The Last Headbangers
NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless '70s: the Era that Created Modern Sports
Published on 29. October 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-393-34587-2 (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., author of About Three Bricks Shy of a Load and Alphabet Juice "Wired, crazy, hard-hitting, a pure winner." -- Jeff Pearlman, author of Boys Will Be Boys and Sweetness "About as subtle as a kick in the head." -- Scott Simon, NPR "Featuring arguably the greatest collection of weirdos, maniacs, misfits, heroes and villains ever gathered under any dome other than the U.S. Capitol." -- Greg Schneider - Washington Post "Kevin Cook celebrates the rough-edged heroes of the 1970s NFL, vividly re-creating some of the game's unforgettable moments." -- Jonathan Mahler, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is BurningMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
8 pages of photographs
Dimensions
Height: 207 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
250 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-34587-2 (9780393345872)
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.