Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football Hardcover - 1996
by Robert W. Peterson
Peterson presents a lively and informative overview of the early years of pro football--from the late 1880s to the beginning of the television era--describing the colorful inception of the pro game and its outstanding teams (the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, the Baltimore Colts) and the great games they played. 16 halftone illustrations.
First line
Professional football is more than 100 years old, but for its 50-odd years the sport was the sad-sack cousin of college football.
From the rear cover
In Pigskin, Robert W. Peterson presents a lively and informative overview of the early years of pro football - from the late 1880s to the television era. Peterson describes the colorful beginnings of the pro game and its outstanding teams (the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, the Baltimore Colts), and the great games they played. Profiles of the most famous players of the era - including Pudge Heffelfinger (the first certifiable professional), Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, and Fritz Pollard (the NFL's first black star) - bring the history of the game to life. Peterson also takes us back to the roots of the pro game, showing how professionalism began when some stars for Yale, Harvard, and Princeton took money - under the table, of course - for their services to alma mater. After the NFL formed in 1920, pro football's popularity grew gradually but steadily. It burst into national prominence with the Bears-Redskins championship game of 1940. As one sportswriter put it: "The weather was perfect. So were the Bears". The final score was 73-0. Peterson shows how, after World War II, the newly-created All America Football Conference challenged the NFL. Though dominated by a gritty Cleveland team, the AAFC was never viewed by NFL teams as much of a threat. That is, not until 1950 when the two leagues merged, bringing about the Cleveland Browns-Philadelphia Eagles game in which the Browns buried the Eagles 35-10. An elegy to a time when, for many players, the game was at least as important as the money it brought them (which wasn't much), Pigskin takes readers up to the 1958 championship game when the Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants in overtime. Bythat time, the great popularity of the game had moved from newspapers and radio to television, and pro football had finally arrived as a major sport.
Details
- Title Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
- Author Robert W. Peterson
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 256
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Oxford University Press, USA, New York, New York, U.S.A.
- Date 1996-12-05
- ISBN 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Weight 1.24 lbs (0.56 kg)
- Dimensions 9.43 x 6.33 x 0.95 in (23.95 x 16.08 x 2.41 cm)
- Reading level 1210
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 20th Century
- Library of Congress subjects Football - United States - History
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 96022810
- Dewey Decimal Code 796.332
Media reviews
Citations
- Booklist, 11/15/1996, Page 565
- Kirkus Reviews, 10/15/1996, Page 1516
- Publishers Weekly, 11/11/1996, Page 66
- School Library Journal, 06/01/1997, Page 155
More Copies for Sale
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W.
- Used
- Condition
- UsedGood
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States
- Item Price
-
$2.13$2.99 shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W.
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Frederick, Maryland, United States
- Item Price
-
$4.53$3.99 shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin : The Early Years of Pro Football
by Robert W. Peterson
- Used
- Good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.11FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin : The Early Years of Pro Football
by Robert W. Peterson
- Used
- Good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.11FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W.
- Used
- Condition
- UsedGood
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Interlochen, Michigan, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.29FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin : The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
$6.64FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W.
- Used
- Good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Ventura, California, United States
- Item Price
-
$7.24$4.25 shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin : The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, United States
- Item Price
-
$8.97FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football
by Peterson, Robert W
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used: Good
- Edition
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
- Item Price
-
$9.95FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
Pigskin
by Peterson, Robert W
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780195076073 / 0195076079
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Item Price
-
$11.99$10.19Save $1.80!$7.50 shipping to USA