The Unbroken Line is the riveting story of how truly heartless the business of professional football was and is - from the poor pension plans and inadequate medical benefits to the greed of union leadership which the authors argue takes advantage of and turns its back on the very individuals who make the game great. At no time in the annals of sports has the timing of a book been more important.

This unique story provides a fascinating inside look at how a group of players and one attorney strategically outwitted the NFL and the Players' Union leadership to score an historic and crucial victory for players' rights. The year was 1982, a few courageous men stood up to their powerful administrative adversaries when no one else would during the most turbulent time in the history of professional football. What was at stake then and now again in 2010 is the players' ability to earn salaries and benefits that are in line with their contributions to their teams.

The authors, former Pro Bowl tight end Billy Joe DuPree and highly respected attorney Spencer Kopf, not only reveal the successful plan that began the end of player exploitation, but they also skillfully compare the peril players faced in 1982 to the heart wrenching situations of present-day, retired union members.

Covering a 45-year period, "The Nebraska Way" chronicles both the historic rise and gradual fall of the Nebraska football dynasty, from the hiring of Bob Devaney and succession of Tom Osborne to the firing of Frank Solich and rapid separation from tradition. Along with the highs and lows of the Cornhuskers' achievements, "The Nebraska Way" also attempts to define Tom Osborne's philosophy as a coach and mentor as well as the relationship between the football program and the state it represents. Also discussed is the transition from a unique and special program to one assuming the characteristics of any other major college football program, and what it means for the future of the University of Nebraska football program.

For ten years the Cleveland Browns compiled a better record and won more championships than any team in pro football history. In their first game they set an all-time attendance record and consistently drew the largest crowds of the post-World War II era. They dominated an upstart league and then silenced their detractors by doing the same to the NFL. The Browns were led by Paul Brown, a football visionary who changed pro football. Most important among his innovations was the leading role the franchise played in the integration of pro sports. While much of their competition continued with the racial exclusion of the past, the Browns featured some of the greatest black players of all-time, men who were an integral part of the Cleveland dynasty. The Best Show in Football: The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns, Pro Football's Greatest Dynasty tells the story of those players and that dynasty. Included in that story is the construction of the Browns as well as accounts of the team's many victories. Dozens of interviews bring to life the exploits of Otto Graham, Bill Willis, Marion Motley, Lou Groza, Mac Speedie, Len Ford, Dante Lavelli, Frank Gatski, and so many others. In rich detail, The Best Show in Football demonstrates why Cleveland's dynasty was the greatest ever, greater even than several teams that are usually accorded that honor. The conclusions may be surprising but the evidence is all here. And along the way author Andy Piascik provides a wonderful trip back to football's golden age.

A compelling narrative that follows the progress of a few key players and coaches over the last year. Joe Namath, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Reggie White, Emmitt Smith ...they all come out of the Southeast Conference (SEC). The SEC is the most exciting football conference in the country. Southerners are among the most devoted, most fanatical football fans in the nation; the average attendance at an SEC game is 70,000 (the highest in the US), with hundreds of thousands more watching the games on TV and listening on the radio. The SEC's nationally televised championship game annually attracts in excess of 20 million viewers. The SEC has more good teams, more good players, more All-Americans than any other region. This book looks at some of the biggest SEC teams, how they operate, what the players go through. From the locker rooms to the coaches to the championships, this is an in-depth look at the state of Southern football today. By extension it offers broader pictures of national college football.

This book lays down a marker as to the state of economists' understanding of the National Football League (NFL) by assembling sophisticated, critical surveys of by leading sports economists on major topics associated with the league. The book is divided into four parts. The first three chapters in Part I provide an overview of the business of the NFL from an economist's perspective. Part II is a collection of surveys of the economics of the NFL's most important revenue streams, including media, attendance, and merchandising. The NFL's labor economics is the focus of Part III, with chapters on player and coach labor markets, the draft, and contract structure. Part IV includes essays on competitive balance, gambling, economic impacts of the Super Bowl, behavioral economic issues associated with the league, and antitrust issues. This book will appeal to sports economists, sports management professionals, and policy-makers, and would be useful as a supplementary text for sports economics and management courses as well as a reference text."

From their founding, the Massachusetts communities of Leominster and Fitchburg have shared the same river. More than that, they have long shared a special football competition that has sometimes spilled beyond the field. In A Game That Forged Rivals, author and historian Mark Bodanza captures the human drama of one of the nation's oldest football rivalries; the high schools of Leominster and Fitchburg have met on the gridiron for 114 years.

This long-standing competition has weathered many challenges, including major developments in the sport, wars, economic turmoil, an epidemic, and technological and social change not imagined when the teams first met in 1894. Through all the years and contests, thousands of athletes have competed for pride and a belief that this game was the pinnacle of their football days. A Game That Forged Rivals shares the stories, dramatic clashes, and challenges that tested these young men both on and off the field.

Compiled from newspaper articles, school yearbooks, game programs, eyewitness accounts, letters, photos, and archival records, A Game That Forged Rivals not only chronicles the development of football from its earliest days, but also tells the story of two communities that saw, in football, a way to grasp civic pride.

July 1966: The dreams of an Iranian political correspondent are shattered to pieces when he is informed that instead of flying to Saigon, he will have to travel to London to report on the World Cup. To him, this is an insignificant matter at a time when the world is silently burning in the flames of wars and in the coldness of the Cold War. However, to his surprise, he finds football to be a new global language. World Cup 1966, in particular, appears to be reuniting people all over the globe. In the middle of the world's unrest, World Cup 1966 is a moment of fresh air. From the early elimination of the two time champions, Brazil and Italy, to the phenomenal appearance of North Korea; from the brave Portuguese men who gave their all to stay longer in the competition to the proud Germans who made every effort to repair the broken image of their nation; from the tears of Black Pearl to the nine goals of Black Panther; and from England's disappointing draw in the opening match to their glorious victory in the Final; the story brings back all the ups and downs of World Cup 1966, set against a stark backdrop of world events that defined that tumultuous time period.

The instant New York Times bestseller! From one of America's most beloved sportswriters and the bestselling author of Pappyland, a collection of true stories about the dream of greatness and its cost in the world of sports. "Wright Thompson's stories are so full of rich characters, bad actors, heroes, drama, suffering, courage, conflict, and vivid detail that I sometimes thinks he's working my side of the street - the world of fiction." - John Grisham There is only one Wright Thompson. He is, as they say, famous if you know who he is: his work includes the most read articles in the history of ESPN (and it's not even close) and has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series ten times, and he counts John Grisham and Richard Ford among his ardent admirers (see back of book). But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive. Wright Thompson figures people out. He jimmies the lock to the furnaces inside the people he profiles and does an analysis of the fuel that fires their ambition. Whether it be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Pat Riley or Urban Meyer, he strips the away the self-serving myths and fantasies to reveal his characters in full. There are fascinating common denominators: it may not be the case that every single great performer or coach had a complex relationship with his father, but it can sure seem that way. And there is much marvelous local knowledge: about specific sports, and times and places, and people. Ludicrously entertaining and often powerfully moving, The Cost of These Dreams is an ode to the reporter's art, and a celebration of true greatness and the high price that it exacts.