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About Don Yaeger
For the last 30+ years, including his time as Associate Editor of Sports Illustrated magazine, Don has had a front row seat to study the greatest champions of all time.
Don teaches the lessons he's learned from these great champions and team builders to organizations all over the world with live and virtual professional development programs.
To learn more about these programs, and how Don can motivate your team to perform like champions, please visit Don's website at donyaeger.com
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Don Yaeger lives in Tallahassee, FL with his wife Jeanette and their two children Will and Maddie.
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Blog postThe worst job in sports journalism is to be assigned interviews in the loser's locker room. As a reporter, you dread tiptoeing around the emotional landmines that typically surround the losing leader… until this week when I saw two defeated head basketball coaches “win” their postgame interviews.6 days ago Read more
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Blog postThere's something magical about opening day in Major League Baseball. Sure, other major professional sports each have their respective season openers, but there is no landmark on the calendar like the MLB Opening Day.1 week ago Read more
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Blog postIf you were to sift through the NCAA Tournament rubble of busted brackets and nail-biting victories, you would soon uncover, as I did, one truly unique leadership lesson—the ability to manage adversity.2 weeks ago Read more
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Blog postWhile some of your favorite teams and players were cutting down the nets, one remarkable 16-year-old was bracing for an incision that would start a new chapter in her life. Isabella stands just 5-foot-3, but her smile makes her the tallest, most beautiful thing in her hospital.3 weeks ago Read more
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Blog postIn the final play of her final game as the senior captain at Taylor High School in Kokomo, Indiana, the game was tied and Beth Brooke wanted the ball. Every member of her team wanted her to have the ball as well. However, the ending proved emphatically unmovie-like, with Beth leaving the shot short.4 weeks ago Read more
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Blog postThis month, college basketball’s March Madness will claim headlines, dominate television screens nationwide, and serve as team-bonding experiences for many of today’s leading business cultures. But I must admit, there’s no cooler tradition in the sport than “Senior Night.”1 month ago Read more
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Blog postThis season, the basketball world gave me the perfect leadership lesson with a young star named Luka — not NBA all-star guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, but Luka Garza at the University of Iowa.1 month ago Read more
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Blog postThis week, I watched the NBA's Golden State Warriors suffer an embarrassing defeat and then counter it with two steps that truly indicate success is in their near future. Two habits that we should all strive to replicate as we navigate through our respective work environments.2 months ago Read more
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Blog postCollege basketball’s most concerning headline this week is far deeper than the one-and-done conversation that typically is generated when the NCAA’s best players spend a little more than one semester as a full-fledged student-athlete.2 months ago Read more
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Blog postTom Brady has won more Super Bowl titles than any NFL franchise, but let's not exhaust this space by throwing extra superlatives his way. Instead, let’s focus on two angles that received very little attention when the confetti, hugs, and high-fives dominated the championship view.2 months ago Read more
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Blog postThe two teams on this week’s championship stage in Tampa have brought with them a slew of remarkable storylines, but there’s one in particular at which I marvel. No, it’s not 43-year-old Tom Brady seeking to become the only quarterback ever to win seven Vince Lombardi trophies…2 months ago Read more
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Blog postIn the past, one of the hottest sayings in business was to "fail fast." If things aren't working out, whether it is a shift in strategy or a new hire, the phrase suggests cutting ties and doing it quickly. But for Rick Hendrick, a man known for doing everything fast, the phrase holds no truth.2 months ago Read more
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Blog postA Hall of Fame quarterback leaves his fairytale dynasty with the New England Patriots and takes command of a talented team in Tampa, led by a head coach named Bruce Arians who is equal parts brash and innovative. Then that duo goes from Super Bowl favorites to a dysfunctional chemistry experiment.2 months ago Read more
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Blog postA remark made by analyst Cris Collinsworth during the NBC Sports broadcast became instant gold for a leadership lesson I feel we all can learn from.3 months ago Read more
In 2016 the Cubs snapped a 108-year curse, winning the World Series in a history-making, seven-game series against the Cleveland Indians. Of the many storylines to Chicago's fairytale season, one stood out: the late-career renaissance of David Ross, the 39-year-old catcher who had played back-up for 13 of his 15 pro seasons.
Beyond Ross's remarkably strong play, he became the ultimate positive force in the Cubs locker room, mentoring and motivating his fellow players, some of them nearly twenty years his junior. Thanks to Cubs Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, "Grandpa Rossy" became a social media sensation. No one, however, could have predicted that Ross's home run in his final career at bat would help seal the Cubs championship.
Now, in Teammate, Ross shares the inspiring story of his life in baseball, framed by the events of that unforgettable November night.
Opening with an in-depth discussion of the nature of greatness - what it is, what it is not, and why it is worth pursuing - each subsequent chapter of the book consists of a detailed story illustrating one aspect of greatness with examples from the sport's greats that Don Yaeger has interviewed over the past 30 years. Included are practical tips and plans for assisting the reader in implementing new habits, routines, practices, and philosophies of greatness into his or her daily life. It is the strong belief of those whom Don Yaeger has interviewed over the years that greatness is available to all of us. Not in the same way or in the same field, but we all have the capacity to achieve greatness if they'll give dedication to the characteristics defined in this book.
After eight books, many of them bestsellers, A Game Plan for Life was the one closest to John Wooden's heart: a moving and inspirational guide to the power of mentorship. The first half focuses on the people who helped foster the values that carried Wooden through an incredibly successful and famously principled career, including his father, his college coach, his wife, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa. The second half is built around interviews with some of the many people he mentored over the years, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Their testimony takes readers inside the lessons Wooden taught to generations of players, bringing out the very best in them not just as athletes but as human beings.
In all, this is an inspiring primer on how to achieve success without sacrificing principles and how to build one of the most productive and rewarding relationships available to any athlete, businessperson, teacher, or parent-that of mentor and protégé.
Warrick Dunn was only eighteen when his mother, a Baton Rouge police officer, was shot and killed. Yet somehow he managed to enroll at Florida State University and help his team to a national championship during his freshman year—while also caring for his five brothers and sisters. Despite his modest size, Dunn went on to a storied NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons, becoming one of only twenty-three running backs in NFL history to exceed the 10,000-yard career rushing mark. Off the field, he created the Warrick Dunn Foundation and its Homes for the Holidays program, helping single parents achieve first-time home ownership. But in his drive to help others, the one person Dunn neglected was himself, as the pain of his mother's loss led to a spiraling depression that went untreated for years.
Running for My Life details Dunn's struggle to confront his past and face the grief that consumed him for far too long. Thought-provoking and uplifting, it is the story of an exceptional athlete's secret torment and inspiring courage.
Rex Ryan is known for his exuberance . . . and Play Like You Mean It explores every aspect of Ryan’s amazing passion for the game of football, plus the lessons he has learned in leadership and motivation during his years in and around the game. In his own words, Ryan takes readers behind the scenes of the NFL as he shares colorful football stories from his experiences with the Jets and the Ravens as well as his years recruiting players, coaching college football, and growing up as a child of legendary NFL coach Buddy Ryan. Rex’s unique brand of enthusiasm and motivation comes through on every page.
Most of all, fans will get insider access to Ryan’s headline-grabbing, brutally honest, and undeniably entertaining views on the NFL . . . and the very human side of the larger-than-life athletes who devote their lives to the game of football. From Ryan’s acceptance of the Jets head coaching job to his success in turning around a team that has long been number two in New York, from his drafting and believing in Mark Sanchez to kicking off the 2010 season with massive expectations (and a target on his back)—this book goes deep, and entertains on every level.
"In order that there will be no misunderstanding
regarding the eligibility of a candidate,
the recipient of the award must be a bona fide
student of an accredited university.
The recipient must be in compliance with the
bylaws defining an NCAA student."
-- From the ballot for the Heisman Trophy
December 10, 2005: Amid a roaring ovation and media crush, with his family standing proudly by his side, Reginald Alfred Bush is named the year's Heisman Trophy winner. With his honest demeanor, effervescent smile and, of course, stunning talent displayed on the fields of the University of Southern California, Reggie Bush is, on that celebratory night, the portrait of a great American sportsman, and the pinnacle of everything the NCAA espouses in its athletes.
What America didn't know about the acclaimed college star was that, in direct violation of NCAA policies, Bush and his family had allegedly taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts long before he ever laid his hands on the Heisman.
The rumors first surfaced one week before the 2006 NFL draft: allegations of improper benefits that transformed Bush's final year at USC into a financial windfall. The resulting scandal from such charges could mark one of the darkest chapters in college football history. Now, drawn together for the first time in Tarnished Heisman, the facts are laid bare.
Don Yaeger, a former Sports Illustrated investigative reporter who documented the Duke University lacrosse case in the shattering New York Times bestseller It's Not About the Truth, reveals the heated controversy behind Bush's high-flying rise before turning pro for the New Orleans Saints, going back to his first taste of fame, when Bush landed in the pages of Sports Illustrated and all eyes were watching to see what was next for the USC sophomore. What few eyes saw, however, were the ties between Bush and two San Diego men, cofounders of a fledgling sports agency, who claim to have paid Bush and his family in cash and gifts to ensure his endorsement -- benefits including a vintage car, lavish trips, and an upscale home where Bush's family lived rent-free. Don Yaeger exposes the NCAA-prohibited activity in which Bush allegedly engaged, and also shows how USC and its coaching staff appeared to have turned a blind eye to the increasingly luxurious lifestyle of their star athlete and his family.
With the explosive information revealed in Tarnished Heisman, Bush stands to be ruled ineligible -- a decision that could cost his alma mater the 2004 national championship title, force the forfeit of every game Bush played in after losing his eligibility, and potentially strip Reggie Bush of the shining prize of his college career: the Heisman Trophy.
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