October 2026
 
Focus: Football
 
Individual football players of Middleton High School: Tampa, Fla. PA 19157
 
 
FEATURED BOOKS FROM THE FLORIDA COLLECTION: 
The Best Bet: the Tell-All of the Biggest Gambling Scandal in the History of NCAA College Football: a Memoir
by Jamall Anderson
 
In his memoir, The Best Bet, Jamall Anderson tells the story of how his once rising career spiraled into gambling on games, and even betting against his own teammates. Co-written with long-time Tampa Bay Times columnist, Ernest Hooper, Anderson's journey details how his decisions at Boston College set off a chain of events that put him on a merry-go-round of disillusionment as he struggled to recapture the promise of his football glory days. 
Big League City: 100 Years of Football in Jacksonville
by Ken Brown

Big League City! 100 Years of Football in Jacksonville chronicles Jacksonville's unmatched gridiron fever, from Florida's first college football game held in the wake of the Great Fire of 1901, to the birth of the Florida-Georgia game and the Gator Bowl Classic, to the numerous professional teams from long-forgotten leagues that have called Jacksonville home. Years in the making with research drawn from thousands of sources, Big League City! is the definitive book on Jacksonville's football history.
Rise of the Seminoles: FSU Football Under Bobby Bowden
by Lew Freedman
 
Bobby Bowden took over as head football coach and, over the next thirty-three years, led FSU to twenty-one bowl game wins and two National Championships. The Rise of the Seminoles is not just about Bobby Bowden; it is about the season that started it all: 1976. Before Bowden took over and the University of Miami gained its notoriety, college football in the state of Florida consisted of the University of Florida. Today, FSU is a football powerhouse and recently won the 2013 National Championship. 
Remembering University of Florida Football
by Kevin McCarthy

When the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City became the University of Florida and moved south to Gainesville in 1906, it had a very fledgling football team, although worthy opponents were difficult to find. Little by little, as the school increased in size and reputation, its football team attracted higher-performing athletes and sterner opponents until it was willing to play any team in the country. In 1966, the team had its first Heisman Trophy winner, but it was not until 30 years later that UF won its first national championship. 
Tales From Gator Swamp: Reflections on Faith and Football
by Danny Wuerffel 

In Danny Wuerffel's Tales from the Gator Swamp, the most beloved and decorated player in Florida history takes you behind the scenes and into the locker room for one of the greatest eras in the annuals of college football. Wuerffel, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, has retired from the NFL now and has finally had the time to look back, reminisce, and share his thoughts about that magical time when he was referred by some as "the greatest passer to ever play college football."

 
HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS:
From the Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection
 
Explore the Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection of over 20,000 images that highlight the history of the Tampa Bay area from the late 1800s to the early 1960s. Below are pictures of Florida's football fields and football players. From top left to bottom right: 1. PA 17186 (University of Tampa's new football stadium: Tampa, Fla.); 2. PA 8595 (Tampa College football team, group portrait on field: Tampa, Fla.); 3. PA 15112 (Plant vs. Hillsborough High School football game, during halftime show [at Phillips Field]: Tampa, Fla.); 4. PA 11232 (Middleton High School football team: Tampa, Fla.) 5. PA 9090 (Graduating football players at the University of Tampa posed on football field: Tampa, Fla.); 6. PA 18667 (1955 football team: Tampa, Fla.); 7. PA 11962 (Buses lined up in front of Tampa Armature Works for their annual football party: Tampa, Fla.); 8. PA  11773 (Riverview Terrace boys' football team and coach: Tampa, Fla.); 9. PA 12234 (Sign for University of Tampa Spartans' home football schedule: Tampa, Fla.).
 
 
 LIBRARY AND TAMPA BAY AREA EVENTS:
Stripped and Script
Thursday, October 8, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Riverview Public Library
 
In this talk, Dr. Kacy Dowd Tillman offers a new perspective on patriotism and the American Revolution by examining the letters and journals of Female Loyalists.
 
Recommended for adults. Registration recommended.
An Overview to Historic Sanborn Maps
Monday, October 19, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
New Tampa Regional Library
 
Some of Tampa's history is found in Sanborn fire insurance maps. They give an amazing insight into our city's growth and change over time. Learn more about them and their uses.
 
Recommended for adults. Registration recommended.
The Buildings that Built Us
Monday, October 26,11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Seminole Heights Branch Library 
 
In this talk, we explore the dynamic relationship between architecture and culture, from the founding era to the present, analyzing how structures have embodied our evolving identity.
 
Recommended for adults.
The Haunted History of Florida
Tuesday, October 27, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library
 
 Experience the darker side of the Sunshine State with this journey into Florida's most historic and unsettling hauntings. Explore ghostly legends rooted in real events and verifiable history.
 
Recommended for adults. Registration recommended. 
Loyalty and Allegiance During the American Revolution
Thursday, October 29, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
John F. Germany Public Library
 
Come explore the variety of factors that could push people into one camp or another on American independence 250 years ago and the often amorphous nature of Revolutionary loyalty.
 
Recommended for adults. Registration recommended. 

ON DISPLAY IN THE FLORIDA HISTORY & GENEALOGY LIBRARY, 4TH FLOOR OF THE JOHN F. GERMANY PUBLIC LIBRARY
 
Entertainment in Florida
 
The video display features photographs of different forms of entertainment in the Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection for over four decades.
 
 
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