America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation

by Michael MacCambridge

It’s difficult to imagine today–when the Super Bowl has virtually become a national holiday and the National Football League is the country’s dominant sports entity–but pro football was once a ramshackle afterthought on the margins of the American sports landscape. Yet in the span of a single generation in postwar America, the game charted an extraordinary rise in popularity, becoming a smartly managed, keenly marketed sports entertainment colossus whose action is ideally suited to television and whose sensibilities perfectly fit the modern age. Pro football’s ascent is an epic American story, and America’s Game does it full justice.

Beginning with the World War II years, when the NFL was fighting for its very existence, Michael MacCambridge traces the game’s grand transformation, with particular attention paid to six key franchises–the Rams, Browns, Colts, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Raiders–and how their fortunes reflected the larger growth of the game itself. Along the way we meet the sport’s legendary architects, men such as Pete Rozelle, George “Papa Bear” Halas, Bert Bell, Tex Schramm, and Lamar Hunt, as well as a wide range of its memorable characters–including Johnny Unitas, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi, Jim Brown, Al Davis, Joe Namath, Bill Walsh, and Deion Sanders. In the process we witness the rivalries, the games themselves, and the passion that have made professional football the nation’s signature sport.

MacCambridge continues the story through the turbulent 1980s and 1990s, when labor disputes and off-field scandals shook the game to its core, and up to the sport’s present-day preeminence under Paul Tagliabue. The unique portrait of the modern game’s inner workings and relentless competitiveness sheds light on contemporary stars such as Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning, as well as on the men whose leadership skills are scrutinized and second-guessed by much of the country, celebrated coaches such as Bill Parcells, Dick Vermeil, Tony Dungy, and Brian Billick.

Magisterial and sweeping, definitive and unprecedented in scope, America’s Game is cultural history at its finest. A thoroughly entertaining account of the entire universe of professional football, from locker room to boardroom, from playing field to press box, it is a unique lens through which to view the past sixty years of American history.

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction, History, Business, Audiobook, American History

552 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2004

Reviews

[Aneesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best book I read in 2006. It was one of the few non-fiction books that I just could not put down. Not only is it well researched but the way that McCambridge has weaved together each tale to make up the larger story of the NFL is amazing. Unless you live under a rock, you know what a huge part professional football plays in our society and this book tells you exactly how and why it came to be this way. I came away with a very good sense of what each league commissioner brought to the organization, as well as the history of many of the franchises that remain today. I recommend this to anyone that has even a slight interest in the NFL.

[Patricia Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic read. I would recommend it to anyone who's interested in reading about the history of the sport. Definitely makes me want to pick up similar books to drill even deeper.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This history is primarily about the NFL and the behind-the-scene actions of the owners much more so than a book on the players or any of the great games.

This is about as a good a history of the entity of the NFL as one could possibly expect.

The writing is solid and the points of view of the author are neutral in every respect. The history ends with the 1990's so it is a bit dated. But the real interest for me was with the early NFL and the merger with the AFL.

4 stars

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

MacCambridge wrote an interesting history of Sports Illustrated, but this story of the NFL is the best thing I've read by him. The NFL's is one of the most successful branding efforts in the history of the US, and MacCambridge's account of how it was orchestrated is full of interesting, weird characters.

[adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goddamnit I am ready for football season. This book did a great job with the Rozelle years of the NFL, but the last 30 years of the league kinda got the short end of the stick. Almost as good a business book as it is a sports one.

[Collin Mickle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good 375-page book that unfortunately is 458 pages long. MacCambridge has put together a compelling history of the NFL's wild early days that fumbles (sorry, I can't help myself) when it gets to the modern era.

As with so many histories of giant institutions, it's painfully clear to the reader which of the subjects agreed to talk to the author, and which weren't available. That's too be expected, but it leads to odd omissions: A book about the NFL with an index entry for Steve Tasker and none for Lawrence Taylor? A paean to the coaching greatness of Marty Schottenheimer and next to no mention of Bill Parcells? Endless agonizing tick-tocks of the Colts leaving Baltimore and the Rams leaving LA and the Browns leaving Cleveland, but a halfhearted oh-by-the-way-also for the Oilers ditching Houston? Long discursions on the Cowboys (and especially the extremely available-to-be-quoted Tex Schramm) and practically nothing on the 49ers, Giants, Bears or Steelers?

But the most bizarre part of the story is MacCambridge's fawning enthusiasm for Paul Tagliabue, a colorless functionary, the NFL's Brezhnev, a man boring even by the standards of white-shoe antitrust litigators who also oh by the way oversaw a period of stagnation and discontent among the league's owners and players and orchestrated the league's most massive coverups on concussions, performance-enhancing drugs, and player criminality. MacCambridge holds the NFL's previous commissioners' feet to the fire time and again, but Tagliabue not only can do no wrong, he's the subject of downright Teen Beat levels of mash-notery. He's smart! He reads! He cares! He's tall! He doesn't delegate! He's almost as good a rebounder as Patrick Ewing (no, I'm serious)! There are K-pop singers who don't get this kind of adulation. And then it all makes sense when the reader makes it to the acknowledgements, which include a shout-out to Tagliabue for "twenty-five hours of interviews [!!!] in several different sessions." So hey, Paul, I can't say you didn't earn it.

Anyway, it's a fine book on seven decades of pro football, but it really missed the chance to be an amazing book about five.

[Ralph Plagman · Rating 5 out of 5]

America’s Game is a brilliant, wonderfully researched, riveting story of the rise of the National Football League to eclipse baseball as America’s game. All NFL fans will love this book as I did!

[Beige Alert · Rating 3 out of 5]

More a linear collection of anecdotes than a thorough history, but I got the sense from time to time that there was a 1400 page book here that got axed by the editor from MacCambridge bringing up topics for the first time as though they'd been covered when they hadn't been.

The Kindle port is terrible. They should have a "Bad on Kindle" icon like they have "Great on Kindle" with a 10% discount or something.

As a Packers fan, the lack of to near exclusion pre/post-Lombardi was odd - especially the unique ownership structure and how it came about. Curly Lambeau is barely mentioned and there are hordes of personalities that don't get mentioned at all. Paul Hornung got a bit of print though.

The anecdotes are fantastic though and worth the read for anyone interested in NFL business history. Also, anyone interested in that history will know enough to know there is more (let alone likely know more than half of the content). 600+ pages as a tip to the iceberg seems odd for *only* a 100 year old league, but that is also what can make it fascinating for fans.

The end of the book gets a bit funny for after documenting the constant change of the league over decades, MacCambridge seems to assume that potential trends of the game at the time he ended were both actual trends and would continue.

...like the end of the era of franchise QBs now that role players like Tom Brady were starting to win Super Bowls.

One more season down, and one more book read before another team besides the Packers (or the Seahawks) take the field in the Superbowl.

I hope that changes next year (always next year).

[Rich Uncle Pennybags · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting history that shows that the rise of the NFL was far from foreordained. It is hard to believe that today's continent-bestriding Colossus nearly fell apart in the World War II years as half the roster was drafted and teams were essentially drafting any able-bodied man who wanted to play. And this history certainly gives a lot of perspective into why the current league is the way it is.

My biggest complaint is that at some point -- perhaps around when the AFL-NFL merger happens -- the book begins to feel much more rushed and less comprehensive, like MacCambridge is in a hurry to get to the end. Descriptions are much more elliptical and teams pop into the narrative for the first time years after they're created. Lots of big names go completely unmentioned. Not sure what happened here. Perhaps the book grew too large. Perhaps the later period simply interested MacCambridge less. Whatever the case may be, it made the later chapters a bit disappointing.

The book's age means a few of its claims and predictions aged poorly (from saying there will never be another dynasty again, which the Patriots have since disproven, to missing the CTE issue entirely, to claiming racism has been completely eradicated from the league). But I still think it was a nice one-volume history of professional American football.

[Sam Beethoven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenally written and almost unbelievably well-researched. This was my first venture into the sports/sports-history genre, and I was captivated from page one. Seriously. It was every bit as fluid as a good novel.

This is the kind of book that really takes you for a journey. You start with a game (and a broader American culture) that’s almost entirely unrecognizable to a person, like me, born in 1999: football is non-professional, hardly regulated, entirely white, and niche. After 500 pages, you arrive at the NFL in all its modern, commercial glory: players with $20M salaries, breathtakingly complex scouting/personnel infrastructures, Super Bowls viewed by countless millions across the world, etc. In short, America’s Game is the story of ‘how we got here.’

Again, this is my first foray into the genre; before reading, I was utterly unfamiliar with guys like Rozelle, Namath, Unitas, Hunt, Bell, Brown, etc. If nothing else, read this book for the historical romance - for the wild, storied personalities of people who brought football from ‘nothing’ to America’s ‘main thing.’ Really. These guys are incredible. And after putting the book down, I’m left wondering whether or not the NFL still has a similar contingent of ‘game-first’ people that can steer the league around some of the pitfalls of earlier generations.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview of how the key owners in the early days of the NFL worked together to help lay the foundation for how pro football came to be the "American Game" While it does mention some about the key games and players, the real focus of this work is the interaction between the key owners, such as the Mara family, the Rooneys, etc. Additionally, much time is spent on the business interactions between the NFL and AFL during the 1960s, which proved critical in the foundation of the Super Bowl. A good fun read for die hard and casual fans alike

Previously read in Oct 10

[Marshall Schurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I view this book as the definitive historical account that tries to answer the question:
"How did the NFL become the most dominant sports league in America?"
MacCambridge lays out the history of the NFL from WWII to the early 2000's, noting the major pivot points that led the NFL's growth and contrasting the other leagues at the time (most notably, baseball). It's full of fun facts about the early years of the league and presents the history as a compelling tale, not a dry book of facts. 10/10 would recommend anyone interested in better understanding the NFL pick up this book.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well-written journalistic and historical approach to the business and game of football. I learned a lot and enjoyed reading it. Gives a lot of cultural and social context, as well as antidotes and historical facts.

[Regina Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this history of the NFL several years ago. It was highly engaging and contained good history through Pete Rozelle's leadership.

After that, I recall that it seemed as if the book became weaker. It was difficult to maintain the same level of interest in these later chapters.

[Mike Barbre · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there's a more comprehensive and entertaining look back on the National Football League from its inception, I'd like to see it.
Incredible stories, anecdotes, and personalities from America's Game.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best pro football book I've ever read. Comprehensive, but not overstuffed. The writer made a lot of good decisions.

[Jeff Noble]

America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation by Michael Maccambridge (?)

[Ed Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty fascinating concept for a novel, reasonably well executed and an easy read. It’s about a gay couple, one of whom is a Republican who decides to run for Congress. His husband, a hardcore leftie, goes along with it but suffers greatly. Meanwhile, the candidate’s sister, married to a man, resumes an old affair with a woman. This all explodes about as you’d expect it would, though Harris, an NYT reporter, does explore some of the emotional turmoil with gentleness and compassion. The writing is fine, not exactly Nabokov, but serviceable and not overly ambitious. I had a couple of problems with the book: 1) the married woman, Nicole (has there ever been a sympathetic character named Nicole? Is this the go-to name for dislikable characters?), is so awful that it’s hard to understand how her girlfriend stands her, 2) the two actions that set off all the fireworks both seem highly improbable from intelligent people who clearly know better and understand the stakes, 3) the ancillary characters feel more like novelistic devices than real people. But there was a bunch of stuff I liked a lot: 1) the depiction of children was spot on, 2) the gay men had a charming relationship that was fun to spy on, 3) the novel was a true page-turner; it kept me reading while I was brushing my teeth, my yardstick for un-put-downable-ness. And, to be fair, for problem #2 above, Harris is a reporter — she almost certainly knows better than I do what a reporter might do in the situation that character finds herself in. This book got mostly excellent reviews and I think they are warranted — it’s not War and Peace or anything but for a contemporary drama, I thought it was entertaining and well written.

Grade: A-

[AndrewMillerTheSecond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not usually keen on long historical epics, nor am I good with my analogies, but Michael MacCambridge has knocked one out of the park with America’s Game. Tracing football’s path from cultural sporting backwater to an American colossus from the 1940s up to present day (mid 2000s at the time of writing), the author douses you with info without losing the forest amongst the trees. You are guided as a north star by the workings, trials and tribulations of the NFL’s commissioners, undoubtedly the pilots of the league’s rise to the fore. One of the great highlights of this book is MacCambridge’s description of the messy, prolonged drama of the selection of Pete Rozelle as commish in 1960, perhaps the crucial tipping point in the battle between football and baseball for the hearts of Americans.

A few prominent plot lines are woven into America’s Game. Team expansion and relocation is an on-off story that both hampered and bolstered the league, whether it was the moving of the Cleveland Rams to LA, Robert Irsay’s graceless, midnight remotion of the Colts or the heart-wrenching and unexpected departure of the Browns to Baltimore. Player-owner relations reached a detente by the 1990s, but not before a series of crippling and futile strikes in 1982 and 1987; similarly, treatment of ethnic minorities improved slowly yet measurably, but social and employment equality felt as if it extended only to the playing field and stopping at the offices of owners and executives. Football’s impact on culture pervades the book–your sport must have some imprint upon society–and how millions came to view Sunday as a beautiful respite from life’s problems, while even more await the Super Bowl as an all-consuming media bonanza. MacCambridge does not lose sight of the actual football going on, and weaves them into his many accounts of coaching careers. (Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, e.g., are covered in great depth.)

This book could satiate a gridiron die-hard, an average fan, and a total football novice simply curious interested in why the NFL has us wrapped around its finger at the end of the week. A must-read, if a long one.

[Tacitus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a workmanlike, plodding history that runs the ball upfield play after play to score the occasional field goal but no dazzling touchdowns.

There’s also the occasional fumble that made me wonder about the author’s grasp of reality, which is important to establish when writing any history.

For example: “It would be decades before the last vestiges of institutional racism disappeared…” That was circa 1950, and MacCambridge does much to highlight the inclusion of black players and those from historically black colleges. However, this unfortunate phrase seems deeply unenlightend, to say the least, How many black owners and managers are there in the NFL today? I could on, but to wave away institutional racism in the NFL or USA in a few words seems out of touch.

Or this, describing a new helmet developed around the same time: “a lightweight but strong helmet of molded plastic (which would within three years become the industry standard, replacing leather helmets) to prevent concussions.” This struck me as completely uninformed. Helmets do nothing to prevent concussions. In writing this, it seems like the author hadn’t read anything about the players who have been wearing plastic helmets for years of pro play, had successive concussions, and then developed CTE.

Yes, the book is a product of its time, before CTE became widely understood. Even so, it could use a new edition to clear up some of these points, and without that, then it’s showing its age (almost 20 years now). That doesn’t excuse the institutional racism bit, though; no one looking at the NFL objectively needed Colin Kaepernick to point the lack of minority coaches or owners, or BLM to highlight biased policing.

In the end, I couldn’t tell if these gaffes were just sloppy writing, or if the author was acting as an apologist for the NFL. MacCambridge offers no memorable insights or well-argued thesis—he’s not a trained historian, after all.

He does touch upon how pro football started after baseball and yet became America’s favorite sport, but those points are made infrequently. Football made for better television, and both televised sports and the game grew together. The proximity of winning Nee York teams to that city’s media helped foster the sport’s image nationally. The NFL also figured out how to better balance its teams through the draft and spreading around TV revenue to all teams equally.

By and large, the book reads like a business history of the NFL. That makes the details on decades-old, behind-the-scenes management issues somewhat dry and tedious, despite the swearing and money involved. The insights into football’s ascendency are sporadic and never forcefully or elegantly woven into a convincing explanation.

Football may have been a game of war and violence, a game more suited to the American 20th century than baseball, but that doesn’t answer the appeal of the game across both ends of the political spectrum.

I think to answer this, he could have addressed the rise of football in both high school and college, for example. The fact that the phrase “Friday Night Lights” is associated with football and not baseball says something about the growing centrality of football in American communities, leaving me to wonder if the real story here is much bigger than the NFL. The NFL may owe a lot to a grassroots cultural shift in sports, rather than leading it. Pro players started in high school after all.

These bits could have probably resonated and made a better argument if he had pulled them into occasional standalone chapters. Instead, we get jarring transitions about racial tensions over a game in New Orleans, shifting to Joe Namath’s popularity, then on to tensions between the AFL and NFL post merger, back to Namath, and then observations about football in the Vietnam era—all in one chapter.

It just becomes an overly long, rambling account that ultimately feels unfocused. He admits in afterword to being advised to trim it down, lest it had become as long as Winston Churchill’s 6-volume history of World War II. This suggests that there was so much material that the author didn’t know what to do with it all, and some of this lack of focus and self-editing is evident throughout, making for choppy reading.

On another level, though, the comparison is both grandiose and ludicrous; while the history of football may cover more time in sheer calendar years than World War II it pales in historical significance. There are many other one-volume histories that cover hundreds of years of history in the same amount of pages that MacCambridge does on the NFL. He is ultimately unable to cull down all of these events and his research into what matters, the essential things we should know. The book is a product of this failure of discernment, judgment, and concision.

As a consequence, MacCambridge loses sight of the end zone, and loses me as a reader. I am not sure that the author really explains conclusively how football became the national pastime. Or, if the answer is there, I struggled to find it in his narrative.

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best book I've read on sports. MacCambridge tells the story of professional football's rise from a third place sport behind baseball and college football, to the nation's obsession. The information on the history of the league and the people who engineered its creation is enlightening and entertaining. I found the history of NFL films and it's creation by Ed Sabol to be the most interesting part of the book. MacCrambridge tells how Pete Rozelle went about funding the creation of what would become the propaganda arm of the league, and how it served to dramatize and sell the game to a wider audience. I remember enjoying these short films on television in the 70s and 80s. In fact, they were better than the games in some respects. Perhaps the book descends too much into boosterism and celebration at the end, but the history of the contentious labor relations between management and players is covered in some detail. Some more perspective on the large economic costs of giant new football stadiums might have been appropriate, but perhaps that would have been boring to most readers. In summary, an entertaining read that will inform you of many aspects of the history of football written in an engaging style.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly is an epic story. It is well-researched and well-written. While it gives short attention to some issues (it would be unbearably longer if it gave full attention to many of them), it gives a wonderful history of pro football (i.e., the NFL). It starts with the early roots and the struggles to make a viable league, and gives some excellent insight into the fathers (and legends) of the NFL (and the "upstart" leagues).
Any fan who wants to learn how the NFL became the powerful institution that it is would love this book.
(One tidbit that I wish would have been included is in his explanation of the origins and success of Monday Night Football is how so many people were turned off by Howard Cosell that many of us would turn off the TV sound and listen on the radio to Hank Stram and Jack Buck call the game for both radio listeners and TV watchers.)

I listened to the audio version of this book. The narration was excellent.

[Ed Wagemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

After After World War II, during the Eisenhower years America's national past time was shifting from baseball to football. George Carlin famously characterizes the differences between the two games in his iconic comedy routine Baseball versus Football in which he illuminates the reasons that football has become a much better representative of our national psyche than baseball. Today, as we all know, the NFL is an intergral part of American culture. The Superbowl is as important as any national holiday with the exception of Christmas. Millions of fans shun church each Sunday to religiously study the scriptures of fantasy football internet pages and bow at the alter of the large screen plasma game of the week. Other pilgrims journey to the tribal stadiums in painted face or sporting their team's colors and logos, screaming, crying and celebrating like no other time in their lives. Multi-national corporations invest multi-million dollars in the NFL, paying players and teams to promote their products. The NFL has become a symbol of America. Our celebration of the competitive spirit where the strongest, smartest, most poised, the sneakiest, strongest willed and at times luckiest triumph.

It's easy to witness how America's obsession with the NFL is rooted in our nation's political system. Beyond the obvious similiarity that political elections and NFL seasons feed America's hunger for competition and the American need for real life heroes and villians, there is a more subtle undercurrent of tension that exists when thinking of the NFL as a representative of the American Way. The NFL really began to come into its own after World War II, when millions of returning soliders were using the G.I. bill in order to get a college education. College football at that time was much more popular that the NFL, but as this influx in college-educated American males hit the work force after their four years of college, they took their love for football with them--which eventually began to translate into an interest in the NFL. In fact many of the stigmas associated with pro football come from the Eisenhower era of Conservativsm of the 1950s. The NFL in fact was the sport of this new 1950s Conservative American male--a distinction that wouldn't be challenged until the late 1960s as best characterized by the brash, long haired AFL Jet's Joe Namath's Superbowl III gaurentey and subsequent victory over the NFL's Johnny Unitas. But in many ways, the American Conservatism that seemed to permeate from every oriface of the NFL was just a front. In many ways the NFL had been actually promoting socialism going back to the New Deal era of FDR.

The Philadelphia Eagles, who were incidently named after the logo on FDR's National Recovery Administration's emblem in 1933, were owned by Bert Bell up until he became the commissioner of the NFL in January of 1946. As the owner of the Eagles, Bert Bell was getting tired of watching the same 2 or 3 teams always winning the league championship and at a league meeting in 1935 he addressed the other team owners, saying this "I've always had the theory that pro football is like a chain. The league is no stronger than its weakest link...Every year the rich get richer and the poor get poorer...I propose, at the end of each football season...that we pool the names of all eligible college seniors. Then we make our selections in the reverse order of the standings--that is, the lowest-ranked team picks first. We do this round after round until we have exhausted the supply of college players." And thus was born the idea of the wieghted draft, in which the weakest teams would get the better pick of the college talent. A direct shot at free market capitalism if there ever was one. I mean substitute the words pro footbal and college players with the auto industry and electric cars and you have the makings of a stump speech from Barack Obama.

In 1947, as Commissioner, Bell also pre-dated Obama's rhetoric when, after a gambling scandal threatened the NFL, he put forth a measure to insure the utmost transparency in terms of the playing condition of each player by requiring the league to "publish in advance of each game a list of players who were injured and would be unable or unlikely to play." This laid the groundwork for the detailed weekly injury lists that have become such a large part of the NFL experience. Bell stated that "Professional football cannot continue to exist unless it is based on absolute honesty...the game and its players must be kept free from corruption." Once again, a far cry from Romenyesque Deregulation ideology.

By the 1980s as the NFL evolved, it has digested other Socialistic mechanism. Revenue sharing for instance, which allows each team in the league an equal share of all TV revenue that the league brings in--thereby "spreading the wealth around". We have also seen the NFL adopt salary minimums and salary maximums (Those Marxist bastards!!!). We have seen the league adopt Regulations that protect the health and safety and working conditions of its players (too bad we can't just fire the players and replace them with half-clothed children in China, Romney must be thinking). In short, the longest-lasting, most successful Industry in America right now has a socialistic business model. So what possible harm could it do for the rest of America to adapt that model as well?

For a more indepth study of the history of the NFL, I highly suggest Michael MacCambridge's America's Game--which was suggested to me by Victor Harris, the author of http://smokingmule.blogspot.com
.
For making the history of the NFL enjoyable to read I give America's Game a coveted 5 out of 5 WagemannHeads.
NEXT!

[Luke Koran · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the professional football fans who appreciate a well-told, comprehensive history of their beloved sport, look no further than Michael MacCambridge's “America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation." Featuring a lengthy bibliography and a trove of new interviews, this biography will greatly help bring the younger generations up to speed on the 100+ year history of the National Football League. Likewise, for older fans, this work will nicely fill in the gaps for those who may only recall the incredible moments and games they witnessed on the field, but who may not know the behind-the scenes action that influenced and grew this game into the predominant, multi-billion dollar business that is synonymous with American society.

[Alex Henrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read that goes into incredible detail about the rise of the NFL. Much of the book focuses on the NFL’s early decades up until roughly the 1970s; the 1980s and on are breezed through in the final chapters. I actually think this is a good thing - everyone knows about the dynasties of the 80s/90s/00s, and spending time on them in this book would have been a waste. As is, MacCambridge presents an incredibly deep dive into the owner wars, the development of the modern game, challenges from other leagues, and the hugely important backroom negotiations that made the NFL what it is today. If you’re at all interested in the history of the NFL, this is worth reading.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book were interesting, while other parts not so much. It could be that I was already familiar with some of the information provided, and I wasn't much interested in all the behind-the-scenes sniping that occurred, or it could be that the book simply went into too much detail.

Some people and situations were covered in depth - maybe too much depth? - while others were glossed over with barely a mention. Well-known names were dropped throughout, ranging from owners, coaches and players to broadcasters, entertainers and even politicians. I'm glad I listened to this, I only wish the contents had been edited so the book wouldn't have been quite so long.

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an instance where the perfect book discovered a person at the exact right time. Growing up I was lucky enough to be in the bay area while the 49ers were making their historic run, and then lost interest as the franchise fell apart and my career required more of my time. The last five years I’ve found myself more and more taken with the sport, and this former bandwagon fan watched all sixteen games of the niners’ 2016 2-win season that resulted in 2 head coaches being fired (Chip Kelly, and the immutable Jeff Fisher, who was responsible for both of the 49ers wins). As I’ve gotten more invested, I’ve started actively looking for more about the history of the sport, and come up wanting. And some stray internet comment convinced me this was “the” history of the professional game, and for the first time in my life I’m glad I read the comments.

Football, unlike baseball, seems completely uninterested in its past. Judging by people’s knowledge of the game, you’d think football didn’t exist prior to the Jets’ Super Bowl III victory. People who have followed the NFL since they were children couldn’t tell you where the first Super Bowl was held. It was between the Packers and Chiefs in the Los Angeles Coliseum, a stadium that’s been derided as decrepit across 4 generations, but still manages to have an NFL team come crawling back every few years. Before this book I didn’t know realize this stadiums roots run back to the bedrock of professional football.

America’s Game covers the history of professional football from the 1940s up until 2004 in a manner that is both compelling and exhaustive. I found myself repeatedly surprised that this book captures so many engrossing narratives in such detail, yet still captures the big picture changes in the league as a whole. If you’re a football fan and want to understand the league, where it came from, why it is the way it is, this is the book. There are others, but this is the starting point where you get a framework of understanding that everything else hangs off of.

It’s worth mentioning, this book draws a solid line between professional football and college football, the latter is hardly mentioned unless it’s in relation to a player being drafted or a professional coach’s previous job. This is forgivable, as this book was already exceeding its limit as a book that could be feasibly printed in one volume. MacCabridge has several other books related to the college game, and I look forward to reading them.

[Jake Prest · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic, though twenty years removed from where the NFL is now, tale of the rise of America's most competitive and integral sport. MacCambridge does a great job setting up the vast characters, settings, and issues the NFL faced: from reorganizing post-WWII, exploding popularity after the 1958 title game, the rise of the AFL and the merger, the interesting '70s, the challenging '80s, to the '90s and early '00s situations. Overall, a great read for anyone interested in how the NFL became what it is today (minus the playbooks and pass interference calls).

[J]

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes the NFL. Extremely detailed, well researched, and well written. Focuses a little more on business deals than on field moments.

Other random observations: I know the author wanted to focus on just a few teams, but the fact that the '85 Bears only got half a sentence is a travesty. Every Al Davis story in this book is the most Al Davis story ever. Also, it's really funny that the author, writing in the early 2000s, declared the era of the dynasty definitively over.

[Martin Born · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thats a daring read. If you must know about NFL then u must read this book...
For serious NFL and American Football fans only... Whats that AAFL?
How about Paul Brown and Cleaveland Browns... Thye dominated the game.. Really? Find out yourself.. Raiders with Al Davis in charge where the force to be reconed with..
Bill Bellichek highered a college student as his only assistant to go with him who came to watch all practice games when he was young...