The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football

by Paul Zimmerman

The chief football writer for "Sports Illustrated" provides information and anecdotes on coaches, players, scouts, the minor leagues, offensive and defensive plays, tactics, and other components of the game

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1984

Reviews

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zimmerman's revised version of the Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football contains about 66% new material, with some of it coming from his post-1971 columns and some of it from his excellent book on Weeb Ewbank's last season with the Jets. The older material is easily identifiable--if he's discussing some player or event from the 1960s, it's almost assuredly can be found in the earlier book. None of this changes the fact that TMG--despite its haphazard arrangement--is the absolute best "serious" introduction to pro football, as prepared by its best "serious" writer. Zimmerman, who played college football at Columbia and Stanford and later "bummed around" (his words, not mine) various minor leagues, understood the sport in a way that few before or since have come close to approximating, and his unfortunate 2008 stroke has left Sports Illustrated's football department--once the best in the business, owing to "Dr. Z's" analytical abilities and quirky, strangely literary style of writing--in the far less capable hands of hacks like Peter King and Don Banks (two men who, like most sportswriters, rely on the sort of cliches and empty "filler" observations that Zimmerman abhorred (e.g., "he's got raw speed," "he's a pure passer," "they've really turned it on lately," etc.).

A few quick points about the book:

1) In addition to providing readers with a more-than-rudimentary understanding of the game--through diagrammed plays, a reproduction of the Wonderlic examination, Zimmerman's game charts, etc.--it's also a wonderful time piece, capturing the modern game in its state of "coming-into-being" ca. 1984 (much as the previous version of the book encapsulated the NFL ca. 1971, at the dawn of the era of brutal defenses such as Miami's "No-Name Defense," Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain," and Dallas' "Doomsday Defense," an era that ended with rule changes designed to facilitate more passing while reducing player injuries).

2) Zimmerman's argument that former Cleveland Browns FB Marion Motley is the best football player of all time is not only persuasive but downright convincing, as is his argument to include AAFC statistics in the official NFL records despite the fact that the NFL absorbed only three teams from that league.

3) Many of Zimmerman's insights about statistics--particularly his claim that passer rating should be calculated in the aggregate, and used to rate team pass defense--have been adopted by cutting-edge sport statisticians like the folks at Football Outsiders and Cold Hard Football Facts. He also notes in passing that Vince Lombardi hadn't been seriously scrutinized by an impartial biographer, a problem that was redressed at the end of the 20th century by David Maraniss.

4) The section on offensive line play--Zimmerman's position in college--should serve as the last word on that subject.

If you're into serious sportswriting, pick this up. Zimmerman hasn't written many books, but what he has published is top-notch.

[Evan Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Zimmerman was Sports Illustrated's #1 football columnist for many years, and his knowledge of the pro game is encyclopedic. I was a huge fan of his work when he wrote for SI, and sought this out as a result.

My only problem with this book, which is somewhat unfair, is that it's a little dated at this point. This was published almost 30 years ago, and the players that Zimmerman covers have long since retired. The schemes that dominated the game in that era have also been passed by, at least to some extent. But Zimmerman is a tremendous writer, and fans of NFL history will eat this up. 4.5 stars, highly recommended.

[Tom Stamper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is more than 30 years old and yet I haven't seen any book that has tried to update or emulate it. Now my knowledge of football literature is much less than baseball and I have been trying to find a book like this for some time so even if the game has changed and the players have changed there is much wisdom here as to how football works. Zimmerman breaks down the positions and explains what their typical function is in the game and how their function shifts due to circumstances. This could be a very dry exercise in the wrong hands so thankfully the author has talent as a writer as well as a teacher. He also sprinkles through the prose stories and quotes from players to illustrate points or to explain how others see the game. There are also some tidbits like a copy of an IQ test an NFL team gives new players and then a breakdown of which positions require the smartest players. You'll never guess. Offensive Linemen. Okay, I blew it for you. I won't ruin anything else.

[Brian Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up with 230 highlights at the end of this book.

Thank god for Goodreads' quote feature.

This 1980s book is great for understanding why people loved the older players so much - and has gotten me way more interested in Lombardi, Walsh, all sorts of players and coaches throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Honestly, it feels weirdly at-home, as if the complaints around toughness, rules, and rise of the passing game really haven't changed over the last 40 years.

It reads like a hundred+ page long form article. It's clear a journalist wrote this - the topics jump from one to another quite suddenly, with a quote anchoring an adjacent topic before you realize it. The book covers so much ground so efficiently that it's worth a hundred highlights across its hundreds of quotes and pithy phrases.

Not a fan of the last 3 chapters, interesting but mostly filler.

That being said, if you are a fan of football and want to get a feel of the 80s, this is a fun read that you can take in chunks and bits. I feel excited coming out of this.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book published 30+ years ago the content is surprisingly relevant to today's game. For example, Zimmerman hits on topics such as:
- Concussions and efforts to minimize them
- Rules changes that favor the offense and increased scoring
- The importance of effective pass rushers becoming more and more important

You'll probably get a bit more out of this book if you were a football fan in the '80s. Guys like Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs and The Hogs are mentioned a number of times. You'll also read about plenty of football giants from the previous generation such as Vince Lombardi, George Halas and Paul Brown.

Overall, I found it educational and nostalgic. Very enjoyable book.

Oh, and it includes a sample Wonderlic test just for kicks. I'm not sure how much it resembles the one administered today.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book must have been wonderful when it first came out. There are lots of stories and positions are explained and much more. The problem is much like that with my knees, the decades have rolled along and things have changed. Football pushing 40 years ago was a very different beast and this book sometimes looks back decades before the mid-1980s when it came out. The people referenced are long retired and mostly forgotten. A good nostalgia book for those who remember football in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

[Sean Seagreaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Z may have been the best football writer of his generation. The New Thunking Man’s guide came out in he early 80’s, almost completely new content from the original. I really enjoyed the original as it covered lots of players from the 60’s and early 70’s I wasn’t as familiar with. This version talks more about changes in the game and where the game is going. Overall a super enjoyable read about pro football from the mid 70’s into the early 80’s.

[Laurence Krenis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated! 1985 is the latest: so much more has evolved since then. A type of historical portrait , not at all « new »

[Brian Necastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best writer pro football has seen at his best.

[Paul Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Interesting look at football from past years. Good history and insightful analysis. Really enjoyed it glad I added it to my library

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book. If you get anything out of this, it's that everything is the same. The same comments and criticisms of today's game were leveled at professional football 35-40 years ago.

[Raman Ohri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers timely topics in the NFL like:

- concussions and the use of headgear as a weapon
- rule changes nerfing the defense and turning offenses loose, ruining the game
- innovative new, wide open offensive approaches changing the game

Of course the book was written in 1983 (then an update of a book from 1971). Zimmerman rightly noted that the "new" aggressive spread offenses actually dated back to the 30's and that the dominance of offense or defense was a cyclically thing.

What it's really about though, is people. He has great stories, candid quotes, and anecdotes about guys who were legends then and up-and-comers we see as legends now.

Regardless of the age of the book, it's a real treat for serious football fans.

[Christian Herro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished this a while ago & forgot to review it. Excellent overview of football, even if it is dated at this point. Dr. Z has a level of knowledge & passion about football that few other writers can match. What's surprising is that even though this was last revised in the 80s, a ton if the information is still relevant. Most of the records he mentions have bern broken, but most of the underlying philosophy is still intact.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the game, curious about how different strategies developed over time. Its also a book I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to understand all the action on screen and the terminology bandied about by tv announcers. Let me hasten to add, its not just for men!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not reading the same book twice. This is the updated (mid-80s) version. The chapters and layout are the same, but this is basically a different book.