The Legacy Handoff: Fathers, Sons and the National Football League

For readers of Lars Anderson’s The Mannings and Jeff Benedict’s The Dynasty, Cash Lambert draws on exclusive interviews with NFL fathers and sons—from players and coaches to owners and executives—to uncover the lessons passed between generations: a father-son playbook for football and life.

Of the thousands of players, coaches, owners, executives, officials, broadcasters, and filmmakers in NFL history, only a few hundred sons have followed their fathers into the league. Drawing on firsthand interviews and archival research, The Legacy Handoff uncovers what football families pass from one generation to the next.

After a difficult day with his young children, author Cash Lambert sat down to watch Sunday Night Football when the broadcasters mentioned that coaches on opposing sidelines were themselves the sons of NFL coaches. Lambert began to wonder what those fathers taught their sons not just about football, but also about work and life.

The Legacy Handoff includes the Mannings, Simmses, Harbaughs, Sanderses, Joneses, Shanahans, and Sabols but reaches beyond football’s best-known dynasties. Rick Minter helps his son Jesse enter coaching after ninety-eight rejections, then urges him to leave and learn from someone else. Years later, their roles reverse as Rick joins Jesse’s staff. Emery and Aaron Moorehead become the first father and son to play in and win Super Bowls. Bob Rice, who officiated two Super Bowls, challenged his son Jeff to “go get your own” ring. Jeff eventually earned four Super Bowl assignments of his own.

An insider history of the NFL and an emotionally resonant exploration of fatherhood, The Legacy Handoff reveals the sacrifices, accusations of nepotism, and strained boundaries of an inherited profession and shows how great fathers teach, encourage, and open doors while knowing when to step back.