The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation

Synopsis

A New York Times Bestseller and Boston Globe Bestseller!It&’s America&’s most popular sport, played by thousands, watched by millions, and generating billions in revenues every year. It&’s also America&’s most controversial sport, haunted by the specter of life-threatening injuries and plagued by scandal, even among its most venerable personalities and institutions. At the college level, we often tie football&’s tales of corruption and greed to its current popularity and revenue potential, and we have vague notions of a halcyon time--before the new College Football Playoff, power conferences, and huge TV contracts. Perhaps we conjure images of young Ivy Leaguers playing a gentleman&’s game, exemplifying the collegial in collegiate. What we don&’t imagine is a game described in 1905, not today, as "a social obsession--this boy-killing, man-mutillating, education-prostituting, gladiatorial sport."In The Opening Kickoff, Dave Revsine tells the riveting story of the formative period of American football (1890-1915). It was a time that saw the game&’s meteoric rise, fueled by overflow crowds, breathless newspaper coverage and newfound superstars—including one of the most thrilling and mysterious the sport has ever seen. But it was also a period racked by controversy in academics, recruiting, and physical brutality that, in combination, threatened football&’s very existence. A vivid storyteller, Revsine brings it all to life in a captivating narrative.

Copyright:

2014

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

320 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781493012923

Related ISBNs:

9781493009527

Publisher:

Globe Pequot Publishing

Date of Addition:

10/06/25

Copyrighted By:

Dave Revsine

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Sports

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.