Monday, June 16th is a day that had been circled on my sports calendar for several months: the Texas Rangers were off in preparation for Chipper Jones, the Atlanta Braves’ mid-week visit to the temple, and Norm Hitzges’ celebrated coverage of the NBA draft is still ten days away. However, June 16th has held sports significance in my life because of one man, Dave Campbell.

Described by many as the bible of football, Dave Campbell’s “Texas Football” is required reading for fans of the pigskin in the Lone Star State. While a price tag of $9.99 for a magazine may seem steep, DCTF is essentially 3 magazines in 1.

High School

Becoming an increasingly more valuable section of the publication, Dave Campbell’s coverage of high school football (which has long been the state’s pride and joy) is second to none. Much like a professional athlete’s desire to be featured on ESPN’s Sportscenter, high school football players in Texas long for the opportunity to see their name listed in the “Players to Watch” section of the “Texas Football” writeup on their school. In fact, accompanied by the photo button of their young athlete, many mothers will use available desk space to proudly display their son’s achievement for all their coworkers to see. Beyond self-interest and familial pride, the magazine also allows fans to scout their cross-town rival or bi-district playoff match-up. Additionally, the depth of Dave Campbell’s high school coverage is a great resource for researching recruits throughout the state, thereby bolstering its strongest coverage area…

College Football

While Athlon, Lindy’s, and Sporting News make efforts to regionalize their pre-season NCAA magazines by distributing different covers, the national scope of their product leaves room for greater detail and accuracy, especially for the smaller programs in the state. By establishing relationships with local beat writers, DCTF’s now bi-annual release provides readers a look inside the program from people in the know. Even with their commitment to cover all football programs in Texas, DCTF does focus most of its attention on the heavier funded and more enthusiastically followed schools. With segments detailing important position battles, off-season changes, and game by game predictions, the college football coverage in “Texas Football” gives the most die hard fan the boost needed to make it to two-a-days.

Pro Football

Because extensive, detailed coverage of both the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys is already at the fingertips of any fan, the pro football section of DCTF is probably the least valued of the three. That said, a true football fan will agree that due to “the great gap“, there can never be too much NFL reading material. Featuring player profiles, summaries of off-season moves, and even Super Bowl predictions, the pro football section of Dave Campbell’s “Texas Football” focuses the attention on the only team…well, I guess I mean teams that this state concerns herself with.

I’ve made careful effort to be as general as possible because many sports fans consider advanced knowledge of DCTF’s content to be as egregious as ruining the big twist in a movie. That said, Dave Campbell’s “Texas Football” is a good read for all football fans, but as LeVar Burton famously said, “you don’t have to take my word for it”.