Against All Odds: The Donnie Hixon Story

Against All Odds traces the hardships and ultimate redemption of the other #22, Donnie Hixon, as he journeys from a childhood of hard knocks in the Harrisburg neighborhood of Augusta, Georgia, to Hollywood, USA. Hixon’s unlikely role as stunt double for Burt Reynolds in 1974’s The Longest Yard rights a series of life-altering setbacks as a youngster.

Author of The Augusta National Golf Club; Alister MacKenzies’s Masterpiece, Stan Byrdy deftly weaves this heartbreaking, heroic, and oftentimes humorous tale of Hixon’s life, interspersed with an ample dose of Augusta history. Movie icon Burt Reynolds, Green Bay Packer legend Ray Nitschke, The Godfather of Soul James Brown, the Augusta Riots of 1970, and alleged cover-ups in a small-town police department all play starring roles in this true to life, made-for-Hollywood script.

You will ache with each resounding setback and cheer Donnie’s persistence to achieve in the face of adversity. His enduring friendship with Burt Reynolds coupled with an insider’s stories and pictures of NFL and movie greats on location at Reidsville prison in south Georgia during the fall of 1973 make this a must-read book for film, football, and history enthusiasts alike.