Customers say
Customers find the book interesting and well-written. They appreciate the author’s writing style and consider it informative. The book provides a solid overview of the NFL’s early history and offers a good look at how the league got started.
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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:
The epic tale of the five owners who shepherded the NFL through its tumultuous early decades and built the most popular sport in America
The National Football League is a towering, distinctly American colossus spewing out $14 billion in annual revenue. But it was not always a success. In The League, John Eisenberg focuses on the pioneering sportsmen who kept the league alive in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, when its challenges were many and its survival was not guaranteed. At the time, college football, baseball, boxing, and horseracing dominated America’s sports scene. Art Rooney, George Halas, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Bert Bell believed in pro football when few others did and ultimately succeeded only because at critical junctures each sacrificed the short-term success of his team for the longer-term good of the league.
At once a history of a sport and a remarkable story of business ingenuity, The League is an essential read for any fan of our true national pastime.
Our Top Reviews
Reviewer: Dee Cat
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: If you like the NFL, this is a great history book
Review: Enjoyable read. Goes through the founding fathers of the NFL, notably George Halas, and how they built a struggling, losing enterprise into one of America’s best and most profitable inventions. Early on, pro football took back seat to college, had little to no credibility, and owners lost money year after year. Innovations like the draft, radio and television deals, responding to challenges from rival leagues (and sports – namely baseball), overcoming segregation and so forth; the NFL has a very colorful past most of us weren’t aware of.
Reviewer: D. Kuehn
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very well researched and well written
Review: A comprehensive look at the history of professional football. If you like the game as it is today, you’ll be surprised to learn of the struggles for survival the founders had trying to get the league off the ground. And they’d be surprised to see where the league is now with cable, streaming, merchandise and massive crowds. To say nothing of the massive salaries being paid to the stars of the game now.
Reviewer: Jason
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good Look At The Fledgeling NFL
Review: This was a good read, showcasing the development of the early days of the NFL and how close run of a thing it was. The book was engaging enough that I kept wanting to read further, and it really highlighted the personalities and workings of the sport’s founding fathers. If I had any complaint, it was that the book seemed somewhat anti-climatic in that it tends to leave off at a date when the characters featured in the book begin to leave the forefront. As well as the book detailed its scope, I was hoping it would have covered the emergence of the AFL leading up to the merger, which would have been compelling.
Reviewer: bearcat868
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: If you like pro football you will like this book
Review: I enjoy pro football and found this book very informative and an enjoyable read. How the league was formed basically by 5 men, how these men often put the league above their team winning, how it survived through World War II, and understood that parity in the league was very important and created the draft in support thereof. Lots of information and well written.
Reviewer: Michael A.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great for any fan of football
Review: John Rosenberg does and exception job giving the reader deep insights into the key founders of the NFL. Loved the book !
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great read
Review: Compelling read on the history of football. I appreciate the detail on the lives and motivation of these early leaders as they helped to create what we enjoy today. They were imperfect, as us the modern product, but I had feelings as the author describedtheir inevitable demise. They believed in their product, sometimes against all odds
Reviewer: E. King
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Year by Year
Review: I’m about halfway through the book, and I’m already skipping paragraphs and maybe even chapters. I really don’t want to slog through every season since 1920. That’s not that interesting. Author easily could have written about decades instead of years and saved everyone some ache. Unless he was being paid by the word, in which case he did himself a great service.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I’m a student of the NFL ‘s creation ! I saw the Philadelphia Eagles in 1949 and 1960Win titles
Review: The resilience of the founders was so strong and inspiring! The NFL’s prospered with the merger and the huge upset of the Jets over the Colts , greatAlso the overtime win of Johnny Unitas over the NY. Giants was big time !!!
Reviewer: Anna-Lisa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Amazing book on the NFL origins. The chronology and explanation of events leading to the creation of the NFL is written in such a way I didn’t want to put down the book. You really get a feel for the main guys involved and feel like you met them after this read. Although I bought this used, the condition was incredible.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Arrived quickly & in great conditionNot read as is a gift
Reviewer: Luke
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Loved reading the history behind the NFL and these few owners who made it all happen. Didn’t put it down after it was delivered until I finished reading it.
Reviewer: Sandy Howcroft
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: I bought this for my husband and he really enjoyed it. It was a great book if your interested in how the leagues came about.
Reviewer: J. R. Kendrick
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Review: Came on time for Christmas , son-in-law delighted!
Price effective as of Mar 09, 2025 09:08:17 UTC
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