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Quarterback Walk-On
When Denny, the fourth-string quarterback for a Texas college team, suddenly finds himself next Saturday's starter, he gets a chance he never dreamed of and concocts a plan for winning. Reprint.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
About the author
Thomas J. Dygard
23 books11 followersIn His Own Words...
"I can't remember when I first started writing fiction. it was shortly after I began reading fiction, I'm sure.
"I've been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I read a lot of the same kinds of books I'm writing-the John R. Tunis sports stories, for example. I also read a lot of history when I was young-and I still do now. It's always fascinated me.
"When I was a high school senior, I was offered two jobs, both of the apprentice sort. One was in a commercial artist's studio, on a recommendation from my art teacher. The other was in the sports department of the local newspaper, following work on the school paper. I took the sportswriting job.
"For four years I worked for the Arkansas Gazette while attending the University of Arkansas, first at Little Rock and then at Fayetteville, covering football, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, tennis-everything that made up the sports page. After graduation, I joined the Associated Press as a newsman at Little Rock and later worked in AP bureaus in Detroit, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Eventually, I was Chief of Bureau in Little Rock, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Tokyo, Japan. I retired from the Associated Press in 1993 and now live in Evansville, Indiana.
"For me, writing fiction is fun, relaxing, and satisfying-an enjoyable change of pace, a recharging of the batteries.
"My first young adult novel, Running Scared, got started one night in a motel room in Champaign, Illinois, when I had nothing else to do. Before long, the story had me in its grip. The creation of the thing was a fascinating experience. I liked the characters. I liked leading them through their problems to their triumphs. I kept going until one day it was finished.
"I did not set out to write for young people. Looking back, I think it was something of a blessing that 1 did not. As I wrote Running Scared, I imagined the reader as an adult, but after it was finished, it seemed more appropriate for young readers. The result, I think, was that the story did not talk down to teenagers. In every book I've written since, I've tried to keep the same approach."
"I can't remember when I first started writing fiction. it was shortly after I began reading fiction, I'm sure.
"I've been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I read a lot of the same kinds of books I'm writing-the John R. Tunis sports stories, for example. I also read a lot of history when I was young-and I still do now. It's always fascinated me.
"When I was a high school senior, I was offered two jobs, both of the apprentice sort. One was in a commercial artist's studio, on a recommendation from my art teacher. The other was in the sports department of the local newspaper, following work on the school paper. I took the sportswriting job.
"For four years I worked for the Arkansas Gazette while attending the University of Arkansas, first at Little Rock and then at Fayetteville, covering football, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, tennis-everything that made up the sports page. After graduation, I joined the Associated Press as a newsman at Little Rock and later worked in AP bureaus in Detroit, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Eventually, I was Chief of Bureau in Little Rock, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Tokyo, Japan. I retired from the Associated Press in 1993 and now live in Evansville, Indiana.
"For me, writing fiction is fun, relaxing, and satisfying-an enjoyable change of pace, a recharging of the batteries.
"My first young adult novel, Running Scared, got started one night in a motel room in Champaign, Illinois, when I had nothing else to do. Before long, the story had me in its grip. The creation of the thing was a fascinating experience. I liked the characters. I liked leading them through their problems to their triumphs. I kept going until one day it was finished.
"I did not set out to write for young people. Looking back, I think it was something of a blessing that 1 did not. As I wrote Running Scared, I imagined the reader as an adult, but after it was finished, it seemed more appropriate for young readers. The result, I think, was that the story did not talk down to teenagers. In every book I've written since, I've tried to keep the same approach."
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 7, 2017
PERSONAL RESPONSE
The book Quarterback Walk-on is an incredible, inspiring book. Knowing Denny Westbrook's role as a smaller, fourth string quarterback, and then being able to compete at such a high status in a college setting. It really helps me realize that with hard work and determination I can accomplish my dreams.
PLOT SUMMARY
Denny Westbrook is a college-level quarterback, fourth string to be exact. He isn’t anything special, but he is needed as a part of the Red Shirts, or back up football team. His big break comes when the first string quarterback is suspended from Sutton State’s next game. Obviously, the coach doesn’t jump from first string to fourth, but when practicing both the second and third string quarterbacks end up injured and have to sit out. Now it is finally Denny’s time to shine and show his coach what he has to offer. Not only does Denny show that he is capable of winning, the coach actually has Denny replace the first string quarterback. He then goes on to carry the team all throughout the season.
RECOMMENDATION
I would recommend this book to many people, including middle schoolers around the age of 13 or so ranging to high schoolers like 16. It is more of a male influenced book, but any female wanting to read this book I strongly recommend she do. It is somewhat of a challenging book to follow, in my opinion. It jumps from strongly influencing the plot to a random detail that throws the reader off, but it is still a good book for middle schoolers. Last but not least, any sport book fans would love this book. It shows how much someone can do with hard work and is just an overall great story.
July 27, 2019
This story is one that all who aspire to sports greatness but lack the skills to do so will relate to. Denny Westbrook is a walk-on to the Sutton State Cowboys football team. The Cowboys are a national powerhouse in college football and Denny is a physical education major with his career goal being that of a football coach. His knowledge of the game is superb, his role on the team for his years at Sutton State has been to quarterback the scout team, running the plays of their next opponent. While Denny lacks the physical size and skills, his ability to quickly learn offences has proven invaluable.
Through an unusual set of circumstances, fourth-string quarterback Denny Westbrook is suddenly forced into the role of starting quarterback in their upcoming game against Allerton. Fortunately, the team has nearly a week to prepare and Denny comes up with some unusual strategies to use.
After some initial problems and recurring difficulties, the game begins and Sutton State holds their own, being five points behind late in the fourth quarter. Although the conclusion is predictable, the path there is a joy to read. For this is not a story about an unknown rising to the position of a star, it is about a man that understands football so well that he develops an effective strategy to win a game, even though no one thinks they can win with a small and unskilled man at quarterback. This is truly a triumph of brains over brawn.
Through an unusual set of circumstances, fourth-string quarterback Denny Westbrook is suddenly forced into the role of starting quarterback in their upcoming game against Allerton. Fortunately, the team has nearly a week to prepare and Denny comes up with some unusual strategies to use.
After some initial problems and recurring difficulties, the game begins and Sutton State holds their own, being five points behind late in the fourth quarter. Although the conclusion is predictable, the path there is a joy to read. For this is not a story about an unknown rising to the position of a star, it is about a man that understands football so well that he develops an effective strategy to win a game, even though no one thinks they can win with a small and unskilled man at quarterback. This is truly a triumph of brains over brawn.
March 21, 2023
Quarterback walk on by Thomas J. Dygard. Quarterback walk on is a great book about Denny Westbrook, after high school Denny had no offers and eventually ended up going to college just to run the red-shirt offense as quarterback. As much as he liked football and would like to play his bigger goal was to be a football coach, he would study plays and watch film by himself to increase his knowledge after the starting Quarterback got suspended for getting caught drinking and the second and third string QB being injured the team had to rely on Denny. To me the theme of the book would be along the lines of don't give up and keep trying. Denny was hated on by the team no one wanted him to be the starting back and no one even knew if he would be good enough to actually play.Denny was never as big or strong as the other teams and quarterbacks but he was smarter and knew the game better. After Denny started as quarterback the team started to like him and even helped him in many of his victories. To me this was a great book really well put together and it was easier to read the only thing I didn't like about this book. It was very predictable to me just everything that happened for instance after he said “also the 2nd and 3rd strings are out due to injury…” I had a feeling that something about Denny being quarterback would happen. But all in all a good book and i would recommend it to sports people or just teenagers.
December 12, 2018
By: Thomas J. Dygard
The book I read is Quarterback Walk-on by Thomas J. Dygard he did a good job by writing this magnificent book. The lexile level is 810 which is pretty good rating because I didn’t have any trouble reading this excellent book. The plot of the story was kind of dragging on but it was ok to get used to it.
The theme of the book I felt reading dscvz i was to never give up and to always work hard even if you aren’t the best on the team and you will eventually get a chance to play or do something you will alwasy want to do. Just how Denny was chosen to play in a varsity game when he has never played at all. Like I said in the first paragraph the story was really long for just one week and it took me a while to figure out everyone in the story, like Denny was the quarterback for the redshirts and never played on the first team. I feel they shoud’ve told more about Louie St. Pierre and how he was so famous and everyone knew about him.
This is a very goood book and I recommend to anyone in middle school or maybe highschool. I liked this book because it has a very good plot and keeps you reading for more and more everytime I opened this book. It wasn’t too hard for me too read or to understand. It was pretty predicatable because like any book that is a story about an underdog it usually ends in a good way.
The book I read is Quarterback Walk-on by Thomas J. Dygard he did a good job by writing this magnificent book. The lexile level is 810 which is pretty good rating because I didn’t have any trouble reading this excellent book. The plot of the story was kind of dragging on but it was ok to get used to it.
The theme of the book I felt reading dscvz i was to never give up and to always work hard even if you aren’t the best on the team and you will eventually get a chance to play or do something you will alwasy want to do. Just how Denny was chosen to play in a varsity game when he has never played at all. Like I said in the first paragraph the story was really long for just one week and it took me a while to figure out everyone in the story, like Denny was the quarterback for the redshirts and never played on the first team. I feel they shoud’ve told more about Louie St. Pierre and how he was so famous and everyone knew about him.
This is a very goood book and I recommend to anyone in middle school or maybe highschool. I liked this book because it has a very good plot and keeps you reading for more and more everytime I opened this book. It wasn’t too hard for me too read or to understand. It was pretty predicatable because like any book that is a story about an underdog it usually ends in a good way.
March 18, 2022
The book I read is Quarterback Walk-On by Thomas J. Dygard. The book is about a college football player who has never played a game with the actual team. The main quarterback got suspended for staying out after curfew and the second and third string quarterbacks got hurt. Denny Wesbrooke thought he would never play a game with the team but he was the only one left and he ended up bringing his team to a win.
The theme of this book is to not give up without trying. Nobody else on the team wanted him to be their quarterback but after the head coach said he was they had no choice. Denny came up with many different ways to try and catch the other team off guard because he is not as big and strong as the other players. During practices before the game the teammates say he's going to be a champion and failure was not an option for him. Without all of his teammates' help and support he wouldn’t have done so good and helped win the game.
It is a very good book about a quarterback who isn’t the ideal quarterback. Anyone who likes football and likes a harder to read book this is the book for them. The ending of the book is something that you wouldn’t expect. The quarterback who nobody knew wins the game. The author made the whole story very good and it is very suspenseful.
The theme of this book is to not give up without trying. Nobody else on the team wanted him to be their quarterback but after the head coach said he was they had no choice. Denny came up with many different ways to try and catch the other team off guard because he is not as big and strong as the other players. During practices before the game the teammates say he's going to be a champion and failure was not an option for him. Without all of his teammates' help and support he wouldn’t have done so good and helped win the game.
It is a very good book about a quarterback who isn’t the ideal quarterback. Anyone who likes football and likes a harder to read book this is the book for them. The ending of the book is something that you wouldn’t expect. The quarterback who nobody knew wins the game. The author made the whole story very good and it is very suspenseful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2022
The book is called Quarterback walk-on And it is by Thomas J. Dygard and the book is about one player thought he would never play because he didn’t get a offer after high school so he applied to one and he got accepted so he join the football team and he really didn’t want to be a QB cause he always wanted to be a coach but he wanted to play the game he was the fourth string QB and he knew that he would never play but one day the star QB got suspended and the second and third string got injury and he thought they would go to a different to be QB cause they thought they didn’t have a fourth string QB.
The author starts to leave you on cliff hanger and he involves you with on how they feel and make you happy or anxious and he involves some stuff that involve with real life like the QB feels and that he very shorter than other players and that her not as strong as the others and that he can show you the perspective of other players then the main character and that he shows the main character what going on in their life and every move he does.
I should think if your into sports novels then you should read this book because it gives very good points at football and it gives you life lessons and that you should never feel like you are the doing the wrong thing people are saying you are so you should just believe in yourself and never listen to people on what they say to you and that if someone believes that you can then believe in your self that you can do it and that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.
The author starts to leave you on cliff hanger and he involves you with on how they feel and make you happy or anxious and he involves some stuff that involve with real life like the QB feels and that he very shorter than other players and that her not as strong as the others and that he can show you the perspective of other players then the main character and that he shows the main character what going on in their life and every move he does.
I should think if your into sports novels then you should read this book because it gives very good points at football and it gives you life lessons and that you should never feel like you are the doing the wrong thing people are saying you are so you should just believe in yourself and never listen to people on what they say to you and that if someone believes that you can then believe in your self that you can do it and that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.
December 8, 2016
The book Quarterback walk on, is a book that has been on my bucket list for years. I heard about it when I was in eighth grade, but never got the chance to read it until this year. It is every football players dream book. It talks about the ins and outs of college football, and what hard work and determination can do for a kid like Denny Westbrook. Denny is a smart student and walk-on quarterback for the Sutton State Cowboys, a national football powerhouse. He has run the scout team for all five of his years, but now he has the chance to play after injury's and suspensions. Denny plays and leads like a seasoned veteran and leads the cowboys through the rest of the season. Anyone who is looking for a feel good book should read QB walk-on, it is truly and instant classic.
October 17, 2017
This a very good book that takes many unexpected twists and turns. Danny is a 4th string quarterback but ends up starting when playing the rival team. This book was a very good read and was worth 7 points.
April 9, 2021
I have been reading a book called quarterback walk-on by thomas j.dygard. What the book is about it's about a backup quarterback who barely gets put in the game only when the main quarterback gets injured. The main quarterback gets injured so the backup gets to play the next game and they are close to win the state championships game. then they start to win the games that they are playing. And the backup quarterback is doing good and then it gets to the state championship game. Then they made a clutch play and made the state title.
The author made it so people doubt the backup qb. But in the end of the book he makes a clutch play. Makes the reader doubt in the start but in the end he makes a clutch play.
I recommend this book to people that like sports. And like to read about clutch plays and see what a backup quarterback can do.
The author made it so people doubt the backup qb. But in the end of the book he makes a clutch play. Makes the reader doubt in the start but in the end he makes a clutch play.
I recommend this book to people that like sports. And like to read about clutch plays and see what a backup quarterback can do.
September 1, 2008
I watched the BYU opening football game last Saturday and it reminded me of one of my very favorite football books, so I read it again, probably my third time. Thomas Dygard writes great character development stories about sports and I really enjoy them. I have recommended Quarterback Walk-on and Dygard's other books to all of my sports-crazy nephews and all of my daughters to teach them a little more about football, and basketball, and baseball--all the sports settings that Dygard, who has been a sportscaster, has written about. Actually, no, I really recommended them just because they are so fun to read. In this story, Denny Westbrook is an aspiring coach, but since he is small and doesn't have the physical abilities of a natural athlete, he is the quarterback for the redshirt team of the powerhouse Sutton State Cowboys. (For those of you without football basics: the redhsirt team learns the plays of the opponents and then plays against the varsity team in practice skirmishes during the week.) In a series of misfortunes, the varsity team loses their stellar quarterback and the second string and thrid string back-up quarterbacks to suspension and medical problems, so Denny is drafted to be the team's quarterback for their game against the Allerton Lions. This is the only chance he will ever be the starting quarterback in a college football game, and he realizes he will have to win it by his wits rather than his physical abilities. He has to devise not only surprises and new tactics in his teams playing game, he also has to win over his team, the fans, and most of the coaching staff. It's a great story and I suspect that anyone who knows more about football than the little I know will like it even more. A quick, fun, rewarding story to read.
November 3, 2010
Quarterback Walk-On was an excellent book to read. As a fellow athlete I made many comparisions to the main character Denny Westbrook. I like the book because the book relates to life as well as football. I like when the author showed with a a flurry of words the emotions of Denny Westbrook went through when he was named starting Quarterback. I wish that the author would make a sequel to this book so I wouldn't have to imagine what happened the remainder of the football season for Denny. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because the author refrained from straying from the point.
September 15, 2008
Denny Westbrook is the fourth string quarterback for the Sutton State Cowboys. One day the starting quarterback gets suspended and the second and third string quarterback gets hurt. Will Denny's time to shine be one for the memories?
I really enjoyed this book because it kept you thinking about what is going to happen next. If you are a sports fan looking for a book, this is definitley the one.
I really enjoyed this book because it kept you thinking about what is going to happen next. If you are a sports fan looking for a book, this is definitley the one.
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October 8, 2007Dygart, Thomas J. PB
March 7, 2012
Its a touchdown to remember!!!!!!1
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews