Tyndale Signs Another Football Legend

-- Publishers Weekly, 12/10/2008

Tyndale House Publishers has enjoyed several bestselling runs with faith-based football books and is getting ready for its third touchdown. It signed a contract with Joe Gibbs, NASCAR championship team owner, three-time Super Bowl–winning coach, and member of the NFL Hall of Fame, for a July 21, 2009 book Game Plan for Life.

Gibbs views this book as his legacy message, according to Tyndale, one that he hopes will primarily help men lead more productive, meaningful, and God-centered lives. Author Jerry Jenkins will edit the book and Tyndale is planning a significant marketing budget.

Gibbs commissioned a Washington, D.C. public-opinion research firm to survey men nationwide to determine which issues are most important to the "average Joe." The research identified 11 key, "hot button" issues that men age 20 and older wrestle with, including finances, health, relationships, living a life of purpose, finding the right vocation, and overcoming addiction. To tackle these concerns, Gibbs drafted a team of experts to specifically address each one, focusing primarily on what the Bible says about these issues.

A deeply committed Christian, Gibbs has made no secret of his faith, speaking at numerous prayer breakfasts, advertising Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on the hood of one of his race cars at the Daytona 500, and most recently, dedicating his time and resources to building a special ministry through Joe Gibbs Racing called Game Plan for Life (www.gameplanforlife.com).

Tyndale previous football-related bestsellers included Quiet Strength by Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy. Combined hardcover and paperback sales were more than one million copies. Dungy's next book, Uncommon, will pub on February 17. The publisher also scored a hit with Deanna Favre's Don't Bet Against Me! The memoir by Favre, wife of NFL great Brett Favre, is in its eighth printing, with more than 200,000 copies in print. A third bestseller was The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life by Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel, published this past July.