Annual Football Roundup: Pass the Books, August 2011 

With the 2011 NFL season having been in some doubt, pro football fans may be glad to have the option of getting deep into the game with books. Even bibliographically, however, the season seems to be incomplete, with some defensive holding of titles until NFL football is confirmed. Here’s a scouting report on titles that are not being delayed.

Aron, Jaime. Breakthrough ’Boys: The Story of the 1971 Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. MVP: Quayside. Oct. 2011. c.304p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780760340394. $25. SPORTS
Before they became “America’s Team,” the Dallas Cowboys were derisively called “Next Year’s Champions” because they seemed unable to win the big one. Now it’s easy to forget Dallas’s early struggles to get over the hump. Aron (Texas sports editor, Associated Press; Dallas Cowboys: The Complete Illustrated History) here revisits the Cowboys’ first championship in 1971 and puts into perspective how important that season was for the legacy of Tom Landry as he led a team roiled by the alienating antics of star runner Duane Thomas. In retrospect, it’s hard to believe how long it took before Landry chose to go with daring Roger Staubach over erratic Craig Morton as quarterback. That season was about the emergence of Staubach; the vindication of longtime Cowboy stalwarts Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, and Lee Roy Jordan; and the essential leadership provided by key veteran acquisitions Herb Adderley, Lance Alworth, and Mike Ditka. A nicely researched look back at a pivotal point in Cowboys’ history. Of interest to all football fans.

Carson, Harry. Captain for Life: My Story as a Hall of Fame Linebacker. St. Martin’s. Sept. 2011. c.336p. ISBN 9780312550622. $25.99. SPORTS
During the New York Giants’ first Super Bowl season (1986), All-Pro middle linebacker and team captain Carson published Point of Attack: The Defense Strikes Back, his life story mixed in with an account of the previous season. Now, 25 years later, Carson (whom his teammate Phil McConkey called his Captain for Life) gives a fuller account of his life and football career with the added perspective of what’s been learned about the potential ill effects of football on the human body. Carson played the game fiercely, and here he describes the toll that all those hard hits and head shots have taken on his body and mind. His goal is to relate honestly what he gained and what he lost from playing football at its highest level. Carson’s personal account of the effects of playing the game makes this a timely addition to any football collection.

Dunnavant, Keith. America’s Quarterback: Bart Starr and the Rise of The National Football League. Thomas Dunne: St. Martin’s. Sept. 2011. c.368p. photogs. ISBN 9780312363499. $25.99. SPORTS
Five decades ago, the debate about who was the NFL’s best quarterback focused on Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr, with many arbiters regarding Starr as the top QB. With the passage of time, though, Starr rarely is mentioned anymore in such discussions, while Unitas is always listed. This biography shines a light on Starr, who led the Green Bay Packers to an unmatched five NFL championships but has been unfairly overshadowed by his legendary coach, Vince Lombardi, and more flamboyant teammates. Moreover, Dunnavant establishes what a role model and upstanding citizen Starr has been throughout his life, even when failing plainly as a Packers coach, and losing a son to drugs. Thoroughly researched and eloquently written, this book warmly portrays the professional, public, and private lives of Bart Starr. Recommended.

Prato, Greg. Sack Exchange: The Definitive Oral History of the 1980s New York Jets. ECW, dist. by IPG. Sept. 2011. c.440p. photogs. ISBN 9781770410039. pap. $19.95. SPORTS
The post–Joe Namath New York Jets from 1976 to 1988 were an interesting team, whose pass rushing defensive line earned the nickname “the New York Sack Exchange.” However, these Jets never won anything and, aside from perhaps sack artists Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko, are largely forgotten today. Prato’s ( Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music) oral history features the voices of not only many Jets players and coaches of the time but also some of their prominent Miami Dolphin rivals. Several behind-the-scenes anecdotes illustrate such circumstances as the intense quarterback competition between Richard Todd and Matt Robinson, the 1982 championship game loss to Miami, and the mysterious firing of head coach Walt Michaels. Only if this book is greatly cleaned up from galley to finished copy will it be a smooth read; otherwise, it will remain incoherent at times. Despite the editing concerns, this book will appeal to readers in the New York–New Jersey area and all Jets fans.

Smith, Thomas G. Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins. Beacon, dist. by Random. 2011. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780807000748. $26.95. SPORTS
In a 1987 piece in the Journal of Sports History, smith wrote of how the Kennedy administration moved to integrate the last all-white team in major professional sports—the Washington Redskins—right in the nation’s capital. Now Smith expands the story to detail the history of the team from its Boston origins in 1932 but focuses primarily on its founder and owner, George Preston Marshall, an obnoxious, brilliant, flamboyant, segregationist showman who marketed the Redskins as the team of Dixie. Marshall’s shortsighted, racist policy not to employ black players combined with his intrusive treatment of his coaches made his team a loser. Despite producing just one winning season in a decade and a half, Marshall stubbornly refused to change until interior secretary Stewart Udall issued an order to integrate the Redskins if the team wished to play in the new D.C. Stadium built on federal land. A wonderfully told story for both football and civil rights history readers.

Smith, Wann. Wishbone: Oklahoma Football, 1959–1985. Univ. of Oklahoma. Sept. 2011. c.368p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780806142173. $24.95. SPORTS
Since World War II, Oklahoma has been one of the most prominent football programs in college football. Smith begins with the fading of the Bud Wilkinson era and covers the Sooners’ glory days of the 1970s and 1980s through Barry Switzer’s last national championship in 1985. The author stresses the importance of the rumbling, revolutionary Wishbone offense to the revitalization of the program under Chuck Fairbanks and provides an in-depth look at Oklahoma football, on and off the field, through the tenures of five coaches: Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Jim Mackenzie, Fairbanks, and Switzer. Why Smith doesn’t go to the end of Switzer’s reign in 1988 is a mystery, but this is a thorough history of the coaches, players, and games of that 27-year period. This will be of interest to Oklahoma fans, but less so to others.

Stewart, Wayne. You’re the Ref: 156 Scenarios To Test Your Football Knowledge. Skyhorse, dist. by Norton. Sept. 2011. c.224p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9781616083854. pap. $8.95. SPORTS
Stewart previously used this approach—an annotated rules quiz book—to explore baseball in You’re the Umpire. Now he looks at the rules of pro and college football. The concept works better for baseball for three reasons: the baseball rule book is simpler, baseball rules do not undergo major changes on an annual basis as do those of pro football, and the rules for pro and college football differ pretty significantly. Stewart intersperses his questions about pro and college rules, but that just seems confusing. Better to have separate sections for the two. An interesting concept, but one that will likely become dated more quickly than his baseball work. Likely to appeal to some football fans.