Table of Contents

Foreword by Don Shula
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1. The Early Years
2. The Quarterback of the Quakers
3. A War Hero Tastes the French Nightlife
4. Back to Penn as Captain of the Quakers
5. Bert Bell’s Coaching Career Begins
6. The Roaring Twenties— Off the Field
7. Frances Upton: One of America’s Brightest Stars
8. The Yellow Jackets Become the Eagles
9. The Eagles Struggle under Bell and Wray
10. The Player Draft Comes in 1936
11. Additional Shock Waves from 1936
12. The Struggle to Survive: 1937 to 1939
13. Bert Bell and Art Rooney Get Together
14. Bert Bell Ends Up in Pittsburgh
15. Bracing for World War II
16. The Steagles
17. The Card- Pitts
18. The New Commissioner
19. Mysterious Negotiations with the AAFC
20. A Gambling Scandal Nipped in the Bud
21. Blizzards, Gamblers, and a Rebellious Club Owner
22. A Dispute with Walter Annenberg and a Truce with the AAFC
23. Buffalo, Dominoes, and Television
24. Finally a Home of Their Own
25. The Dream Game Turns into a Shocker
26. Problems with the Federal Government
27. “Listen, Sonny, Just Sign the Contract!”
28. Baltimore Rises from the Ashes
29. More Warfare and the Sermon on the Mount
30. Flare-Ups, Pile-Ups, and a Move to Oust the Commissioner
31. The Commissioner’s Working Style
32. At Home in Narberth
33. The NFL Welcomes Bubble Gum Cards and CBS-TV
34. “You Can’t Quit Now, Pete Rozelle!”
35. The Players Finally Get a Unionr
36. The “Hands- On” Commissioner
37. “On Any Given Sunday . . .”
38. “Sudden Death” Finally Arrives
39. Anxiety over the AFC, the Pension Plan, and the Pro Bowl
40. A Poetic Ending at Franklin Field
Epilogue
Sources
Index

Promotional Information

The first biography ever written about the man who some considered the greatest commissioner in the history of professional sports

About the Author

For more than 35 years, Robert S. Lyons has covered professional and college sports for the Associated Press and has contributed articles to numerous national publications. He is the author of Palestra Pandemonium: A History of the Big Five, and co-author (with Ray Didinger) of The Eagles Encyclopedia (both Temple). He is the former director of the La Salle University News Bureau, editor of the university's alumni magazine, and an instructor in the school's Communications Department.

Reviews

"Robert S. Lyons' flavorful biography captures the blustery and paternalistic Bell, portraying him as a man who worked relentlessly to keep the NFL alive and push it to thrive....[T]he book is worth reading. One has to appreciate the long string of anecdotes and colorful details Lyons has dug up. Who knew, for instance, that Bell would calm tempers at owners' meetings by taking out his false teeth and putting them in his water glass? More important, no book has detailed Bell's contributions to the NFL so thoroughly."
—Philadelphia Inquirer

"I know the book well. It's a terrific book."
— NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, as heard on The Sal Paolantonio Show (ESPN)