The Best Football Books
Gridiron Literature for Super Bowl Reading
When it comes to publishing, baseball and golf top the list of sports most written about. The grace and pace of these games seem to complement the literary process and have given us numerous publishing memories – fiction and nonfiction. The Southern Illinois University Press even published a series of baseball books with what it called “high literary quality.” And there are publishers who focus solely on books about golf. But football, as one New York Times editor once said, “doesn’t write.”
Still there are very few of us who would dispute the fact that football has usurped baseball as America’s pastime. Interest is high, and when the Super Bowl approaches, that interest stretches even farther skyward. This makes Super Bowl time a perfect time to sink into a book about this intense game of collision, power, and speed.
The Top Three Football Books
George Plimpton’s Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback is a magnificent look into the world of the National Football League. Plimpton joins the Detroit Lions of the mid-1960s in preseason as a wannabe quarterback. He reveals through the skills of a participatory journalist his experience from training camp and into an intra-squad game. The book is funny, insightful, literary, and marvelously appealing. It celebrates the game we love and inspires all of us – even if it’s in our imagination – to suit-up, put on the pads, and head for the goal line.
Frank Gifford and Peter Richmond are co-authors of The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever. This is the story of the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts battling it out in an epic match-up. But the true beauty of this book is that it’s done with experienced perspective and insightful interviews with the men who played in that game. Their personal reflections are what make this read highly engaging. The Glory Game reminds us of the true heroes of football’s colorful early days.
Of the many memoirs or autobiographies sports figures have written, or had ghostwritten, Jerome Bettis' book is at the top of the heap. The Bus: My Life In and Out of a Helmet is one of the more honest personal books about a sports figure. Many times, the autobiographies of big time players lean heavily toward self-promotion, but Bettis’ story rings with authenticity. He’s not afraid to tell us about his troubled childhood, the mistakes he made, the missteps he took, along with the details of a storied career with the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
Two More Favorite Football Books
Sports Illustrated: The Football Book is pure celebration of the game. The publisher says this coffee table book “brings to life the bone-rattling action of NFL football and the extraordinary athletes who have made it America’s true national pastime.” This volume documents the big games, crucial plays, and the personalities that make football such an endearing sport.
Football Genius is a book for young adults. But this one is written with great authority. The author, Tim Green, is a former Atlanta Falcon of the NFL and his firsthand knowledge of the game puts this book a yard past the first down marker. It’s about a 12-year old boy with great football talent but who’s stuck on the second-string. When he borrows an official NFL football from an Atlanta Falcons star, things begin to change – for the good and for the bad. The boy’s struggles and triumphs make for a compelling read.
Football Literature
Good books with solid literary value concentrating on the sport of football are not necessarily filling the shelves at libraries and bookstores. But there still are many engaging stories, fascinating published volumes focusing on the game that every Sunday draws millions to the television set, and draws millions more worldwide to the TV on Super Bowl Sunday.
Football can make good literature.
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