Jet


Book Description

The weekly source of African American political and entertainment news.




Headslap


Book Description

More than a simple story, Headslap brings to full view the NFL during the 1960s and 1970s--a time of incredible upheaval and change in the United States. These were tough times for black players as they tried to play the game while confronting prejudice and misconceptions that kept young stars from shining, such as Deacon Jones. Photo insert.




Ebony


Book Description

EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.




A View from the Bench


Book Description

Recruited for his combination of size and speed, George Mills had the potential to become an outstanding college football player--but it never happened. A View from the Bench reveals the reality behind the glamour of college football and the tough experiences in the life of a benchwarmer. Mills was a solid player who loved the game, but he had only one shot in nearly five years at making Nebraska's starting team. He found little time or energy left for academics after hours of drills, weight lifting, and team meetings. Now, with complete candor, Mills lays bare the true weight of emphasis in the "student-athlete" dichotomy. Free from anger or malice, Mills tells of his struggle to come to terms with a sports career of "mediocrity." A View from the Bench is an honest reflection of the experiences of so many overlooked players. It will be meaningful to anyone who has watched or played competitive sports.




Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years


Book Description

The 1950s and 60s was a golden age for professional football. It was perhaps the toughest and roughest era for the sport, before rules were created to better protect the players, but it was also a time when legends were born. To many football fans this era remains the Glory Years of the NFL, when the stars that roamed the gridiron included the likes of Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Jim Brown, and Raymond Berry. In Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years: An Inside Look at the Golden Age of Football, Wayne Stewart tells the story of professional football in the ‘50s and ‘60s through the words of the players themselves. Chapters cover Hall of Famers on both sides of the ball, players who made a lasting impression on the game, and the toughest players on the gridiron. Stewart intertwines profiles of these iconic players with the athletes’ own memories, observations, and anecdotes, including their impressions of teammates and opponents. Two additional chapters consist of humorous quotes and the players’ thoughts on how the game has changed since their heyday. Featuring exclusive interviews with players from the 1950s and ‘60s, Remembering the Stars of the NFL Glory Years provides an inside look at this distinct time in professional football. With a wide range of topics and insights included throughout, this book will both entertain and inform football fans and historians alike.




They Call It a Game


Book Description

This is the book the NFL thought they had buried! Bernie Parrish’s account of the 1964 World Championship — the last time the Cleveland Browns won it all – is an unauthorized history of the NFL by a most unconventional player. The most controversial sports book ever written, this bestselling book was the first to expose the NFL owners symbiotic relationships and connections with Organized Crime and illegal gambling. The only thing that’s changed since its original publication are the dollar figures involved …now they’re exponentially bigger! “Eight years of playing and nine years of activity in the players union have convinced (Parrish) that the hierarchy of the NFL is a basket of snakes. As St. Patrick swept Ireland clean of wriggly reptiles by flinging his bell at them, so Parrish hopes to change the leadership of the league by brazen clangor of a no-holds-barred book, They Call It A Game.” -Life Magazine A national bestseller and a Literary Guild Book of the Month Club selection




Jet


Book Description

The weekly source of African American political and entertainment news.




Joe Namath, Game by Game


Book Description

This is a comprehensive reference work covering Joe Namath's entire professional football career, following it season by season and game by game. After a lengthy opening chapter discussing Namath's college career and his enormous impact on professional football after turning pro in 1965, the book proceeds to chronicle every game of his pro career. Chapter 6 documents Super Bowl III while the concluding chapter sizes up Namath's career and addresses the debate over his Hall of Fame status.




Pigskin Nation


Book Description

Cast as the ultimate hardhats, football players of the 1960s seemed to personify a crewcut traditional manhood that channeled the Puritan work ethic. Yet, despite a social upheaval against such virtues, the National Football League won over all of America—and became a cultural force that recast politics in its own smashmouth image. Jesse Berrett explores pro football's new place in the zeitgeist of the 1960s and 1970s. The NFL's brilliant harnessing of the sports-media complex, combined with a nimble curation of its official line, brought different visions of the same game to both Main Street and the ivory tower. Politicians, meanwhile, spouted gridiron jargon as their handlers co-opted the NFL's gift for spectacle and mythmaking to shape a potent new politics that in essence became pro football. Governing, entertainment, news, elections, celebrity--all put aside old loyalties to pursue the mass audience captured by the NFL's alchemy of presentation, television, and high-stepping style. An invigorating appraisal of a dynamic era, Pigskin Nation reveals how pro football created the template for a future that became our present.