Hey, I guess great minds think alike! I picked three of Chris' top four ... "When Pride Still Mattered," "Pro Football Chronicles" and "America's Game" were all there!
I would have included "The Pro Style" in this list. Happy to see the PP&K books make it, since they were so influential to a generation of young fans ...
Probably not popular sentiment, but I was not a fan of Kate Buford's Jim Thorpe book. For my money, I much preferred Bob Wheeler's biography.
Very nice job, Chris!!
Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
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JeffreyMiller
- Posts: 830
- Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 11:28 am
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Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
"Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football."
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Tip of the hat to Chris Willis for stepping out on a wire to construct a list worth reading. We’re not exactly talking Philippe Petit here, but it’s better than a daily list of your favorite players and the occasional watercolor.
Rather than respond with my own ranked list I’ve scribbled a few thoughts—inclusions, omissions, books that resonated with me over the years. In no particular order…
ESPN Pro Football Encycolpedia (Palmer/Pullis/Lahman/Maher/Silverman/Gillette) With due respect to Neft and Cohen, this book renders NFL reference books before it obsolete. Anyone who prefers the former is deliberately burying their head in the sand in favor of “it came before therefore it must be better” snobbery. The proverbial desert island book, it just might get you through five years on a sandy spit before you even dog-ear the pages. Spotted some errors, have you? Me too. Show me a book without them.
Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football (Dan Moldea) There’s no way around it: excluding this book from the top 100 was either an honest oversight or a cowardly omission. A top five book if there ever was one, Moldea exposed the bug under Norman Rockwell’s NFL and paid a dear price for it. “It’s about everybody I know and it’s all true,” Dick Butkus said after reading it. Indeed, the reporting in this book is so airtight that the NFL didn’t even bother to deny it—they had the New York Times smear him instead. It was an effective strategy, but 27 years later that cow is long out of the barn and Moldea’s towering tome stands unscathed. A work of tremendous breadth, the author never overreaches. Moldea stared so deep into the abyss that his researching peers were rendered surface-level posers. A colossus of crime reporting.
The Boz (Brian Bosworth)
Bo Knows Bo (Bo Jackson)
The Boz? Pul-leeze. This book is tabloid garbage. Not that I have a problem with tabloid garbage but it must be good tabloid garbage. It must be Albert Goldman-biography-of-Elvis-Presley-level tabloid garbage. This book is so lightweight that cotton candy uses it for sportswear on weekends. Pretend insight from a pretend tough guy. Bo knows Bo is only slightly better because he could actually play when he wasn’t nursing his boo-boos. These two books on a top 100 list almost destroy the credibility of the list.
The Canadian Pro Football Encyclopedia (Maher and Gill)
World Football League Encyclopedia (Maher and Speck)
Outsiders I and II (Gill and Maher)
How can The Boz be on this list and not these books? They’re the only of their kind. The leagues existed. Games were played. Men played in them. This is where you find out who, when and where. Sounds like Top 100 to me.
Out of Control (Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson) An overlooked autobiography, it’s one of the best. Henderson drags you through his personal train wreck, an experience both fascinating and disgusting. The NFL he describes from a player’s perspective is as much political as it is about talent, and his insights into the motivations of Tom Landry (calculating and cold), Bill Walsh (scared), and Don Shula (honest and warm) are well worth the read. But this is no run of the mill diatribe of a bitter ex-jock. Henderson is tougher on himself than anyone. If you think you’ve faced your demons this book is the litmus test. One of the most honest confessionals ever published, Henderson lays himself open like no one has before or since. Not for the squeamish.
A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football (Paul Zimmerman) In the club of football writers Dr. Z is the toppermost of the poppermost. But it was his daily stuff, his weekly stuff that resonated with me. The beat writing. The SI columns that were as much about life as they were about football. The guts to prove his acumen by picking games against the pointspread—to have skin in the game. No ivory tower bullshit for this cat. Then again, that’s what Thinking Man’s is. Don’t misunderstand me. It’s decent enough. It belongs on the list. But I’ve never understood why a book gets such acclaim for telling us what we already knew, and I can’t help feeling Zimmerman adopted a different style for this book than was natural for him. A boring yawner the famously cantankerous Z would have twitched his cookie duster at had someone else wrote it.
Green Bay Gold: Assembling the Packers’ All-Time Two-Platoon 53-Man Roster (John Maxymuk) A self-published book? It can’t be good. Whatever. Maxymuk has had greater technical achievements, notably Strong Arm Tactics and Uniform Numbers of the NFL, but this is his best book. There’s nothing unique about all-time lists. We see them every day around these parts. But take it from the Rolling Stones: it’s the singer not the song. I wish a book like this existed for my favorite team—but only if Maxymuk wrote it. I’m not big on players; organizations and coaches have more impact on winning. But it’s impossible to read this book and not be impressed by the exercise and the rigor of the approach. A technical writer, Maxymuk comes across as warm and conversational here. I felt like I was sipping a beer while he explained the reasoning behind each choice. One might think that a book devoted to a theoretical roster of a single team doesn’t warrant inclusion on a top 100 list, but rich with history and flawless in execution, it does.
The Ice Bowl (Ed Gruver) A History of one of the NFL’s greatest games, this brief unassuming book would battle for the number one spot on my Top 100. Breaking no new ground, the pacing and tension is so masterful that the pages can’t turn fast enough. Gruver reaches the nirvana that all true-life books aspire to and few achieve: non-fiction that reads like the best fiction. The fate of the world is at stake every time I read it. Someone call Buddha because if bliss exists, this is it.
The Best Game Ever (Mark Bowdon) Arguably a more important game than the Ice Bowl in historical impact, Bowdon’s book isn’t as good as Gruver’s. It’s still worth seeking out, though, because it provides a great portrait of Raymond Berry.
Next Man Up (John Feinstein)
Feinstein’s books have the stench of publisher assignment. A writer who thinks he can bounce from sport to sport and be effective, his by-the-numbers approach lacks meat. Feinstein checks all the boxes, dots all the I’s and crosses all the T’s but leaves you as fulfilled as the low-fat plate from Leeann Chin.
The Genius (David Harris)
Building a Champions (Bill Walsh)
Finding the Winning Edge (Bill Walsh)
Willis includes three books about Bill Walsh—and it’s not too many. Though some critics don’t care for Walsh’s legacy building (acknowledged by Willis in his comments), that part of his personality doesn’t come from arrogance, it comes from insecurity. A sensitive, fragile egghead in a world of he-men, his greatness was doubted because he doesn’t fit the stereotype. After Finding the Winning Edge, however, most of those doubts are gone.
Coaching Matters (Brad Adler) A minor book to some. An overlooked gem to others. Adler succinctly explores the traits of a handful of NFL coaches and the leadership qualities that made them and their teams successful. Some might ask if it’s possible to get to the essence of a great coach in a few pages. In this case I liken it to Twitter: if you can’t articulate the point in 140 characters, do you know what the point is? Moving quickly from coach to coach has a juxtaposing effect here, allowing the different styles to stand out. One of my favorites.
Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis (Mark Ribowsky)
Hey, Wait a Minute (John Madden)
Snake (Ken Stabler) These three books represent what has yet to be written: the definitive book on the Oakland Raiders, a team so insular and closed to outsiders that no one has been able to get them down on paper. If familiarity breeds contempt, so does aloofness. Politically incorrect, ignorers of trends, blazers of their own trail, the Raiders have seen their significant accomplishments undermined by the critics denied entry into their world. Ribowsky came closest to getting a peek behind the curtain and instead of finding a fraud he found a genuine sonofabitch—a J.D. Rockefeller of the gridiron. Al Davis’ coach, John Madden, wrote a book dismissed as breezy because people couldn’t understand how someone so simple could be so effective leading men. It’s right there in Madden’s book—and the critics can’t see it. As for Stabler, he wrote a book dripping with booze, women, and down home twang. The Raiders mythology—every anecdote, every jersey sale today—was paved by these three books, books that have cast such a long shadow that the franchise is still trying to find its way out.
Rather than respond with my own ranked list I’ve scribbled a few thoughts—inclusions, omissions, books that resonated with me over the years. In no particular order…
ESPN Pro Football Encycolpedia (Palmer/Pullis/Lahman/Maher/Silverman/Gillette) With due respect to Neft and Cohen, this book renders NFL reference books before it obsolete. Anyone who prefers the former is deliberately burying their head in the sand in favor of “it came before therefore it must be better” snobbery. The proverbial desert island book, it just might get you through five years on a sandy spit before you even dog-ear the pages. Spotted some errors, have you? Me too. Show me a book without them.
Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football (Dan Moldea) There’s no way around it: excluding this book from the top 100 was either an honest oversight or a cowardly omission. A top five book if there ever was one, Moldea exposed the bug under Norman Rockwell’s NFL and paid a dear price for it. “It’s about everybody I know and it’s all true,” Dick Butkus said after reading it. Indeed, the reporting in this book is so airtight that the NFL didn’t even bother to deny it—they had the New York Times smear him instead. It was an effective strategy, but 27 years later that cow is long out of the barn and Moldea’s towering tome stands unscathed. A work of tremendous breadth, the author never overreaches. Moldea stared so deep into the abyss that his researching peers were rendered surface-level posers. A colossus of crime reporting.
The Boz (Brian Bosworth)
Bo Knows Bo (Bo Jackson)
The Boz? Pul-leeze. This book is tabloid garbage. Not that I have a problem with tabloid garbage but it must be good tabloid garbage. It must be Albert Goldman-biography-of-Elvis-Presley-level tabloid garbage. This book is so lightweight that cotton candy uses it for sportswear on weekends. Pretend insight from a pretend tough guy. Bo knows Bo is only slightly better because he could actually play when he wasn’t nursing his boo-boos. These two books on a top 100 list almost destroy the credibility of the list.
The Canadian Pro Football Encyclopedia (Maher and Gill)
World Football League Encyclopedia (Maher and Speck)
Outsiders I and II (Gill and Maher)
How can The Boz be on this list and not these books? They’re the only of their kind. The leagues existed. Games were played. Men played in them. This is where you find out who, when and where. Sounds like Top 100 to me.
Out of Control (Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson) An overlooked autobiography, it’s one of the best. Henderson drags you through his personal train wreck, an experience both fascinating and disgusting. The NFL he describes from a player’s perspective is as much political as it is about talent, and his insights into the motivations of Tom Landry (calculating and cold), Bill Walsh (scared), and Don Shula (honest and warm) are well worth the read. But this is no run of the mill diatribe of a bitter ex-jock. Henderson is tougher on himself than anyone. If you think you’ve faced your demons this book is the litmus test. One of the most honest confessionals ever published, Henderson lays himself open like no one has before or since. Not for the squeamish.
A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football (Paul Zimmerman) In the club of football writers Dr. Z is the toppermost of the poppermost. But it was his daily stuff, his weekly stuff that resonated with me. The beat writing. The SI columns that were as much about life as they were about football. The guts to prove his acumen by picking games against the pointspread—to have skin in the game. No ivory tower bullshit for this cat. Then again, that’s what Thinking Man’s is. Don’t misunderstand me. It’s decent enough. It belongs on the list. But I’ve never understood why a book gets such acclaim for telling us what we already knew, and I can’t help feeling Zimmerman adopted a different style for this book than was natural for him. A boring yawner the famously cantankerous Z would have twitched his cookie duster at had someone else wrote it.
Green Bay Gold: Assembling the Packers’ All-Time Two-Platoon 53-Man Roster (John Maxymuk) A self-published book? It can’t be good. Whatever. Maxymuk has had greater technical achievements, notably Strong Arm Tactics and Uniform Numbers of the NFL, but this is his best book. There’s nothing unique about all-time lists. We see them every day around these parts. But take it from the Rolling Stones: it’s the singer not the song. I wish a book like this existed for my favorite team—but only if Maxymuk wrote it. I’m not big on players; organizations and coaches have more impact on winning. But it’s impossible to read this book and not be impressed by the exercise and the rigor of the approach. A technical writer, Maxymuk comes across as warm and conversational here. I felt like I was sipping a beer while he explained the reasoning behind each choice. One might think that a book devoted to a theoretical roster of a single team doesn’t warrant inclusion on a top 100 list, but rich with history and flawless in execution, it does.
The Ice Bowl (Ed Gruver) A History of one of the NFL’s greatest games, this brief unassuming book would battle for the number one spot on my Top 100. Breaking no new ground, the pacing and tension is so masterful that the pages can’t turn fast enough. Gruver reaches the nirvana that all true-life books aspire to and few achieve: non-fiction that reads like the best fiction. The fate of the world is at stake every time I read it. Someone call Buddha because if bliss exists, this is it.
The Best Game Ever (Mark Bowdon) Arguably a more important game than the Ice Bowl in historical impact, Bowdon’s book isn’t as good as Gruver’s. It’s still worth seeking out, though, because it provides a great portrait of Raymond Berry.
Next Man Up (John Feinstein)
Feinstein’s books have the stench of publisher assignment. A writer who thinks he can bounce from sport to sport and be effective, his by-the-numbers approach lacks meat. Feinstein checks all the boxes, dots all the I’s and crosses all the T’s but leaves you as fulfilled as the low-fat plate from Leeann Chin.
The Genius (David Harris)
Building a Champions (Bill Walsh)
Finding the Winning Edge (Bill Walsh)
Willis includes three books about Bill Walsh—and it’s not too many. Though some critics don’t care for Walsh’s legacy building (acknowledged by Willis in his comments), that part of his personality doesn’t come from arrogance, it comes from insecurity. A sensitive, fragile egghead in a world of he-men, his greatness was doubted because he doesn’t fit the stereotype. After Finding the Winning Edge, however, most of those doubts are gone.
Coaching Matters (Brad Adler) A minor book to some. An overlooked gem to others. Adler succinctly explores the traits of a handful of NFL coaches and the leadership qualities that made them and their teams successful. Some might ask if it’s possible to get to the essence of a great coach in a few pages. In this case I liken it to Twitter: if you can’t articulate the point in 140 characters, do you know what the point is? Moving quickly from coach to coach has a juxtaposing effect here, allowing the different styles to stand out. One of my favorites.
Slick: The Silver and Black Life of Al Davis (Mark Ribowsky)
Hey, Wait a Minute (John Madden)
Snake (Ken Stabler) These three books represent what has yet to be written: the definitive book on the Oakland Raiders, a team so insular and closed to outsiders that no one has been able to get them down on paper. If familiarity breeds contempt, so does aloofness. Politically incorrect, ignorers of trends, blazers of their own trail, the Raiders have seen their significant accomplishments undermined by the critics denied entry into their world. Ribowsky came closest to getting a peek behind the curtain and instead of finding a fraud he found a genuine sonofabitch—a J.D. Rockefeller of the gridiron. Al Davis’ coach, John Madden, wrote a book dismissed as breezy because people couldn’t understand how someone so simple could be so effective leading men. It’s right there in Madden’s book—and the critics can’t see it. As for Stabler, he wrote a book dripping with booze, women, and down home twang. The Raiders mythology—every anecdote, every jersey sale today—was paved by these three books, books that have cast such a long shadow that the franchise is still trying to find its way out.
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Another one I enjoy is "The Super '70s" by Tom Danyluk.
Chris had a number of oral history books on the list. A recent one is "The Game before the Money" by Jackson Michael. Other than Johnny Lujack thinking he led the league in interceptions in 1948 and the author leaving that comment alone, the book is very good. "Gridiron Gauntlet" by Andy Piascik is another good oral history book.
Chris had a number of oral history books on the list. A recent one is "The Game before the Money" by Jackson Michael. Other than Johnny Lujack thinking he led the league in interceptions in 1948 and the author leaving that comment alone, the book is very good. "Gridiron Gauntlet" by Andy Piascik is another good oral history book.
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
What makes The Pros so spectacular is the compositional makeup of Riger's photos. They're atmospheric. Contrast that to today's game which is so antiseptic. Riger would have little to work with.
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Kind of impossible to have an all-encompassing "Pro Football Book" list...not only is it a matter of taste, but the subject matter can vary wildly...you are comparing a statistical reference book to a biography to a childhood memoir to an oral history.
"The Pro Style" and "The Other League" were two books that were greatly influential to me in childhood. I also liked the 1981 Creative Education series that had the 28 NFL team histories in separate books, written by Julian May and James Rothaus. Jack Clary's "Pro Football's Greatest Moments" is another one.
I will still pull out my Great Teams/Great Years books as reference, because some of the information contained in those books can't be found on the internet. The book I used the most was the Neft Cohen encyclopedia, but I don't use it as much now that pro football reference is online.
I really liked Herskowitz's book about the 1950's. Murray Olderman's 3 books are also top notch...I liked "The Defenders" the best because of the strategy sections. Someone asked about what the best Super Bowl book was...I liked Dave McGinn's book because it kept the focus to the game itself.
In general, I find most NFL biographies to be laborious. Mike Curtis' was probably the most interesting. I liked David Harris' book on Bill Walsh, and the Maraniss book on Lombardy was great (although I liked Dowling's book on Lombardi equally as much). I thought Chris Willis' list included too many of these, especially having Halas on Halas at #5, but that's JMO.
I didn't like either of Eisenberg's books, and I'm not a fan of that entire genre. Fan memoirs just don't really excite me.
Its a great topic and a huge undertaking to come up with a top 100 list. I guess its symbolic that my overall #1 book (Neft Cohen encyclopedia) didn't even crack another person's top 100. I still read new football books...a few "recent" ones that I really liked were TJ Troup's 1950s book, Jaworski's strategy book, and McGinn's Super Bowl book...but at some point you've kind of heard all the stories and have so much knowledge that the normal football book is repetitive. I would say that my favorite football books were all the historical football library books I read as a kid.
"The Pro Style" and "The Other League" were two books that were greatly influential to me in childhood. I also liked the 1981 Creative Education series that had the 28 NFL team histories in separate books, written by Julian May and James Rothaus. Jack Clary's "Pro Football's Greatest Moments" is another one.
I will still pull out my Great Teams/Great Years books as reference, because some of the information contained in those books can't be found on the internet. The book I used the most was the Neft Cohen encyclopedia, but I don't use it as much now that pro football reference is online.
I really liked Herskowitz's book about the 1950's. Murray Olderman's 3 books are also top notch...I liked "The Defenders" the best because of the strategy sections. Someone asked about what the best Super Bowl book was...I liked Dave McGinn's book because it kept the focus to the game itself.
In general, I find most NFL biographies to be laborious. Mike Curtis' was probably the most interesting. I liked David Harris' book on Bill Walsh, and the Maraniss book on Lombardy was great (although I liked Dowling's book on Lombardi equally as much). I thought Chris Willis' list included too many of these, especially having Halas on Halas at #5, but that's JMO.
I didn't like either of Eisenberg's books, and I'm not a fan of that entire genre. Fan memoirs just don't really excite me.
Its a great topic and a huge undertaking to come up with a top 100 list. I guess its symbolic that my overall #1 book (Neft Cohen encyclopedia) didn't even crack another person's top 100. I still read new football books...a few "recent" ones that I really liked were TJ Troup's 1950s book, Jaworski's strategy book, and McGinn's Super Bowl book...but at some point you've kind of heard all the stories and have so much knowledge that the normal football book is repetitive. I would say that my favorite football books were all the historical football library books I read as a kid.
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
How the Neft-Cohen Encyclopedia series and The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football didn't make the top ten let alone the top 100, yet Native Son (which has very little about Thorpe's pro football career but goes on and on about his "movie" career) is #20 is beyond me.
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JohnTurney
- Posts: 2413
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:28 pm
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Thinking Man's Guide is #6TodMaher wrote:The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football didn't make the top ten let alone the top 100.
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Overall it was a great list with several books that I'm going to try to find in the near future. The most glaring omission, IMO, was the Neft-Cohen encyclopedias. I still refer to them when I want to see an all encompassing view of a season. As mentioned earlier, I would also have found room for the Football Stars of 19** series on my list.
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JohnTurney
- Posts: 2413
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:28 pm
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
Since you are talking paperbacks----the Zander Hollander series, Pro Football Handbooks are my favorite. Have full set of them...JohnH19 wrote: I would also have found room for the Football Stars of 19** series on my list.
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TanksAndSpartans
- Posts: 1169
- Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:05 am
Re: Top 100 Pro Football Books of All-Time
I too thought this was a great idea and really appreciate that Mr. Willis put his list out there. I really enjoyed it. Some random thoughts:
-very glad to see the Jaworski book at 87, always thought that was a great find that others probably hadn't read - nice combination of Xs and Os, mini bios, player analysis, team analysis, etc.
-Home & Away by Carl Becker would have been on my list
-I personally didn't like Fatso, so was a little surprised it was so high
-I thought Vagabond Halfback was a great bio because it dispelled some myths making it a little bit different than other bios I've read
-I would have included some of Willis's own books - Old Leather was a great oral history, that's the only one I've read - still waiting to get the Dutch Clark bio in paperback or a somewhat better price at least
http://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Clark-Legen ... utch+clark
-I have a book called Pro Football Championships before the Super Bowl by Joseph Page and I had never heard of Championship.... by Jerry Izenberg which seems to be out of print. Has anyone read both? What are the differences?
-very glad to see the Jaworski book at 87, always thought that was a great find that others probably hadn't read - nice combination of Xs and Os, mini bios, player analysis, team analysis, etc.
-Home & Away by Carl Becker would have been on my list
-I personally didn't like Fatso, so was a little surprised it was so high
-I thought Vagabond Halfback was a great bio because it dispelled some myths making it a little bit different than other bios I've read
-I would have included some of Willis's own books - Old Leather was a great oral history, that's the only one I've read - still waiting to get the Dutch Clark bio in paperback or a somewhat better price at least
http://www.amazon.com/Dutch-Clark-Legen ... utch+clark-I have a book called Pro Football Championships before the Super Bowl by Joseph Page and I had never heard of Championship.... by Jerry Izenberg which seems to be out of print. Has anyone read both? What are the differences?