Into the Fire: A Season of Navy Football, Fortitude and Faith - Softcover

Owen, John

9781440105227: Into the Fire: A Season of Navy Football, Fortitude and Faith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1440105227 ISBN 13: 9781440105227

Publisher: Iuniverse Inc, 2008

For most college football players, practice is the toughest part of their day. For the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy, the twenty-one hours a day that they spend off the field are just as demanding as the three that they spend on the field.The 2007 Navy football season was a testament to courage, resilience, and a sheer determination to never give up. "Into the Fire" recounts the heart-stopping victories and heart-breaking losses, and interweaves stories of the remarkable young men who, week after week, took on teams who were bigger, faster and stronger than they were, but who never flinched in the face of a good fight.In spite of a series of devastating injuries, the Midshipmen put together a season that earned them a place in the record books: - A NCAA-record third consecutive national rushing title. - A record sixth consecutive win over arch-rival Army. - Their eleventh consecutive win over the other two service academies, leaving them one game short of tying the all-time record. - A school-record fifth straight post-season Bowl game. - An historic and dramatic triple-overtime win over Notre Dame, ending Notre Dame's NCAA-record 43 year winning streak over Navy.The football statistics only tell part of the story of the 2007 Navy football team, however. The young Midshipmen-athletes who took the field every week were remarkable and inspiring in their own right. Several players earned national attention for their achievements on and off the field. Many players found themselves thrust into positions of leadership that tested their determination and character. And underlying it all is the reality that each of these remarkable young men is at Navy to prepare themselves to be not just football players, but leaders of our country's Sailors and Marines in a time of war, and young men of character and integrity.Through the words that the chaplain shared with the team at the pre-game meal every week, yo

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About the Author:

Fall Saturday afternoons have been synonymous with college football for John Owen ever since he started attending UCLA games with his dad, a UCLA football alum. A four-year high school player, John's playing days came to an end with graduation, but his love for college football didn't.When, in 2007, he was able to walk onto the field for the first time as Chaplain for the Naval Academy football team, it was every bit as exciting and exhilarating as he thought it would be. His season as Navy's team chaplain reminded him of what is best about college football, and how fortunate America is to have such remarkable young men and women willing to take on roles of responsibility in uniformed service.A native of Pasadena, California, John graduated from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington with a degree in English. After nearly ten years as a helicopter pilot in the U. S. Coast Guard, he entered seminary and received his MDiv degree. He was ordained by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and served a church in Port Angeles, Washington. He returned to active duty as a Navy chaplain in 1998. He has served with a U. S. Marine Air Group, two Navy ships, a Navy Medical Center, and the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He has deployed to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Indonesia in response to the 2004 tsunami. He and his wife have two daughters. For the Owen family, "home" is where the Navy sends them. Currently, that is Annapolis, Maryland, and they love it there. Eventually, however, they hope to settle in the Pacific Northwest, close to both sets of grandparents. Additionally, the family loves camping on their property in the mountains of western Montana.

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