gridiron.

But to distill Lilly's talent down to just professional football is to do him a disservice. He is also a gentle soul and an artist. A year before joining the Cowboys, Lilly was given a 35mm camera and a year's supply of film as part of his appointment to the Kodak Coaches' All-American Team. Thus began Lilly's lifelong obsession with the art of photography. He photographed Cowboys players and coaches, old sports stadiums, nostalgic Americana, and, most famously, natural settings. Lilly pursues photography to this day and has garnered much attention for his work.

Written in collaboration with Dr. Kristine Setting Clark, A Cowboy's Life gives insight into the life of a legend. Lilly shares with humble candidness the tribulations, the triumphs, and the glory of his life on and off the field.

About the Author
Bob Lilly was the first draft choice of the then-new Dallas Cowboys football team in 1961. During his 14-year career with the Cowboys, he was named All-Pro seven times and played in 11 All-Star games. Lilly was known as "Mr. Cowboy," and when he retired in 1975, the Cowboys bestowed their highest honor upon him by inscribing his name into the Ring of Honor. Five years later Lilly became the first Cowboy inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

After his retirement from football, Lilly pursued his love of photography and in 1984 published Bob Lilly: Reflections, a book of his photographs. During this same period, he also owned and operated a photo gallery in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In 1997 Bob moved to Sun City, Texas, where he and his wife, Ann, enjoy having their four married children and twelve grandchildren, all of whom live in Texas, come to visit often.

University of San Francisco graduate and author Dr. Kristine Setting Clark is a feature writer for the San Francisco 49ers' Gameday magazine. She has authored three other books: Undefeated, Untied, and Uninvited; St Clair: I'll Take It Raw; and Legends of the Hall: 1950s.

In 1977 Dr. Clark was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin's Disease and was given three months to live. She eventually beat the disease after enduring 10 months of blindness caused by the grueling chemotherapy treatments. She is in the process of writing her memoir.

Dr. Clark resides in Northern California with her husband and has two grown children and a grandson.