Fumbled Call

The Bear Bryant-Wally Butts Football Scandal That Split the Supreme Court and Changed American Libel Law

David E. Sumner (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

234 Seiten

2018
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-7141-3 (ISBN)

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An Atlanta insurance salesman, George Burnett, accidentally overheard a telephone conversation and became the centre of a scandal that riveted the world of college football in 1962-63. While this case has been written about frequently, Sumner relies on more than 3,000 pages of letters, reports, memos, depositions, and trial transcripts to reveal new facts and information never published before.

Atlanta insurance salesman George Burnett found himself at the center of a football scandal when he overheard a phone conversation between University of Georgia athletic director Wally Butts and University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Butts seemed to be giving Bryant play formations that would help Alabama defeat Georgia 35-0 in the 1962 season opener.

When the Saturday Evening Post published Burnett's story months later, Butts and Bryant successfully sued the magazine for libel. The case went to the Supreme Court where it was upheld in a landmark 5-4 decision that expanded the legal definition of "public figures."

Referencing more than 3,000 pages of letters, depositions and trial transcripts, the author reveals new information about this scandal and its resulting trial.

David E. Sumner is a professor emeritus of journalism at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he taught for 25 years. He has written seven books.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Fumbled Telephone Call

2. The Enigmatic Life of Wally Butts

3. Bear Bryant: The Supercoach

4. The Whistleblower Talks

5. The University Investigates, Butts Resigns

6. The Saturday Evening Post Breaks the Story

7. The Governor and Attorney General Investigate

8. Pre-Trial Hearings Dominate the Summer

9. The Sports Trial of the Decade

10. Bolton and Griffith Testify Against Butts

11. More Coaches Testify

12. Bear Bryant Dazzles the Jury

13. Wally Butts Has His Day in Court

14. The University Presidents Testify

15. Attorneys Make Their Closing Arguments

16. The Jury Reaches a Verdict

17. Why Butts v. Curtis Publishing Matters

Appendix 1—George Burnett’s Notes, Transcribed

Appendix 2—Georgia Football Under Wally Butts, 1939–1960

Appendix 3—Affidavit of George Burnett

Appendix 4—“The Story of a College Football Fix”

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	17.04.2018
Zusatzinfo	12 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	290 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
	Recht / Steuern ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
ISBN-10	1-4766-7141-9 / 1476671419
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-7141-3 / 9781476671413
Zustand	Neuware