The Last Headbangers
NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless '70s--The Era that Created Modern Sports
Published on 22. August 2012
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-393-08016-2 (ISBN)
Description
Between the Immaculate Reception in 1972 and The Catch in 1982, pro football grew up. In 1972, Steelers star Franco Harris hitchhiked to practice. NFL teams roomed in skanky motels. They played on guts, painkillers, legal steroids, fury, and camaraderie. A decade later, Joe Montana's gleamingly efficient 49ers ushered in a new era: the corporate, scripted, multibillion-dollar NFL we watch today. Kevin Cook's rollicking chronicle of this pivotal decade draws on interviews with legendary players-Harris, Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, Ken "Snake" Stabler-to re-create their heroics and off-field carousing. He shows coaches John Madden and Bill Walsh outsmarting rivals as Monday Night Football redefined sports' place in American life. Celebrating the game while lamenting the physical toll it took on football's greatest generation, Cook diagrams the NFL's transformation from second-tier sport into national obsession.
Reviews / Votes
"A head-slap of a book. Whap, yeah, that's how it was." -- Roy Blount, Jr. "Were we crazy? No-we loved the game, and this book shows why. Cook captures '70s football in all its glory." -- Roger Staubach, Hall of Fame quarterback, MVP of Super Bowl VIMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
8 pages of photographs
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
491 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-08016-2 (9780393080162)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Kevin Cook
The Last Headbangers
NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless '70s: the Era that Created Modern Sports
E-Book
08/2012
W. W. Norton & Company
€14.49
Available for download
Person
A former senior editor at Sports Illustrated, Kevin Cook is the author of Titanic Thompson, Tommy's Honor, Kitty Genovese and The Dad Report. He lives in New York City.