Ready for some football?!

It’s that time of year – fall weekends mean football! Whether you’re a fan of high school football, the college game or the pros – you’ll find a wealth of materials to feed your appetite for the sport at the library. From books to movies to video games – we have it all. For starters -- check out the materials described below:

The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays   by Ron Jawoarski, Greg Cosell and David Plaut (2011) 

 

Ron Jaworski, NFL MVP, Monday Night Football analyst, and pro football’s game-tape guru, breaks down seven of the most momentous football contests of the last fifty years. With an eye toward the brilliant game plans and seminal strategic breakthroughs that revolutionized play on both sides of the ball, Jaworski offers readers a drive-by-drive, play-by-play guide to the evolutionary leaps that now define the modern NFL. 

That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set it on the Path to Glory  by John Eisenberg (2009) 

 

The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughing stock by the late 1950s. Having failed to field a winning team in more than a decade and close to losing their franchise to another city, they were in desperate need of a savior.  In a single year, Vince Lombardi -- the grizzled coach from New York City -- transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a city known for its passion for sport. 

TakeYour Eye off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look  by Pat Kirwan (2010)

Kirwan, popular analyst for NFL.com and Sirius NFL Radio, explains the intricacies and nuances that affect the outcome of every NFL game.  The author takes you inside a coach's mind as he builds a roster and constructs a game plan, to the line of scrimmage with the quarterback, and deep into the perpetual chess match between offense and defense.

The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-time College Football  by Jeff Benedict (2013)

Granted unprecedented access during the 2012 season to programs at the highest levels across the country, the authors examine the “business” of college football through the eyes of athletic directors and coaches, high-flying boosters and high-profile TV stars, five-star recruits and dogged NCAA investigators, and the kids on whom the whole vast enterprise depends. The System is both a celebration of the power and pageantry of NCAA football and a groundbreaking, thought-provoking critique of its excesses. 

Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team and a Dream  by Buzz Bissinger (2004) 

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bissinger chronicles a season in the life of the Permian Panthers high school football team in the small town of Odessa, Texas.  The author movingly illustrates how single-minded devotion to the team shapes the community and inspires -- and sometimes shatters -- the teenagers who wear the Panthers' uniforms. This popular, critically-acclaimed title inspired both a feature film and a TV series by the same name. 

A Few Seconds of Panic  by Stefan Fatsis (2008)

Drawing on rare access to an NFL team’s players, coaches and facilities, author Fatsis trained to become a professional-caliber placekicker with the Denver Broncos during the 2006 season.  As he sharpened his skills, he gained surprising insight into the daunting challenges—physical, psychological, and intellectual—that pro athletes must master.  With wry candor and hard-won empathy, A Few Seconds of Panic unveils the mind of the modern pro athlete and the workings of a storied sports franchise as no book ever has before.

The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F.Carr  by Chris Willis (2010) 

From 1921 to 1939, Joe F. Carr guided the sport of professional football with intelligence, hard work, and a passion that built the foundation of what the NFL has become: the number one sports organization in the world. During his tenure, Carr implemented the standard player's contract; helped split the NFL into two divisions; established the NFL's World Championship Game; developed the NFL Draft, and created a vision for the NFL as a big-city sport.

The Express  DVD  (2009) 

  

The biopic tells the moving story of college football star Ernie Davis, who overcame poverty and prejudice to play for Syracuse University from 1958-1962.  Davis ultimately led his team to a national championship — and became the first African-American to win the Heisman trophy.  Dennis Quaid and Rob Brown star.

Invincible  DVD  (2000)

Invincible tells the inspirational true story of 30 year-old Vince Papale, a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher in Philadelphia.  Out of work, abandoned by his wife, and biding time as a bartender, Papale answered an open call for tryouts on the Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team in 1976.  Great performances by both Mark Wahlberg (as Papale) and Greg Kinnear (as coach Dick Vermeil). 

Madden NFL 25  Video Game  (2014)

Now -- are you ready to play some football?  Check out the just-released 25^th anniversary edition of Madden’s NFL video game – available at the library for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 game systems.