5 FAST, FUN, FOOTBALL FACTS - PART 2

Welcome back! Time for part 2  in our fun football facts post and another teaser from GRIFF MONTGOMERY, QUARTERBACK. I've been asked if my football romance book has real football scenes in it and the answer is "yes" it does, as do the others books in the FIRST & TEN series.

Football Facts 

1. Where do all those footballs come from? Wilson Sporting Goods Company in Ada, Ohio has been the official supplier to the NFL since 1941. They make over 2 million footballs every year!

2.  Only two players have caught, rushed, and thrown a touchdown against the same team in the same game: Walter Payton in 1979 and David Patton in 2001.

3.  Originally, football was most popular in Midwestern industrial towns, its spread and rise in popularity around the U.S. is most often traced to the 1958 NFL Championship game, which has been called the “Greatest Game Ever Played.”

4. That game was played in Yankee Stadium. The game between Baltimore and New York went to sudden death overtime. Final score? Baltimore 23, NY 17. Why was this game so popular? It was televised nationally on NBC. 

5. Another fact that sent this game into star status were the 12 receptions by Raymond Berry for 178 yards and a touchdown. This record stood for 55 years until Demaryius Thomas broke it with 13 receptions in Super Bowl XLVIII. Wow! 
(Thanks to randomhistory.com) 

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Now for 2 short teasers from GRIFF MONTGOMERY, QUARTERBACK (caution, locker room language ahead):
1.

With Spike tucked securely under his arm, Griff pushed open the door to the workout room at the stadium.

“No dogs allowed, Montgomery. And that includes your girlfriend,” snickered Aloysius “Trunk” Mahoney, defensive linebacker.

“Very funny. I’m gonna die laughing.”

“What if he shits in here?” Mahoney cocked an eyebrow at Griff.

“He already took a dump in your helmet, asshole.”

  2.

“Quite a welcoming committee. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“To these animals? Never. Come on.” He took her arm, turning her toward the parking lot and escorting her to her car.

“Some of them are kinda cute. ’Specially the one with the blond hair,” she said, fishing around in her purse.

“Buddy? He’s the biggest man-whore of them all.”

She chuckled as she pulled out her car keys. “Bigger than you?”

“He leaves me in the dust.”

Lauren stopped, her eyes wide. “Wow.”

********

Summary

He wanted a wife. She didn’t want to get married – ever.  Not exactly a match made in heaven. Ten years ago, Griff Montgomery, star quarterback of the Kings and womanizer, became a stand-in father for his widowed sister’s kids. After they moved away, Griff wanted his own family. But where does a “player” go to find his ideal mate?

Having sworn off marriage forever, Lauren Farraday barely kept her life together after her divorce. With her career shaky and depression closing in, the last thing she needed was a courtroom battle with a sexy athlete.

Wary of Griff’s reputation with women, and hiding a secret, Lauren holds on to her heart.  Can the quarterback handle the truth or will he walk away, like he has in the past?     

Buy links:
SECRET CRAVINGS PUBLISHING
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS
ITUNES/APPLE
AMAZON U.K.


Get a sneak preview of BUDDY CARRUTHERS, WIDE RECEIVER, the next in the First & Ten series by signing up for my free NEWSLETTER 
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5 FAST, FUN FACTS ABOUT FOOTBALL!

Welcome! For the next three weeks, I'm going to be posting new fun facts about football and short teasers, every couple of days, from my brand new book, GRIFF MONTGOMERY, QUARTERBACK, first book in the First & Ten series. 
In addition to being a romance writer, I'm also a rabid football fan.  Even though I'm a big fan, I still had to do tons of research. I guess you could say it was a labor of love. 
Watch for the announcement of a new post on Twitter, or follow my blog and you'll be notified automatically when a new post is up. Thanks for stopping by.

 Football Facts

1.  American football sprouted from a combination of rugby and soccer - both from England. This bastard sports child called football took hold on college campuses in the 1800's, and grew from there to capture many U.S. hearts.

2. In the late 1800's a coach named Walter Camp became known as the "father of football" when he created rules regarding downs, distances and scrimmages.

3. The NFL started out in 1920 as the American Professional Football League. Two years later, it changed its name to the National Football League, which is what it's known as today.

4. The Super Bowl is the most watched television event, surpassing the Oscars, March Madness basketball, the World Series (one game) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs (one game).

5. Pigskin? Think again. Footballs are made from cowhide. It takes about 600 cows to make enough footballs for an entire season of NFL games. 

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Here's a snippet from GRIFF MONTGOMERY, QUARTERBACK, my brand new football romance novel:

“What else are you good at, besides grilling and throwing a football?”

“Do you want the PG version or X-rated?” He snickered, his dark eyes dancing with mischief as they skimmed over her skimpy robe, making her shiver.

She laughed.

Griff slipped his hand over her free one. “Or should I show you?” His gaze settled on her lips.

She finished chewing and sat back, checking him out again. His muscles were nicely defined, and the sprinkling of dark chest hair tempted her fingers. She ached to touch him, but resisted. He’s a womanizer. He’ll leave you. He’ll hurt you. “Don’t think so.” She removed her hand to cut another piece of meat.

All buy links HERE

Brief synopsis:

He wanted a wife. She didn’t want to get married – ever.  Not exactly a match made in heaven. Ten years ago, Griff Montgomery, star quarterback of the Kings and womanizer, became a stand-in father for his widowed sister’s kids. After they moved away, Griff wanted his own family. But where does a “player” go to find his ideal mate?

Having sworn off marriage forever, Lauren Farraday barely kept her life together after her divorce. With her career shaky and depression closing in, the last thing she needed was a courtroom battle with a sexy athlete.

Wary of Griff’s reputation with women, and hiding a secret, Lauren holds on to her heart.  Can the quarterback handle the truth or will he walk away, like he has in the past?     

*****

Thanks for coming. If you'd like to know more about me and my books, here's my website and my free newsletter. Please follow the blog for more 5 fast facts.

Trip to San Antonio - Chapter One

YES! I did see the Alamo. It was fascinating  and,surprisingly, very small. I didn't expect San Antonio to be so tropical. But there are palm trees, and 65 degree temperatures! It's lovely and the people are friendly.

I was delighted to see horse-drawn carriages lit with beautiful colored lights at night, gliding along like Cinderella's carriage. This is what they looked like during the day.

THE CONFERENCE

I can't say much about the activities at the Wild Wicked Weekend con, because what happens in San Antonio must stay in San Antonio. But I can share a pics of  the hottest cover models around: Kelli, Axl, Taylor, and Cole.
 

 And singer Jackson Young was there. Here he's with Cheryl and Maranda. Jackson is going to be singing at the Day with the Authors event in Nashville. Whoopee! Love that man!


















This is Cole. He'd be the perfect model for the Devon Drake cover, 4th book in the First & Ten series.

THE HOTEL

The Mengar Hotel is beautiful, old, elegant and haunted! Yep. That's right. Haunted. And I had my first ghostly experience there. But first a few pics of this gorgeous place.

The historic lobby.

 Gorgeous stained glass window in the ceiling.

THE SUPERNATURAL

     I'm not a huge believer in ghosts and stuff. I wasn't. But I am now. Saturday night, I got back to my room before eleven. I went to work, writing because the Internet was spotty. When I got into bed, I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was at an angle, I could only see the 2 on the display and assumed, because of the angle, the one wasn't visible. It was after midnight.
    I woke up and rolled over to glance at the clock. It read 7:41a.m. I was surprised I had slept so late. I pulled back the covers and padded over to the window. After peeking behind the curtain, all I could see was darkness. Something was wrong. Either we were in world's biggest storm or...well, something was wrong.
    I picked up my watch. It read 5.41 a.m.! Yep. And it was right. Someone or something moved the clock ahead by two hours. That's right, TWO HOURS! The clock had been right on target all weekend. I had been in the room the whole time.
    Being too sleepy to think, I fixed the clock and got back in bed. It wasn't until breakfast that I realized what had happened. When I fixed the clock, I noticed you had to hold down the buttons to make the hour move. There was something in that room with me. And it moved the clock two hours ahead. I am a believer.

THE RANCH

I'm on the ranch now. Will update tonight or tomorrow with pictures. It's cold and raining, so we're huddled inside, writing. Hope you have a great day!

Comments welcome!!