Earl Campbell: Football's Tyler Rose

Award-winning children's author A.J. Chilson is proud to take young readers on a journey through the life of football great Earl Campbell. From a poverty-stricken childhood in Tyler, Texas, Earl learns the game of football, and a legend is born. While his widowed mother is concerned about her son playing a sport that can be violent, Earl does everything to make her proud.



A high school state championship for Tyler is followed in college by a Heisman Trophy as a Texas Longhorn in Austin. Then came a Pro Football Hall of Fame career, mostly with the Houston Oilers (that was their pro football team before today's Texans came along). And at each football stop, fans were excited by Earl's bruising running style (though it has since rendered him disabled).



In the end, Earl Campbell indeed makes his mother proud, becoming an Official State Hero in the Lone Star State.