Pardon my laughter as I remember the making of "The Junction Boys," the book that nobody wanted, the project that was kicked to the curb by more than a dozen New York editors, the story that almost perished on Publisher's Row. In rejecting my book five years ago, one famous New York editor wrote, "'The Junction Boys' seems destined to disappear into mid-list oblivion."

The other day, my agent Jim Donovan pulled out the dusty old file filled with the rejection letters. As he read each one, we giggled like a couple of kids who had made off with all of the candy. One New York editor wrote that my book was "too regional," and another "too small."

Geez, I hope they have cable. I hope they have seen the one trillion TV ads trumpeting "The Junction Boys" movie Saturday night on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET. Furthermore, I hope they checked the New York Times back in 1999 when "The Junction Boys" made the bestsellers list six weeks after it was published.

I hope they read the quote from ESPN Senior Vice President Mark Shapiro: "This is the story that serves as a dramatic example of what the human body and spirit is capable of when there is a common goal." Maybe I should let Shapiro write all future book proposals.

One last question: I wonder if the editors who rejected my book read the rave reviews in virtually every major newspaper and magazine in America?

Texas writer Carlton Stowers called the other day and asked, "Did you ever imagine 'The Junction Boys' would go this far?" Stowers is the winner of two Edgar awards from the Mystery Writer's of America. But he's also received a rejection letter or two in his writing career.

My response: "No, because I never thought we were going to get the damned thing published."

And if not for Peter J. Wolverton, the associate editor of Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press in New York, it would have died in publishing hell.

Seems that we hit Pete at just the right time. A big sports fan, Pete had grown up in upstate New York without any strong ties to big-time college football. But he had recently become engaged to Melinda Lee Rhyne, and his fiancée just happened to be from Alabama. Lindy's family bleeds 'Bama red and they still love Bear Bryant. Of course, Bryant happens to be the central character of "The Junction Boys," having coached at Texas A&M before becoming the head coach in Tuscaloosa in 1958.

When Donovan called Wolverton, he found a responsive ear.

"Pete was the only editor in New York who got the book," Donovan said. And a dozen roses to Lindy Wolverton from me.

Great books are the product of a team effort. You need an editor, publisher, agent and a publicist who works around the clock to make it happen. Publicist Joe Rinaldi is the best in the business. Just ask anyone in New York. When "The Junction Boys" was no more than a flyspeck on the Texas map three years ago, Rinaldi trekked down to Dallas and got the motor running. Three years later, his passion for the book still blazes.

Great books require great sources. Gene Stallings started telling me the Junction story back in the mid-eighties when I was the Cowboys reporter for the Dallas Times Herald. Whether in Thousand Oaks, California, where the team trained for six weeks each summer, or in the hospitality suite in Washington the night before a Cowboys-Redskins game, Stallings always has a story on his lips and a ready-made audience. He is one of the best storytellers of his time.

I interviewed practically all of the Junction survivors, and a few of the quitters. With a rare exception or two, they are some of the greatest men who ever lived, each one a success in his own right. A few days after "The Junction Boys" was published, we gathered in Dennis Goehring's kitchen around midnight one Saturday. Almost every Junction survivor was there. And though I had heard the stories a dozen times already, I stood in wonder as each man recollected those ten days in hell down in Junction when Bryant ran off seventy-six players. They went to Junction in two buses and came back in one -- and that one was half-empty.

The Junction survivors who were there through thick and thin were Marvin Tate, Jack Pardee, Don Watson, Troy Summerlin, Billy Schroeder, Redbird Granberry, Lloyd Hale, Drake Keith, Bobby Lockett and Goehring. I will never forget you guys.

Down in Junction, on the western edge of the Texas Hill Country, Rob Roy Spiller provided great texture for the book. In 1954, Rob Roy was the 18-year old bus station boy. Each morning as he drove his sky-blue Chevy pickup down Main Street, he spotted a dozen or so Junction quitters waiting out the station. And as he put the key into the lock, he would turn and say, "Where would you boys like to go today?" Invariably, one would say, "We don't care. First bus out."

Ironically, Rob Roy went off to A&M with the Junction Boys and watched them in action for four years. Then he returned to his beloved Junction, where he is the president of a local bank.

Now comes the movie on Saturday. As you might expect, I have seen a preview. Director/screenwriter Mike Robe, producer Orly Adelson and all of the folks who made it possible at ESPN deserve a standing ovation. You will love it.

Is the movie as good as the book? You make the call.

Somebody asked the other days if I had any regrets about "The Junction Boys." Just a couple. I dedicated the book to Doug Todd, the great Dallas Cowboys PR director, and the funniest man who ever lived. He died during the writing.

And my dad, Jimmy Dent, also passed away during the making of the movie.

But I know they will be watching from football heaven on Saturday night. And they will be laughing, just like me.

Jim Dent is the author of "Junction Boys" and "The Undefeated" and is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. "Junction Boys" will be ESPN Original Entertainment's second original, made-for-television movie. The premiere is scheduled for Saturday, December 14 at 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.