Football

[#1]

Gridiron legends, stories, strategies, and laughter.

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Paper Lion

By George Plimpton

The founding editor of The Paris Review took participatory journalism to new heights in this hilarious account of his short season as a quarterback-in-training for the Detroit Lions in the mid-1960s. Combining his status as a rank amateur with his genius as raconteur, Plimpton delivered a gem in this outsider's inside look.

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The Blind Side

By Michael Lewis

Lewis cracks the surface glamour of today's game to focus on the often unsung importance of the left tackle, protector of the precious quarterback's "blind side." Telling the remarkable story of one young man, he has written a book that is both an insightful football study and a surprising and rewarding human drama.

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When Pride Still Mattered

By David Maraniss

There is no pro football legend who casts a longer shadow across the history of the game than Vince Lombardi, the driven, emotional, and revered head coach who made the Green Bay Packers the titans of the NFL. This compelling biography is a rich and insightful portrait of the man and his teams—both on and off the field.

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Carlisle vs. Army

By Lars Anderson

With a character roster including the fabled athlete Jim Thorpe, future president Dwight Eisenhower, and football legend Pop Warner, this is a riveting account of a forgotten 1912 clash that pitted American Indians against the Army—this time on the gridiron—in a college game as dramatic as any ever played.

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Semi-Tough 

By Dan Jenkins

Ranked 7th on Sports Illustrated's list of the Top 100 Sports Books of All Time, Jenkins's novel recounts the adventures of Billy Clyde Puckett, star halfback of the New York Giants, in a vividly drawn world of whiskey, women, and—oh yeah—football. Uproarious and hard to put down, it was the basis of the movie starring Burt Reynolds and Kris Kirstofferson.