Shoot for the Stars: The Legend of Tom Hearden - Faith, Family, and Football Series, #1

He Was Almost Vince Lombardi. Shoot For the Stars recounts the ultimate "What if" story. When the Hearden family moves to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1914, 10-year-old Tom becomes enamored by the growing sport of football. Learning from his boyhood friend Jim Crowley-one of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen-and with the legendary Knute Rockne and Curly Lambeau as his mentors, Tom's lifelong dream becomes to coach the Green Bay Packers someday.
Thus his coaching journey begins. Using the tricks he learned from the masters, he became one of the nation's winningest high school and college football coaches of his era. After a decade of losing, the Packers are fed up. Thus the team's brass turn to "one of their own" for the 1958 season-former top assistant Tom Hearden. Yet for reasons unknown, fate had other ideas. On the eve of being named the Packers head coach, tragedy intervenes.
And in yet another twist of fate, it leads to the Packers' eventual hiring of a former New York Giants coach named Vince Lombardi. PRAISE FOR SHOOT FOR THE STARS "The man who might have been king of the Green Bay Packers gets his due in a football novel that also has elements of a memoir. This book fictionalizes the story of Tom Hearden, who was almost hired by the Green Bay Packers instead of Vince Lombardi.
A rich mix of history, football and characters casts its subject as an incredible man who could have been a legend. Shoot for the Stars is an upbeat, historical-based story featuring real characters and events. It's a love story for the ages, set in the Midwest between 1920-1960, and depicts an underprivileged boy's rise to nearly unimaginable heights. Rich with family and friendships, the story reveals the remarkable tale of one man's journey through the turbulent early decades of American football." - KIRKUS REVIEW