NFL Century: The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League

(Hardback)

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Description

From the executive director of the NFL Hall of Fame comes a sweeping and lively history of the NFL, timed to coincide with the NFL's 100th Anniversary Season. The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio in 1920. In the hundred years that have passed since that fateful day, the former scrappy upstart league that once struggled to stay afloat has become America's most popular and lucrative professional sport. Along the way it has survived a host of challenges--the Great Depression and WW2, controversies and scandals, battles over labor rights and competition from rival leagues--even as it has produced American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could only be told by Joe Horrigan, Executive Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL. By drawing upon decades of NFL archives, Joe has written the definitive history of the NFL. Compelling, eye-opening and authoritative, NFL Century is a must-read for NFL fans and anyone who loves the game of football.

Reviews

Joe Horrigan may not have witnessed all one hundred seasons of the NFL in person, but it seems that way from reading NFL Century. Some of the story lines we know, others are a revelation, but the legends and lore of professional football come to life throughout these pages.Chris Berman, ESPN sportscaster

It is a daunting challenge to weave a narrative from the years of Jim Thorpe and Fritz Pollard to the years of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Joe Horrigan pulls it off elegantly in NFL Century. His choice of subjects to highlight is spot-on. His reporting sheds new light on decades-old events. A century of rollicking pro football history flies by.John Eisenberg, author of The League

An entertaining, passionate, and educational rags-to-riches story of the NFLs greatest names, games, and events of the past one hundred seasons of Americas most popular sport. NFL Century should be on the shelf of every football fans library.Chris Willis, head of the Research Library at NFL Films, author of Red Grange

Masterful . . . a superb compilation of anecdotes, little-known facts, insightful analysis and memorable quotes . . . Everything in the book, from the roots laid in Canton, Ohio, to the exhaustive look at Roger Goodells commissionership, is, well, Hall of Fame caliber.Associated Press

Horrigan, who began his career at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 as a researcher and recently retired as now the HOFs executive director, guides readers through the NFLs good times and bad, always with an eye on the steady growth and increasing stability of the enterprise. Of course, there are anecdotes aplenty about the great players, historic games, and landmark moments, on the field and off (television contracts, labor disputes, scandals). Horrigan provides context for every moment, and the result is the definitive history of the league to date.Booklist

Fans of the pigskin will savor this vigorous account of pro footballs evolution.Kirkus Reviews

This fast-paced history will thrill football fans of all allegiances.Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

JOE HORRIGAN began his long career at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 as the museum's curator-researcher. Now the Hall of Fame's executive director Horrigan oversees the operations and related programs of the nationally accredited museum. He also administers the Hall of Fame's annual Enshrinee Selection Process. Regarded as the foremost historian on pro football, he has authored, co-authored, and edited several books on the subject, including The Pro Football Hall of Fame's 50th Anniversary Book- Where Greatness Lives. He is the co-host of the popular weekly national radio show, Pro Football Hall of Fame Radio on SiriusXM and has been featured in numerous NFL Films presentations and sports documentaries.