Contact: 
Todd Starowitz
630-784-5397
toddstarowitz@tyndale.com

Mavis Sanders
630-784-5275
mavissanders@tyndale.com

Carol Stream, Ill. – Drew Brees, the author of Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity, has been named by Sports Illustrated as its 2010 “Sportsman of the Year.” Released this past July 6, and written with Chris Fabry, Coming Back Stronger reached as high as No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal, No. 2 on the Publishers Weekly, and No. 3 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction lists. More than 200,000 copies of the book are in print.

Since its inception in 1954, Sports Illustrated magazine has annually presented the “Sportsman of the Year” award to the “athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.” Past winners have included sports icons Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus, the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, Mary Lou Retton, Michael Jordan, and Lance Armstrong.

Brees guided the New Orleans Saints to the Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, earning Most Valuable Player honors. The autobiography chronicles the incredible comeback story not only of one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks but also the rebirth of a city and a team that many had all but written off.

The lofty rankings on the various bestseller lists puts Brees’s Coming Back Stronger in elite company as one of the bestselling 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 Jackson’s Bo Knows Bo (1990); For the Love of The Game: My Story by Michael Jordan with Mark Vancil, editor (1998); Bad as I Wanna Be by Dennis Rodman (1996); Boz by Brian Bosworth (1988) with Rick Reilly; 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 book 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 of the book 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 58 consumer reviews of the book currently on Amazon, 49 are five-star reviews, while seven are four-star reviews.

Tyndale House Publishers has had great success with sports-related titles in recent years. Tony Dungy’s memoir, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and 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 bestselling 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, debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times hardcover “Advice, How-To” 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 expanded list (top 35). It is now in its 10th 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” 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 bestsellers, 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.

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