A Big Mess in Texas - by David Fleming (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The incredible, untold true story of the 1952 Dallas Texans-the worst team in the craziest season in NFL history. Rattlesnakes on the practice field, fist fights on the team plane, bounced checks, paternity suits, house bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, stadium fields covered in circus elephant dung, one-legged trainers, humiliating defeats, miraculous wins, All Pro quarterbacks getting drunk at halftime, sex in phone booths, and even a future Hall of Fame coach stealing a cab. Nearly lost to history, this singular season in the most football-mad region of the world is a kaleidoscope of every larger-than-life, fictionalized Texas football folktale ever written or filmed, with one incredible twist: it's all true. Over a fascinating, 10-month rollercoaster ride in 1952, in the waning Wild West days of the NFL, before television turned the game into a corporation, the forgotten Dallas Texans would go down in history as one of the worst teams of all time and the last NFL team to fail. But not before defying the Jim Crow South, pulling off a Thanksgiving Day miracle against George Halas's famed Chicago Bears and then celebrating with an even more infamous bender that would make Jimmy Johnson's Dallas Cowboys blush. A year later, the NFL buried all trace of the most loveable, dysfunctional, entertaining team in history by secretly rebranding the train wreck Texans as the wholesome, all-American Baltimore Colts, the team that would go on to save pro football. A Big Mess in Texas tells the Texans' tale with all the humor, drama, game action, colorful characters, villains, world-class athletes, civil rights trailblazers, and incredible plot twists of that legendary season"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

The incredible, untold true story of the 1952 Dallas Texans--the most dysfunctional team in the craziest season in NFL history.

Rattlesnakes on the practice field, barroom brawls between teammates, bounced checks, paternity suits, house bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, stadium fields covered in circus-elephant dung, one-legged trainers, humiliating defeats, miraculous wins, All-Pro quarterbacks getting drunk at halftime, strip poker with groupies, and even a future Hall of Fame coach stealing a cab.

Nearly lost to history, this singular season in the most football-mad region of the world is a kaleidoscope of every larger-than-life, fictionalized Texas football folktale ever written or filmed, with one incredible twist: it's all true. Over a fascinating, ten-month rollercoaster ride in 1952, in the waning Wild West days of the NFL, before television turned the game into a corporation, the forgotten Dallas Texans would go down in history as one of the worst (and, wildest) teams of all time and the last NFL team to fail. But not before defying the Jim Crow South, pulling off a Thanksgiving Day miracle against George Halas's famed Chicago Bears and then celebrating with an even more infamous bender that would make Jimmy Johnson's Dallas Cowboys blush. A year later, the NFL buried all traces of the most loveable, dysfunctional, entertaining team in history by secretly rebranding the train wreck Texans as the wholesome, all-American Baltimore Colts, the team that would go on to save pro football.

A Big Mess in Texas tells the Texans' tale with all the humor, drama, game action, colorful characters, villains, world-class athletes, civil rights trailblazers, and incredible plot twists of that legendary season.

Review Quotes

"The Texans were a colorful bunch to say the least, and their story is told with skill and flair by David Fleming, one of the best at telling stories of football's historical oddities. It's a hysterical - and at times serious (the Texans were playing in the Jim Crow South, after all) - look at life in the NFL before anyone ever thought to call it the No Fun League." --Sports Illustrated

"David Fleming is a master of the profoundly strange and, just as important, the strangely profound. In his hands, the Dallas Texans become the pre-Cowboys prequel that every football fan ought to know." --Pablo Torre, host and executive producer of Meadowlark Media's award-winning Pablo Torre Finds Out

"Another gem from David Fleming. If you think the Cowboys are a laughable mess, the original NFL team is Dallas was funnier, messier, bawdier! Go get it!" --Bestselling author and Action Network founder Chad Millman

"For the Pro Football fan, this book is a must read." --Book Junkie

"No writer captures the glorious absurdity of sports quite like David Fleming, so it's almost not fair for him to write about the most absurd team in NFL history. Reading Fleming on the 1952 Dallas Texans will make you appreciate that even Jerry Jones can't hold a candle to the chaos of football yesterday." --#1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski

"Dave Fleming has a unique gift for turning up the weirdest, funniest, and most compelling stories in sports--and his account of the Dallas Texans, a team that most NFL fans probably don't know existed, is no different. This book is a must read for Cowboys fans, or anyone who loves a good underdog story." --ESPN's Mina Kimes

"Only David Fleming could write a wickedly funny, impossibly poignant and outrageously unflinching account of one of the craziest, and most important, untold stories in NFL history. This book on the 1952 Dallas Texans will be better than the movie. And trust me: with a story this spellbinding, there will be a movie." --ESPN's Seth Wickersham, New York Times bestselling author of It's Better to be Feared

"A new book on the Dallas Texans' colossally bad first - and only - season is filled with warmth and a wicked sense of humor. It's a story beautifully reconstructed and retold by David Fleming." --The Texas Standard

"Dave does football as well as anybody and his latest book is awesome. It's about one of the wildest teams in NFL history. It's illuminating. I was going to say you will learn a lot about this era of the NFL but you're actually going to learn everything." --Kevin Clark, ESPN

"Dave Fleming has a little bit of Jim Murray in him. There are a lot of funny quips in this story. I loved every minute of A Big Mess in Texas. It's a wonderful book and a great book for Christmas." --Christopher Mad Dog Russo, ESPN, Sirius

"Dave is a master of the craft. I love A Big Mess in Texas. Dave shed so much light on this story and in such a loving, deep and thoughtful way it was really moving. Everyone in my family is going to read this book and have a similar experience to what I had, which is deep gratitude for the work Dave did." --Rhett Miller of the Old 97s, grandson of the 1952 Dallas Texans owner

"So awesome, and enlightening - this book is amazing." --RJ Ochoa, Editor in Chief, Blogging The Boys

"I love Dave's NFL books and you will too. He's one of the best sports writers we've had over the last 30-40-50 years." --Ross Tucker, former NFL player, DraftKings Network, CBS Sports

"The 1952 Dallas Texans are something of a sports blind spot for me, so that made me love the hell out of David Fleming's book." --Mike Piellucci, D Magazine

"An excellent read. This is a great gift book because it feels like a movie. There's definitely a Remember the Titans element to the Dallas Texans story." --Jake Kemp, The Dumb Zone podcast

About the Author

DAVID FLEMING is the author of four books and a Peabody-nominated correspondent for Meadowlark Media. During the last three decades at ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Meadowlark, Fleming has been one of the industry's most prolific, versatile, and imaginative longform storytellers. His unique work has earned numerous national awards as well as a handwritten note from the White House. Fleming is the author of Who's Your Founding Father?, Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship, and, Noah's Rainbow. A native of Detroit, and a former D1 wrestler, Fleming and his wife, Kim, live in North Carolina with their daughters.