Customer Reviews (1)

A true fan's "must have".
This book really illustrates what the Tennessee Titans accomplished in such a short amount of time in their first season in Nashville.The photographs bring back lots of great memories, and brings a smile to my face every time I open it.There's lots more photographs than text, but those photos say it all.

My favorite section is on the Music City Miracle, of course.I still get chills when I look at the frame by frame photographs of that historic play.Incredible!Go Titans!! ... Read more

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Professional football today is an $8 billion sports entertainment industry and the most popular spectator sport in America, with designs on expansion across the globe. In this astute field-level view of the National Football League since 1960, Michael Oriard looks closely at the development of the sport and at the image of the NFL and its unique place in American life. New to the paperback edition is Oriard's analysis of the offseason labor negotiations and their potential effects on the future of the sport, and his account of how the NFL is dealing with the latest research on concussions and head injuries. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Brooke, OSU Comp Student 2010
I read Brand NFL for a paper I had to write in my Comp 2 class at Oklahoma State University. I read this book becasue Marketing in the NFL is what I am wanting to go into. This boook was very interesting when it came to what the NFL was back in the old days tho what it is today. The money aspect of the book and how much money the professional teams make are interesting and when Oriard goes into detail different players and he talks about how these specific players are very marketable, I think that is what we look at today when watching the NFL. We look at different players and not only how they play but if they are popular or not. This book was a great read and very interesting.

A rather dry history of the NFL
The author is a college professor and the book reads like a term paper. He quotes other sources to the point where there are so many footnotes is disrupts the reading. And even though he is a former player he gives precious little info about his personal experience and opinions. The colorful characters and mud-splattering drama you associate with the NFL are mostly absent. A great case study and historical text if that's what you want. But not entertaining.

very solid, with an exception
Michael Oriard explores an area relatively uncovered in the vast flow of information about football. And that is the establishment of the NFL as a business, especially a media and entertainment enterprise instead of a simple sport played by romanticized warriors.

Oriard is first-rate on the history of the game and its development from a minor sport to the top tier starting in the late 1950s and 1960s. He nicely balanced football and its personalities, such as Lombardi, with the awakening of football as a business, primarily under the timely leadership of Pete Rozelle. People who remember the 1960s should enjoy the history, and young fans could find much to learn. The author is informative and concise.

He then moves into the next wave, with Joe Namath as one of the anchors, with his free spirit and large contract as indicators that, in retrospect, were seminal that seem almost quaint by now. Wow, long hair and white shoes! Here again, the personalities and the business evolved as parallel trends, influencing each other. Pete Rozelle began to lose his grip and the stakes got too high as football became America's #1 sport and the media coverage meant problems became public. Financial visionaries such as Jerry Jones of Dallas were about to open another whole dimension.

Oriard writes extensively about the beginning of the labor movement within football, all the way to the current relative peace. This is possibly both one of the strongest and weakest parts of the book. The strength is that the topic is relatively unfamiliar and normally underestimated in its importance, plus Oriard the ex-player has that insider's perspective. The weakness may be that it may be more than many fans wanted to know, and Oriard certainly is not impartial. Even so, the one-sided nature of owner-player relationship in the old days is almost appalling to read now. Younger fans may also be shocked to hear how little revenue football had and how little players made.

Oriand tackles one of the third rails of sports, that of why black athletes dominate, black cultural issues as they relate to football, and both subtle and obvious racism. He makes some reasonable observations, while also hemming and hawing around specifics where you cannot really win. The "exception" in my title is that he really should have stayed away from intelligence, other than the obvious history of blacks being kept from so-called skill positions that allegedly needed mental skills beyond their capacity. Wading into general intelligence controversies served no purpose, and Oriand misrepresented the famous "Bell Curve" book anyway. In this case, stick to your knitting.

Oriand closed with the transition from Paul Tagliabue to Roger Goodell as the new commissioner, naturally a time to re-assess the state of the business. To Oriand, Goodell fits football's continued growth in complexity that demands far more than Pete Rozelle the PR man. Oriand is very optimistic about football's future, yet he doesn't shy from some of the risks.

That attitude helps the general tone and credibility of the book. A breathless "homer" would have been uninteresting. A negative beat-down would have been unrealistic and pointless. As he said near the end, "Is the NFL become primarily a media company, or, is it still, above all, a national *football* league? It is both, of course, but the balance has been shifting, and how the commissioner will manage that balance over the coming years will be the story of the post-new NFL, whatever it will be called."

I can't argue with that. What I hope Oriand and Goodell realize is that excessive commercialization is itself a major risk. Major sporting events already are flirting with unwatchability with all the commercials and side shows. It's one area that could have gotten a bit more attention here. Why exactly is it that people like me watch less football than before, why don't I want to pay for the NFL Network, and why don't I like being shaken down at every opportunity by Dan Snyder? ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Football Venues in Belize, Marion Jones Sports Complex, Carl Ramos Stadium, Michael Ashcroft Stadium, Orange Walk People's Stadium, Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Norman Broaster Stadium, Toledo Union Field. Excerpt: The Marion Jones Sports Complex, previously the National Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Belize City, Belize. It is used mostly for football matches, track and field and cycling. The stadium holds 7,500. It is named after former track athlete of Belizean descent, Marion Jones. The National Stadium was established sometime in the 1960s as a venue for horse racing, football and cycling. The Cross Country Cycling Classic and other such events often finished with laps around the cycle track, originally sand and later asphalt. A famous murder, that of Derek "Itza" Brown, took place on its grounds in 1992. Eventually, the stadium was upgraded to its present condition, with planned expansion and conversion to a domed stadium expected. After her visit to Belize in 2001 at the height of her success following the Sydney Olympics, the stadium was named after Jones. Even with Jones' recent disgrace over steroid allegations there have been no plans to remove her name from the stadium. ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4208503 ... Read more

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Chapters: Marion Jones Sports Complex, Carl Ramos Stadium, Michael Ashcroft Stadium, Orange Walk People's Stadium, Isidoro Beaton Stadium, Norman Broaster Stadium, Toledo Union Field. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 21. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Marion Jones Sports Complex, previously the National Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Belize City, Belize. It is used mostly for football matches, track and field and cycling. The stadium holds 7,500. It is named after former track athlete of Belizean descent, Marion Jones. The National Stadium was established sometime in the 1960s as a venue for horse racing, football and cycling. The Cross Country Cycling Classic and other such events often finished with laps around the cycle track, originally sand and later asphalt. A famous murder, that of Derek "Itza" Brown, took place on its grounds in 1992. Eventually, the stadium was upgraded to its present condition, with planned expansion and conversion to a domed stadium expected. After her visit to Belize in 2001 at the height of her success following the Sydney Olympics, the stadium was named after Jones. Even with Jones' recent disgrace over steroid allegations there have been no plans to remove her name from the stadium. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4208503 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Michael Strahan, Bobby Reid, Don Narcisse, Ernie Holmes, Markus Howell, Homer Jones, Julius Adams, Winston Hill, Joe Burch, Warren Wells, Brett Maxie, Mike Holmes, Leroy Mitchell, Boyd Jones, Oliver Celestin, Bert Askson, Cortez Hankton, Willie Ellison, Ken Burrough, Derrick Gray, Hank Edwards, Keith Baker, Lloyd Mumphord, Will Moore, Nate Allen, Andy Rice, W. K. Hicks, Stacey Thomas, Lamar Herron, Arthur Cox, Calvin Muhammad, Fred Dean, Charles Philyaw, Charley Frazier, James West, Dave Mays, James Young. Excerpt:Andy Rice item Teams item 1966-1967 1967 1968-1969 1970-1971 1972-1973: AFL Kansas City Chiefs AFL Houston Oilers AFL Cincinnati Bengals NFL San Diego Chargers NFL Chicago Bears Andy Rice (born September 6, 1940) was an American college and professional football player. He played collegiately for Texas Southern , and went to the American Football League 's Kansas City Chiefs in 1965. After winning the American Football League Championship with the Chiefs in 1966, he started for them in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game See also (online edition) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at item Position(s) Tight end : item Born: February 5, 1961 (1961-02-05) Plant City, Florida item Career information item Year(s) : 1983 1991 item Undrafted in 1983 item College : Texas Southern item Professional teams item item Career stats item Receptions : 170 item Receiving yards: 1758 item Touchdowns : 10 item Stats at NFL.com item Career highlights and awards item Arthur Dean Cox (born February 5, 1961 in Plant City, Florida ) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League . A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Bert Askson (b. December 16, 1945) was a tight end and defensive end in the National Football League who played for the Pittsburgh S... ... Read more

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Chapters: Michael Vick, Brandon Minor, Plaxico Burress, Aaron Brooks, Fran Tarkenton, Thomas Jones, Evan Royster, Shawn Moore, Rodney Landers, Ronald Curry, Gibran Hamdan, Quincy Wilson, Connor Barth, Aaron Rouse, Jerod Mayo, Michael Robinson, Darren Perry, Deon Butler, Claude E. Thornhill, Dré Bly, Jimmy F. Williams, Cedric Peerman, Brandon Noble, Torrey Smith, Ricky Schmitt, Tony Hunt, Vic Hall, Marques Hagans, Josh Vaughan, Kam Chancellor, Paris Lenon, Clint Sintim, Russell Wilson, Orion Martin, Mike Compton, Fred Linkous, James Edward Roe, Billy Mcmullen, Norm Snead, Bryan Still, Benjamin Watson, Chris Crocker, Greg Boone, Marcus Hamilton, David Terrell, Ernest Wilford, Jim Davis, Don Carey, Matt Lehr, Greg Scott, Steve Delong, Monsanto Pope, Jonathan Lewis, Dave Ames, Tyrone Davis, Bracy Walker, Elton Brown, Connor Hughes, Khalif Mitchell, Thomas Clayton, Jim Gillette, Ahmad Hawkins, Brandon Anderson, Larry Burton, Jack Williams, Alex Field, Keith Goganious, Ocie Austin, Matt Darby, Henry Bailey, J.r. Wilburn, Amos Lawrence, Duffy Cobbs, Brian Washington, Ron C. Smith, Bill Sandifer, Alonzo Coleman, Jon Staggers, Tommy Tomlin, Art Jones, Willie Armstead, Lou Baldacci, Ray Reutt, Tyrone Robertson, Macey Brooks, Antonio Banks, Tom Graves, Paul Toviessi. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 334. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a professional American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He played for the Atlanta Falcons for six seasons before serving time in prison for his involvement in an illegal dog fighting ring. Vick played college football at Virginia Tech, where as a freshman he placed third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He left after his sophomore year to enter the NFL and was drafted...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=428979 ... Read more