Serb, Chris. War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Pp. xviii, 275. Appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Russ Crawford In War Football, Chris Serb not only makes a strong case that football played during The Great War “created an environment where professional football could…
Sarantakes, Nicholas Evans. Fan in Chief: Richard Nixon and American Sports, 1969-1974. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2019. ix+349. Appendix, notes, timeline, bibliographical essay, sources, and index. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Nicholas Evans Sarantakes has written a comprehensive analysis of President Richard M. Nixon’s interaction with the sporting world in Fan in Chief. It is…
Crippen, Kenneth R. and Matt Reaser, eds., The All-America Football Conference: Players, Coaches, Records, Games and Awards, 1946-1949. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2018. Pp. 361. Index. $45 softcover. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named, did not win a championship in his…
Oriard, Michael. The Art of Football: The Early Game in the Golden Age of Illustration. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017. Pp. 243. Notes, References, Index. $39.95 cloth. Reviewed by Rich Loosbrock Michael Oriard continues his exploration of the intersection between American football and the popular imagination with this sumptuously illustrated examination of early football…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on December 4, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. Here we are once again at the end of the regular season in college football. The conference championship games have…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on February 2, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. By Richard C. Crepeau The calendar has turned over another year. The winter solstice has passed. The holiday season is…
By Jesse Berrett Halfway through this NFL season, one that saw President Donald Trump declare war on professional football players because of ongoing political protests during pregame national anthems, it seemed clear that 50 years of careful political positioning had rebounded on the league. Under media-savvy commissioner Pete Rozelle, between 1961 and 1966, the NFL…
By Russ Crawford From June 24-30, women from six nations are meeting in Langley, British Columbia to contend for the title of world champion in American football. Australia, Britain, Canada, Finland, Mexico and the United States have sent teams to showcase the best female football players in their respective countries. At the time of writing,…
By Zachary R. Bigalke Editor’s Note: This post is based on the experiences of one of our contributors, Zachary R. Bigalke, at the 2017 NASSH Convention. At the 2017 North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Convention, held over Memorial Day weekend at Cal State University, Fullerton, there was a slew of research that advanced historical…
Crawford, Russ. Le Football: A History of American Football in France. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 366. 25 illustrations, 18 tables, endnotes, bibliography, index. $39.50 hardcover. Reviewed by John E. Price That football is a quintessentially American game is axiomatic, even tautological, to many. Sports reporters and commentators have opined for decades on…
Sport in American History 