Sandra Wallace: Hello, this is Sandra Neil Wallace, and I'm the author of Between the Lines. How Ernie Barnes went from the football field to the art gallery. I'm going to tell you a bit about how I came to write this book, and then I'll share an excerpt with you.

I first found out about Ernie Barnes while interviewing athletes as a reporter for ESPN. I kept seeing these incredible paintings in their homes of football scenes and basketball games, and school marching bands. I was so moved by the bold brushstrokes that appeared to bounce off the canvas to a rhythm, dancing with a sense of purpose and attitude. I found out that the artist was Ernie Barnes, and when I heard that he had been a professional football player and an artist, I knew I had to tell his story.

I had to find out how he navigated both worlds successfully and I learned that Ernie believed he could be many things. Creative and athletic. Because he believed in himself and his artistic dream. He created a game plan. That meant playing football and painting sports to reach his dreams. And now I'll read an except from the book to you.

In his senior year of college, National Football League scouts came to watch Ernest play. "We are going to draft you," they told him. But he didn't think they were serious. He had other plans. On draft day in 1959, Ernest waited in mama's kitchen the whole day. No telegram came. In the morning, Ernest spotted his name in the newspaper. He ran outside to tell mama. "I'm going to be in the pros," he shouted. Ernest would earn a living playing football for the Baltimore Colts. A few weeks later, Ernest rode a bus to watch the Colts play in the NFL Championship game. He heard the thwack of tangled linemen butting shoulders on the field. He saw the sweaty faces of his new team, who sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the bench. Players lunged forward, itching to play.

Back home, the sideline images still swirled in Ernest's mind. Jersey numbers, bruising cobalt blue. Referee calls, roaring crimson red. Sharp shoulders draped in goalpost white. Everything was so clear, that Ernest didn't draw it in his sketchbook. He stretched out a canvas, reached for pallet knife and painted quickly. Before the image had disappeared from his mind, he'd created his first football painting. He called it "The Bench." Ernest decided that he'd never part with it.