Tommy A. Phillips

Tommy A. Phillips is an American sports historian and author based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A member of the Professional Football Researchers Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians, he writes detailed narratives of games and competitions. His books cover professional football, college bowl games, the Olympics, and golf, often reconstructing events through close chronological and play-by-play accounts.

Phillips’s football work includes histories of Penn State’s bowl appearances and Green Bay’s first NFL championship team. His two-volume Tremendous 2000s revisits a decade of professional football through individual games. Beyond that sport, Sundays at the Masters follows decisive final rounds in golf, while The 1980 Moscow Olympics documents a Summer Games that received limited American attention because of the United States boycott.

The choice of a defined event or period gives Phillips’s books a consistent structure across different sports. Bowl histories connect a sequence of postseason games, while the Packers book follows one complete championship season. The Olympic history uses a daily framework, and the Masters account concentrates on final-round play. Each approach aims to preserve the unfolding competition and the people involved rather than present a brief overview of a team or sport.

Football Books

Tremendous 2000s: Volume I (2000–2004): Starting a New Century with a Fun Decade in Pro Football History: Phillips revisits NFL seasons from 2000 through 2004 through detailed accounts of games and the major stories surrounding them. The narrative follows a period when quarterbacks and expanding passing attacks became increasingly influential. It forms the first half of a two-volume decade history, connecting individual contests with the competitive changes that accompanied a new century in professional football. Published in 2026.

Penn State Bowl Games: A Complete History: Phillips traces Penn State’s bowl history from its appearance in the 1923 Rose Bowl through later postseason competition. Play-by-play reconstruction accompanies the people and circumstances behind major games, including the 1948 Cotton Bowl and championship victories in the 1980s. The book uses a defined series of contests to follow changes in the program and its place within college football. Published in 2021.

The Perfect Packers of 1929: Green Bay’s First NFL Championship Team: Phillips reconstructs Green Bay’s unbeaten 1929 NFL championship season through player biographies and accounts of all thirteen official games. Famous figures such as Curly Lambeau, Cal Hubbard, and Johnny Blood accompany less familiar teammates. The narrative follows preseason recruitment through the championship celebrations, preserving the plays, personnel, and circumstances behind the Packers’ first league title. Published in 2026.

Tremendous 2000s: Volume II (2005–2009): Starting a New Century with a Fun Decade in Pro Football History: The second volume of Phillips’s decade history follows professional football from 2005 through 2009. Game accounts accompany the larger stories of an era increasingly identified with prominent quarterbacks and more expansive passing offenses. Read alongside the first volume, the book completes a chronological reconstruction of the decade, focusing on how specific contests contributed to its competitive character. Published in 2026.

Golf Books

Sundays at the Masters: From Jack to Tiger: Phillips reconstructs the final rounds of memorable Masters tournaments, following the shots and changes in fortune behind famous victories. The selection stretches from Jack Nicklaus’s late-career success to Tiger Woods’s return to major-championship victory. Other years include breakthroughs, playoff drama, and decisive collapses, explaining how the tournament’s best-known conclusions developed over the course of a Sunday at Augusta. Published in 2019.

Multi-sport Books

The 1980 Moscow Olympics: A Day-by-Day History: Phillips presents a day-by-day history of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, restoring attention to athletes and events obscured in the United States by the boycott. Competition accounts and medal results accompany less familiar stories from the Games. The book places sporting achievement beside unusual incidents and broadcasting limitations, documenting the experience of those who participated despite the politically diminished international field. Published in 2025.