Iron Tigers

In 1899, the University of the South football team travels over 2,500 miles of rail to battle five formidable foes in six days. The undersized team seeks college football immortality, but bitter conflicts over money, race, and sex threaten to derail their epic endeavor.

During an era of bone-crushing football, a small college team seeks gridiron immortality. It is November 1899 and the Sewanee Tigers depart from their remote mountaintop campus in Tennessee. Traveling by rail to Texas and back, the undersized Tigers battle five formidable foes in six days. The teamʼs audacious manager, Alfie Melville, is devoted to his school and the South. He purposely created a quixotic schedule for the Tigers and fully expects his men to sweep their opponents. If they do, the Tigers will become instant collegiate football legends, shine glory on their beloved Sewanee, and announce the arrival of Southern football. Battered and exhausted, the young men from Tennessee fight prodigious teams on distant gridirons while embroiled in struggles with each other off the field. Deceit, betrayal, and bitter conflicts over money, race, and sex threaten to derail their daring and bold endeavor. To return to Sewanee as heroic, victorious warriors, these teammates must trust and sacrifice for each other. Iron Tigers is inspired by the actual 1899 Sewanee Tigers football squad, which the NCAA News called a team "unequaled for endurance" and the New York Times declared "the greatest college team ever."

Raised in Tennessee and Denver, David Neil Drews was a commercial banker and then an English teacher prior to becoming a writer. He has two bachelor's degrees from the University of Tennessee, one in finance and one in English Literature, and a masters in English Education. Iron Tigers reflects his passion for sports, American history, and fiction. Since attending his first University of Tennessee Volunteers football game in 1970, his blood has run deep orange. Yet, after spending five years researching the legendary 1899 Sewanee football team, some say there is a tinge of purple to his complexion.