Editorial Content for The Boys of Riverside: A Deaf Football Team and a Quest for Glory
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Earl Warren, who served as Chief Justice of the United States, is often memorialized for a quotation unrelated to his tenure on the Supreme Court but is nonetheless a wry observation on life: “I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”
A number of sports history books chronicle remarkable athletic triumphs and give readers a greater sense of how sports can impact life. THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE is that type of work. It all began with a routine email blast from the California Department of Education proclaiming the undefeated season of the Riverside Cubs, the eight-man football squad from the California School for the Deaf. Fuller was the San Francisco bureau chief for the New York Times and was located a good distance from Riverside. But he was drawn to the story, perhaps because he shared Warren’s spirit and belief. Maybe it was time to write about an accomplishment.
"THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE is a deep dive into a silent and unfamiliar world. Thomas Fuller vividly discusses characters and issues with honesty and grace. But more than anything, it’s about the thrill of winning and the importance of teamwork."
So Fuller traveled to Riverside and met with players, coaches and their families. The article he wrote garnered attention for the squad while increasing the pressure on the school to win the state championship. Fuller gave up his reporting job to cover the team for an entire season. THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE is the product of that adventure, an inspirational story and a dazzling book that will have you cheering for the Cubs from beginning to end.
The Cubs play a different game from their 11-man counterpart. Fewer players make for wide-open offenses and higher scoring contests. Furthermore, the school only has around 50 boys in enrollment. The pool of talent to fill a squad, even for an eight-man team, is difficult. Fuller explains many of the differences in the philosophies and strategy of this kind of game. Readers who have never seen a football game played with so few participants will find the discussion informative. Fuller spends a great deal of time introducing and talking about the players. As deaf athletes, their experience in sports makes for an uplifting story.
Readers also will learn about some of the adjustments that deaf teams must make when playing teams whose players can hear. Interestingly, it appears that the football huddle is the product of deaf squads playing other deaf squads and needing to hide their sign language from opponents. Also noteworthy is the development by non-deaf teams of the “silent count,” which they employ for games when fan noise is so loud that hearing signals is impossible. This has long been used by deaf teams as a means of getting plays run without audible signals.
THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE is a deep dive into a silent and unfamiliar world. Thomas Fuller vividly discusses characters and issues with honesty and grace. But more than anything, it’s about the thrill of winning and the importance of teamwork.
Teaser
In November 2021, an obscure email from the California Department of Education landed in the inbox of New York Times reporter Thomas Fuller. The football team at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside was having an undefeated season. After years of covering wildfires, war, pandemic and mass shootings, Fuller was captivated by the story about this deaf football team. It was a sports story but not an ordinary one, built on the chemistry between a group of underestimated boys and their superhero advocate coach, Keith Adams, a deaf former athlete himself. Fuller drove seven hours to the Riverside campus just in time to see them trounce their opponent in the second game of the playoffs. THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE looks back at the historic 2021 and 2022 seasons in which the California School for the Deaf chased history.
Promo
In November 2021, an obscure email from the California Department of Education landed in the inbox of New York Times reporter Thomas Fuller. The football team at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside was having an undefeated season. After years of covering wildfires, war, pandemic and mass shootings, Fuller was captivated by the story about this deaf football team. It was a sports story but not an ordinary one, built on the chemistry between a group of underestimated boys and their superhero advocate coach, Keith Adams, a deaf former athlete himself. Fuller drove seven hours to the Riverside campus just in time to see them trounce their opponent in the second game of the playoffs. THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE looks back at the historic 2021 and 2022 seasons in which the California School for the Deaf chased history.
About the Book
The incredible story of an all-deaf high school football team’s triumphant climb from underdog to undefeated, their inspirational brotherhood, a fascinating portrait of deafness in America, and the indefatigable head coach who spearheaded the team, by New York Times reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief, Thomas Fuller.
In November 2021, an obscure email from the California Department of Education landed in New York Times reporter Thomas Fuller’s inbox. The football team at the California School for the Deaf in Riverside, a state-run school with only 168 high school students, was having an undefeated season. After years of covering wildfires, war, pandemic and mass shootings, Fuller was captivated by the story about this deaf football team. It was uplifting. During the pandemic’s gloom, it was a happy story. It was a sports story but not an ordinary one, built on the chemistry between a group of underestimated boys and their superhero advocate coach, Keith Adams, a deaf former athlete himself. The team, and Adams, tackled the many stereotypes and seemed to be succeeding. Fuller packed his bags and drove seven hours to the Riverside campus just in time to see them trounce their opponent in the second game of the playoffs.
THE BOYS OF RIVERSIDE looks back at the historic 2021 and 2022 seasons in which the California School for the Deaf chased history, following the personal journeys of Keith Adams (their dynamic deaf head coach), a student who spent the majority of the season sleeping in his father’s car parked in the Target lot, a fiercely committed player who literally played through a broken leg in order not to miss a crucial game, and myriad heart-wrenching and uplifting stories of the players who had found common purpose. Through their eyes, Fuller reveals a portrait of high school athletics and deafness in America.
Audiobook available, read by Thomas Fuller
