MIKE Sports Comic Books FREE Series | Volume 4 Football Comics ©2013 New Vision Entertainment www.theemike.com Introduction This FREE book is a collection of 25 clever football comics that bring to life familiar football terms and lampoon old gridiron clichés. A bit of football history and trivia accompanies each comic. Inside, you’ll learn the history of the Heisman Trophy and the origin of the Greatest Show on Turf. You’ll enjoy reading about one of the brightest new NFL stars - RGIII - and the greatest play in NFL history - the Immaculate Reception. You’ll speculate how the Hail Mary Pass defies statistical probability. Plus, you’ll witness how football teams fail to win games because they figuratively shoot themselves in the foot. You’ll smile at iconic football nicknames like Cheeseheads, Touchdown Jesus and Minister of Defense. And, you’ll cringe at arcane football expressions that are still in use today like telegraphing the pass and circling the wagons. You’ll laugh when talented corner backs apply actual blanket coverage and cagey players literally steal a play from the other team’s playbook. The impenetrable Steel Curtain may make you feel a bit restrained and a frightening buzz saw may motivate you to prepare for challenges and avoid running into to one yourself. Whether you root for a blue collar team or a really young team, you’ll want to play your tail off at gut check time. So, before the kicker tacks on the extra point, it’s time to step up and check out this FREE NFL Sports Comic Book. That’s right! Hurry up and read this book before your opponent drives that proverbial final nail in your coffin. Check out these Free Football Comics as well as the XOXO’s of football’s favorite cliches. Read on and you’ll see what I mean. Straight talk. No static. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! Table of Contents Introduction Why read this FREE football comic book? Favorite #25: Blue Collar Team Favorite #24: Touch Down Jesus Favorite #23: Gut Check Time Favorite #22: The Steel Curtain Favorite #21: Buzz Saw Favorite #20: Stole a Play Favorite #19: Other Team Never Showed Up Favorite #18: Played Tails Off Favorite #17: Immaculate Reception Favorite #16: Shot Themselves in Foot Favorite #15: A Really Young Team Favorite #14: Time to Step Up Favorite #13: Telegraph Pass Favorite #12: XOXO Favorite #11: Greatest Show on Turf Favorite #10: Hail Mary Pass Favorite #9: Tacking on Extra Point Favorite #8: Blanket Coverage Favorite #7: Circle the Wagons Favorite #6: Heisman Trophy Favorite #5: RGIII Favorite #4: Nail in Coffin Favorite #3: The Electric Company Favorite #2: Minister of Defense Favorite #1: Cheeseheads FREE Bonus Books Meet the MIKE Makers Why read this book? As the sports world’s ultimate talking head, I immediately connect with readers. Sports fans of all ages love my colorful stories, candid comments and creative content. My books are always entertaining and easy to read. Plus, the unique sports comics that accompany each chapter cleverly capture the essence of the featured player, team, coach, play, sports expression, or in this case, favorite football comics. As an added bonus, I always offer something for FREE in each of my sports comic books. See the back of this book for details. Check out my author profile on Amazon.com, follow me on Twitter and fan me on Facebook. Straight talk. No static. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #25 Football Comic Whether their uniforms are red, green, black or orange, blue collar teams can be found in every sport. Blue collar workers are a blast from the past, a reference to those with jobs requiring physical brawn and a tireless work ethic. Even today, when describing hard scrapple NFL teams, this sports cliché still resonates. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers are traditionally recognized as NFL blue collar teams. They perennially field squads that embody the strong work ethic of their fans. Blue collar teams in the NFL normally play smash mouth football. They regularly run the ball off tackle and boast stout, aggressive defenses. You may never witness ESPN or the NFL Network featuring NFL players carrying aluminum lunch pales, sporting hard hats and donning blue collared shirts. However, the slobber knocker, “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality these tough teams embody guarantees fans lots to root for. Because blue collar teams will always work hard and never back down in any NFL game they play. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #24 Football Comic Along with the 218’ bell tower of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and the gleaming 187’ dome of the school’s administration building, the 210’ tall Hesburgh Library forms the skyline of America’s most recognized Catholic university. An enormous mosaic adorns the entire south side of the library. It towers over the north end zone scoreboard of the University of Notre Dame’s 80,795 seat football stadium. The famous mosaic showcases Christ the Teacher reaching out to others. With his familiar raised arms, Jesus appears to mimic an NCAA football official signaling a touch down. Known throughout the college football world as Touchdown Jesus, this wonderful Word of Life mosaic needs no instant replay or further review to make a call. Any ruling on the field for Notre Dame will always stand because apparently Touchdown Jesus has already signaled a score. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #23 Football Comic You’ll never see an ESPN highlight reel with woefully out-of-shape football players like the ones pictured in this comic. However, sports fans should immediately recognize how this comic brings to life the universally understood expression gut check time. Cheeseburgers aside, critical times in big NFL and NCAA football games require that players be extra tough. To win a game, they have to dig down deep in their bellies and unearth additional energy, grit and courage. As trite as this cliché gets, it never loses its appeal. Coaches and fans always expect their players to play their very best at gut check time. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #22 Football Comic This immovable football wall stood as arguably the National Football League’s best defensive team ever. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s totally tyrannized opposing offenses, helping this franchise capture four Super Bowls – IX, X, XIII and XIV – during that time. Birthed as part of a 1971 Pittsburgh radio station promotion, the Steel Curtain reference was originally created by a ninth grade student. It captured the spirit of both the NFL team and Pittsburgh’s steel mill workforce. The name became a source of pride not only for the team, but also for the City of Pittsburgh. In every season during the 1970s the Steel Curtain finished in all top 10 NFL defensive categories. Whether you want to call this defensive wall immovable or invincible, one thing is certain. With four Super Bowl wins to their credit, this Steelers defense earned its mettle as one mighty Steel Curtain! MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #21 Football Comic In this comic, the Lions picked the wrong day to face the Gators. The scenario could happen in any football game at any level - high school, NCAA or NFL. If a team is not properly prepared – or lets down its guard defensively – they can run into a figurative buzz saw. Even today, this outdated cliché reminds players and fans of an age- old truism. Lack of preparation - mental, physical or both - can result in nasty scrapes. Nobody wants their reeling team showing up on ESPN highlights running into a buzz saw, either literally or figuratively. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #20 Football Comic The image in this comic isn’t a reference to New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick’s famous “Spygate” scandal. It’s a football figure of speech and not a reference to actual thievery. Stealing a play out of another team’s playbook helps describe how a team successfully anticipates what its opponent plans to do on the playing field, and then capitalizes on it. You don’t need to be a Bandit like the one in this comic in order to metaphorically steal the other team’s plays. You just need to be a smart and savvy football player who knows his competition well and anticipates their next move. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #19 Football Comic In the same way the 2013 NFL Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens’ defense intimidated opponents, the fictional Ravens in this comic have similarly followed in their footsteps. No football fan wants to watch a game that’s played without passion or when it appears that one team has figuratively failed to show up. Blowout games resulting from one team being present in body, but lacking in spirit, disappoint both serious players and rabid fans alike. When it comes to familiar football phrases, this one will always remain in our sports vocabularies whenever one team metaphorically fails to show up for a game. MIKE – thee ultimate talking head on sports! #18 Football Comic No need to be a Florida Gator or an LSU Tiger fan to enjoy this humorous clichéd football comic. Whether it’s in a NFL, NCAA or high school game, the scene in this comic plays out every football season. The exhausted looks on the players’ faces, and the tail-less Gator and Tiger team mascots, capture a familiar happening on football fields across America. The mascots’ tails may be missing, but sports fans know that they’ve just watched a great game.