Carol Stream, Ill. – Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity, the recently released memoir by New Orleans Saints quarterback and Super Bowl XLIV Most Valuable Player Drew Brees, written with Chris Fabry, has had a highly successful month. Since its release on Tuesday, July 6, the autobiography has reached as high as No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal list, No. 2 on the Publishers Weekly list, and No. 3 on the New York Times hardcover, nonfiction list for the week ending July 11. On August 29, the book will be on the New York Times list for the sixth consecutive week.

The lofty rankings on the various best seller lists puts Brees’s Coming Back Stronger in elite company as one of the best-selling biographies or autobiographies about an athlete still playing his sport. Its debut at No. 3 on the primary New York Times hardcover, nonfiction list was the highest appearance on the list by an active NFL player since Bo Jackson’s Bo Knows Bo reached No. 2 in 1990. Since 1970, it marked only the eighth time that a current athlete in one of the major four sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) reached at least No. 3 on the list. That list includes the following: Jackson’s Bo Knows Bo; For the Love of the Game: My Story by Michael Jordan and Mark Vancil (1998); Bad as I Wanna Be by Dennis Rodman with Tim Keown (1996); The Boz by Brian Bosworth with Rick Reilly (1988); McMahon! by Jim McMahon with Bob Verdi (1986); Balls by Graig Nettles and Peter Golenbock (1984); and Ball Four by Jim Bouton (1970).

The early success of Coming Back Stronger was buoyed by the effort that Brees himself put into the tour that helped launch the book. He conducted more than 70 print and electronic interviews, including ABC’s Good Morning America, FOX News’s Hannity and On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and an entire day of interviews at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut. He also signed more than 20,000 copies at 12 book signings in seven states (Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey). At many of the signings people camped out overnight to have Brees sign their copy of Coming Back Stronger. 

The book has also been very well received by consumers. Of the 34 consumer reviews of the book currently on Amazon, 29 are five-star reviews, while four are four-star reviews.

The New Orleans Saints kick off the 2010 NFL regular season with a nationally broadcast game against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday, September 9, on NBC. With the probable return of Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, the matchup is expected to be one of the highest-rated regular season NFL games in history.

Tyndale House Publishers has had great success with sports-related titles in recent years. Tony Dungy’s memoir, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life, rocketed to the top spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List in August 2007, and more importantly, impacted countless lives. With more than 1,000,000 copies sold, Quiet Strength is one of the best-selling sports-related titles in history. His second book, Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance, reached No. 2 on the New York Times Best Sellers List in February 2009 and has sold more than 300,000 copies. His most recent book, The Mentor Leader, will debut at No. 2 on the New York Times hardcover “Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous” list on Sunday, August 22.

In 2008, Don’t Bet Against Me!, the memoir of Deanna Favre, wife of NFL great Brett Favre, spent ten consecutive weeks on either the New York Times hardcover nonfiction primary list (top 15) or the expanded list (top 35). It is now in its eighth printing, with more than 200,000 copies in print. Tyndale released The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life by Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel in July 2008, and the book spent eight consecutive weeks on the Times “Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous” list (either primary or expanded), reaching as high as No. 3. It has sold more than 100,000 copies.

In 2009, Super Bowl–winning coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs’s book, Game Plan for Life, reached as high as No. 3 on the Times “Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous” list in August. It has also sold more than 100,000 copies. First Things First: The Rules of Being a Warner, by Kurt and Brenda Warner, reached No. 10 on the Times hardcover nonfiction list in July.

Tyndale House Publishers was founded in 1962 by Dr. Kenneth N. Taylor as a means of publishing The Living Bible. It is now one of the premier publishing houses in the industry. Tyndale products include numerous New York Times best sellers, including the popular Left Behind series. Tyndale also publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, and many other resources for church and family. Tyndale House Publishers is located in Carol Stream, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago.