Another Season »

As coach of the University of Alabama's powerhouse Crimson Tide football team, Gene Stallings encountered plenty of tough situations on the field. But in 1962, as a young protege and assistant under Alabama's legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, Stallings was handed one of the greatest challenges of his life: his newborn son, John Mark, was diagnosed with Down syndrome - a genetic condition that causes mental retardation - and a serious heart defect. Doctors said he probably wouldn't live to see his first birthday. At a time when many families were ashamed of having children who were "different," doctors and friends urged the Stallingses to institutionalize Johnny so he would not be a burden. But for Gene Stallings, putting Johnny in an institution was just not an option: Johnny would always be part of the family, no matter what. And despite the doctors' predictions, Johnny - now thirty-five - leads a full life with his family and friends. Wherever Stallings coached - at Texas A&M, with the Dallas Cowboys, or with the St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals - Johnny was an integral part of the team, whether chatting with the linebackers in the locker room or cheering them on from the sidelines. When Stallings took over as head coach for Alabama, the Crimson Tide took Johnny to heart, and he has become a familiar figure to the legions of Alabama fans. As a coach, Stallings always lived for the next game, the next season, and the season after that. But Johnny's precarious health has taught Stallings to appreciate every day they have together, and to reach out to other families with disabled children.

Publishers Weekly

Stallings, a survivor of Coach Bear Bryant's infamous boot camp at Texas A&M in 1954, became one of Bryant's protgs and subsequently coached at his alma mater, then as an assistant with Bryant and Tom Landry in Dallas and as a head coach for the St. Louis (later Phoenix) Cardinals. He compiled an inconsistent record until he went to Alabama in 1989, where he won 70 games during the next seven years until he retired in 1996. But of as much concern to him, he relates here, as his gridiron victories were the small gains made by his son, Johnny, born in 1962 with Down's syndrome and a defective heart. Writing with freelancer Cook, he relives his initial reaction to the doctor's announcement"We think maybe your baby is a mongoloid" and recalls his confused feelings of shock, anger and self-pity. But he and his wife, Ruth Ann, when told that their son had only a year to live, rejected that diagnosis and set about helping him develop his maximum potential, with aid from his four sisters. Johnny is now 35, holds a paying job and has a fine sense of social adjustment. This story has many moving moments that should give heart to others raising a child with Down's syndrome. Photos not seen by PW. (Aug.)