There’s a great story in the new book about the Dicky Lyons legend that’s bound to seem ironic to those following the local trial of a high school football coach. Seems that back when Dicky Lyons Sr. was playing for St. X in the 1960s, coach John Miehaus suspected two players had been drinking.

When the coach found out, he ran the whole team through a hard practice. Then he kept the two partiers after practice and asked them about their night out. As punishment, the boys had to drink cans of beer that had been sitting in the sun during the day’s grueling practice.

Yes, things have changed in high school football. But in True Blue, we learn one trait that can be passed on form one generation to the next — determination.

The name Dicky Lyons is legendary in UK football circles. True Blue chronicles the careers of Dicky Sr., a UK legend from the 1960s, and Dicky Jr., who just wrapped up his UK career a year ago and is trying to latch on with an NFL team.

But True Blue isn’t written by some hack sportswriter. No, the book is written by Leslie Lyons, born during Dicky Sr.’s time at UK. She’s the daughter and sister of the book’s featured athletes.

She went to UK and later became a professional photographer. She’s the one behind those great I Live In Louisville portraits. She now lives here with her two daughters.

Read the rest after the jump…

Dicky Jr., always known in the family as Richard, wasn’t called Dicky Jr. until he arrived on the UK campus as a freshman. His injury-shortened career ended last fall when he went down hard against South Carolina. He rehabbed his way back, hoping to be picked in the NFL draft as a receiver.

That didn’t happen, but he signed as a free agent with Atlanta. But was cut the next day. So now Lyons is waiting for a phone call.

But the book is about the Lyons’ family’s strong drive to win. It’s hard to imagine a modern player with Dicky Sr.’s modest size strking fear into Southestern Conference opponents. But that’s just what Lyons did for some mediocre UK football teams in the mid-1960s.

Lyons was an extraordinary athlete who trained for boxing matches in the same gym as Muhammad Ali, and was an All-State performer in track. Dicky Jr. grew up as a standout soccer star in Louisiana, but came to UK and played with the same all-out style as his Dad, endearing himself to the UK fan base.

For the book, Leslie Lyons interviewed dozens of teammates of both men, and relates plenty of wonderful old football stories. In the coming weeks, Leslie Lyons is organizing book signings in Louisville and Lexington. You can get True Blue online through Set Shot Press.