Robert W. Peterson, a college baseball and basketball player right after World War II, has been a magazine writer for 30 years. He has written two previous books on sports history: Only the Ball Was White, and Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years. He lives in Ramsey, New Jersey.
"With consummate skill and an impressive command of
sources...Peterson reconstructs this colorful aspect of America's
sporting past accurately and with great immediacy."--Kirkus
Reviews
"For lovers of football there are a number of volumes worth gift
wrapping. Robert W. Peterson's Pigskin...might well top the
list."--Sports Illustrated
"[A] vibrant drama involving real men, their passions, and their
disappointments....Wonderful reading."--Booklist
"The best and most accurate early history [of pro
football]....Peterson...is a craftsman who tells his story
smoothly, convincingly, and with enough true (or probably true)
anecdotes to keep the reader turning those pages. I put off reading
the latest Sue Grafton to read Pigskin first, and I was glad I did.
definitely recommended."--The Coffin Corner
"An accomplished sports historian traces pro football's
metamorphosis from a regional curiosity into a national
obsession....In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
pro football was seen by athletes and organizers as a corruption of
the purer, more noble college pasttime--never mind that many pros
were collegians playing under assumed names. Today, universities
fight a losing battle to keep their best players from bolting to
the NFL after a season
or two on campus. With consummate skill and an impressive command
of sources, Peterson chronicles the persons and events that made
this turnabout a reality....Peterson reconstructs this colorful
aspect of America's sporting past accurately and with great
immediacy."--Kirkus Reviews
"Based on lively oral histories drawn from individuals who coached
or played in the early years of professional football, this
narrative is vibrant and engaging."--School Library Journal
"With consummate skill and an impressive command of sources...Peterson reconstructs this colorful aspect of America's sporting past accurately and with great immediacy."--Kirkus Reviews "For lovers of football there are a number of volumes worth gift wrapping. Robert W. Peterson's Pigskin...might well top the list."--Sports Illustrated "[A] vibrant drama involving real men, their passions, and their disappointments....Wonderful reading."--Booklist "The best and most accurate early history [of pro football]....Peterson...is a craftsman who tells his story smoothly, convincingly, and with enough true (or probably true) anecdotes to keep the reader turning those pages. I put off reading the latest Sue Grafton to read Pigskin first, and I was glad I did. definitely recommended."--The Coffin Corner "An accomplished sports historian traces pro football's metamorphosis from a regional curiosity into a national obsession....In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, pro football was seen by athletes and organizers as a corruption of the purer, more noble college pasttime--never mind that many pros were collegians playing under assumed names. Today, universities fight a losing battle to keep their best players from bolting to the NFL after a season or two on campus. With consummate skill and an impressive command of sources, Peterson chronicles the persons and events that made this turnabout a reality....Peterson reconstructs this colorful aspect of America's sporting past accurately and with great immediacy."--Kirkus Reviews "Based on lively oral histories drawn from individuals who coached or played in the early years of professional football, this narrative is vibrant and engaging."--School Library Journal
YA‘Based on lively oral histories drawn from individuals who coached or played in the early years of professional football, this narrative is vibrant and engaging. Peterson did extensive research and diligently backed it up with primary sources from newspapers as well as these personal interviews. The account covers the game's humble beginnings in 1889 when college players in the Ivy League were paid for playing football and given preferential treatment. From that point, it continues the story up to the 1958 championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. Peterson discusses the formation of the NFL in 1920 and the many trials endured along the way over the subsequent 38 years. He includes some of the sport's most famous personalities such as Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Sammy Baugh, and George Halas. The author also delves into the important contributions blacks made in the early days of "pigskin" combat. One of the most absorbing chapters is about football in America during the challenging years of World War II. The center section of black-and-white photos adds significantly to the book's appeal. An excellent bibliography and a substantial index are appended. A worthy addition to the sports section of any YA collection.‘Peggy Mooney, Pohick Public Library, Burke, VA
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