Pro Football Newspaper Histories

[Byron]

Some pretty cool histories from the LA Times and The Washington Post. I noticed the Browns history (WP) goes all the way back to the 1946 AAFC.

http://www.simplypersonalized.com/washi ... all-books/

http://www.simplypersonalized.com/la-ti ... all-books/

These would be handy research tools, rather like the Pro Football Chronicle!

[Mark L. Ford]

Back in the late 70s, the New York Times had done something similar with books about pro football, basketball, baseball, etc. that were basically clippings from its newspapers, and those can be interesting reading-- contemporary accounts have the benefit of not having several years to be turned into urban legends.

[mwald]

It is very cool, particularly for the fan or enthusiast who doesn't have the inclination or the resources to research the teams themselves.

But...how comprehensive can a Denver Broncos history (for example) be viewed through the Washington Post?

Also, guessing most of the stories are Monday game summaries, and less material from Tuesday-Sunday when you really find out what's going on with a team.

Guess you can't have it all when it's prepared for you. Tempted to order one just to see what they're like.

[Byron]

They show some of the pages from each book on the site, so you can see what you get. I asked for and received a copy of the Table of Contents for the Browns edition and it has 8 games covered from their AAFC years. It also includes an article announcing Sam Rutigliano as the new Head Coach in 1977 and a couple of articles covering Modell taking the team to Baltimore. So not everything covered is a "Championship" game, some big games during the season(s) are also covered.

I agree this is more for fans of the team(s) than for heavy historical research but it is still a fun item to own. As someone who has done quite a bit of research using old newspapers, it can be a great deal of fun just reading them! In general, the writing standards were much higher "back in the day" than they are now.

[mwald]

Had I received this as a gift as a 15 year old I would have been in heaven.

[Mark]

You can also get one from the New York Times:

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/ne ... ports-book