The NFL in the 1970s: Pro Football's Most Important Decade

I was able to relive my childhood love of the NFL thru this book. A thoroughly nostalgic read. Brought back great memories.

The older I get, the more I appreciate my 70s childhood. I look back fondly at youth defined by Wacky Packages, 10-speeds, the ABC Sunday Night Movie and the glory of NFL football. While today’s NFL is as strong as ever, moneywise … the character, fun and simplicity of it all are gone forever … lost in a sea of overexposure, commercialism, politics and self-promotion. Joe Zagorski’s THE NFL IN THE 1970S gave me something I didn’t think was possible … a chance to relive those Sundays of watching games on the couch with my father and chattering with schoolmates on Tuesday mornings about the Monday Night Football game.I’m sure a lot of 70s kids who were fans of the NFL knew most players by trading/collecting Topps football cards. I’ll also wager that man young fans of that era penned letters to Santa requesting NFL stuff they saw in the annual Sears Christmas Wishbook … What boy didn’t own a pair of those skin tight, flammable NFL team pajamas (with the helmet logo on the chest)? While reading this book, all those memories came flooding back, my old football cards appeared vividly in my mind and as I continued to read, I realized that everything I loved about NFL back then also ended back then.Ed Podolak … Charlie Harraway … Boobie Clark … Bill Stanfill …Zagorski’s book is rather straight-forward … each chapter is dedicated to an individual season from 1970 to 1979. One of the best parts of these chapters is the author’s introductory commentary that details the changes facing the league before the start of the season. These introductions allow readers to see the transformation of game rules, league politics, player issues and a host of other interesting tidbits that clearly illustrate how the NFL managed to usurp baseball’s claim as “America’s Game”. Following every season “preface”, the author dives right into analyzing the weekly gameplay, complete with statistical and descriptive highlights of significant games, plays and individual performances … from week 1 to the Super Bowl. Zagorski peppers player and coach reactions to games for added emphasis (and yes, Tom Landry’s commentary is as stiff as you’d expect). The sheer nature of summarizing an entire season of football games by lumping them into paragraphs does prove to be a tedious read (imagine a bunch of easy-to-view box scores being transformed into sentences and paragraphs). I found it easier to digest the book in small periodic doses. Personally, I didn’t really “get into” those initial 70s seasons as I my first recollection of seeing a Super Bowl on TV was in 1973, when I was 6 years old. Even though it was difficult to personally relate to the first several chapters, the manner in which Zagorski details EVERYTHING had me excited about getting to the season when I actually began taking an active interest in the sport (1974). As I continued to read, the events being described started to vividly play out in my mind like watching those slo-mo highlight reels with the John Facenda narration. One surprising byproduct of Zagorski’s dedication to detail is that almost every page mentions a player that I could clearly remember being on an old football card. Ironically, other than a few future Hall of Famers, I never saw most of those players on my football cards actually play … they were simply pictures and names … until I started reading this book.Lloyd Mumphord … Jim Bakken … Tom Mack … Joe Pisarcik …Throughout the season recaps, the author gives special attention to significant plays, player performances, personalities, trivialities and oddities that made that decade of football so unique and memorable. The detailed moments certainly break up the monotony of the droning game summaries. We get all the nicknames (“Dr. Death”, “The Over the Hill Gang”, “Cardiac Cards” and the “Doomsday Defense”), sense the futility of the league’s worst-ever expansion team (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and feel the palpable hostility of the Redskin/Cowboy and Steeler/Raider rivalries. The league’s “dirtiest player” (ever?), Conrad Dobler, definitely occupies a good chunk of attention in the book … so does O.J. Simpson. As odd as it was to read about Simpson’s gridiron success (considering what was in store for him decades later), Zagorski does a great job staying focused on 70s football and only references future events to provide context (such as mentioning Michael Vick needing 16 games to break the QB season rushing record set in the 70s). Nothing slips by Zagorski’s meticulous research … Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Phyllis George, MNF and the Eagles’ fans violent tendencies … EVERYTHING is addressed. The 1970s NFL was a direct reflection American culture: wild, gritty and definitely blue-collar. The book captures a decade-long merging of sport and culture.Stu Voight … Wally Chambers … John Brockington … Greg Landry …The only NFL game I ever attended was the 1977 AFC Divisional Playoff on Christmas Eve (Raiders vs. Colts) … the double overtime classic nicknamed the “Ghost to the Post” game. The experience of sitting in Memorial Stadium that December afternoon is something I will cherish the rest of my life … it was a truly exciting decade for NFL football. Joe Zagorski’s book wasn’t a simple sports recap for me … It managed to uncover a fading moment of my childhood and allowed me to relive it all over again. I’m a very nostalgic person and this book simply hit the spot. THE NFL IN THE 1970s is a labor of love … I applaud the author’s meticulous research, attention to detail and the ability to vividly bring those old games back to life.

I want to highlight the retrospective in perspective. This while book was what Autumn Sundays were about for me even before I was a fan. This maybe the best book on the history of the NFL during this time. Perhaps it stuck too much to the game itself but I don't blame the author. There was too much going on to get it all, and then you get stuck in the manute of individual p!ays. Some people are into that. I loose concentration midway through 77 or is it 78.

I came across this title and was intrigued by the subject matter so I downloaded the book to my Kindle and LOVED it! This is a book for a football purist: it takes the reader through the NFL from 1970 right up to 1980 and covers each season with a fairly in-depth retelling of the week to week games of the decade. It highlights how football grew in the public imagination and interest during the 70's and rightly compliments Pete Rozelle for his vision and foresight into making football the "national passion." It covers rule changes and their impact throughout the decade and simply served to remind me of some players I had actually forgotten about (Randy Vataha, et. al.). If you love football and grew up in this decade as I did, this will be a very enjoyable read and I want to thank the author for the hard work and gifted story-telling that made this a wonderful read..

Well, it reads all about each game, seems like. To me, it could have used a few more photos. I got the impression there'd be more pictures. I'm visually motivated.It does make you recall how things were back in the 70s. As far as my interest level, I think that was about the high water mark of the nfl.It's a pretty chunky book. Plenty to read.Everything about the transaction was just fine. I'm real satisfied.

For fans who remember this era this will be a quick and enjoyable read. For fans who were not around during this time it will be quite an education. What I liked most about it was the detailed coverage of every year and the mentioning of some names that I have not thought of in years. Bert Jones of the Baltimore Colts, Jim Hart of the St. Louis Cardinals, Billy Kilmer of the Washington Redskins and Daryle Lamonica of the Oakland Raiders, etc, etc. Great book and I will enjoy reading it again.

Tedious. Methodical predictible

Disappointing because there are hardly any pictures. I bought this for my husband who is NOT a dedicated reader. IT was just his birthday but the return window has closed.