Description
A multi-billion-dollar entertainment empire, the National Football League is a coast-to-coast obsession that borders on religion and dominates our sports-mad culture. But today's NFL also provides a stage for playing out important issues roiling American society.
The updated and expanded edition of NFL Football observes the league's centennial by following the NFL into the twenty-first century, where off-the-field concerns compete with touchdowns and goal line stands for headlines. Richard Crepeau delves into the history of the league and breaks down the new era with an in-depth look at the controversies and dramas swirling around pro football today:
- Tensions between players and Commissioner Roger Goodell over collusion, drug policies, and revenue;
- The firestorm surrounding Colin Kaepernick and protests of police violence and inequality;
- Andrew Luck and others choosing early retirement over the threat to their long-term health;
- Paul Tagliabue's role in covering up information on concussions;
- The Super Bowl's evolution into a national holiday.
About the Author
Richard C. Crepeau is a professor of history at the University of Central Florida and former president of the North American Society for Sports History. He is the author of Baseball: America's Diamond Mind, 1919-1941.
Reviews
"Creapeau's book examines the NFL as a business and a cultural phenomenon. It succeeds on both accounts. Anyone looking for a short overview of the NFL's meteoric rise to America's national pastime should begin with Crepeau's book." --Journal of Sport History
"The updates to this new edition of NFL Football have made Richard C. Crepeau's already crucial book even more vital to those of us interested in the history of America's most popular and problematic sports organization." --Travis Vogan, author of ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire
Praise for the previous edition of NFL Football:
"[Crepeau] has brought together from a great many sources the information necessary to anyone who wants to understand the origins and the workings of the powerful and profitable entertainment vehicle the NFL has become."
--Bill Littlefield, NPR's Only a Game
Book Information
ISBN 9780252085505
Author Richard C. Crepeau
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of Illinois Press
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm