Rozelle: A Biography

by Jerry Izenberg, David J. Stern (Foreword by)

Overview

Rozelle chronicles the life and times of the architect of the modern National Football League, Pete Rozelle, who transformed football into arguably the most successful sports league in the world. While he was never considered a serious candidate for the job of NFL commissioner early on, the position ultimately catapulted Rozelle into the role through which he transformed the NFL and became a trailblazer for all sports in the second half of the twentieth century. When he became commissioner in 1960, the league had twelve teams playing to half-empty stadiums and was mired in an outdated business model. Rozelle introduced revenue and television profit sharing to guarantee the success of small-market teams and brought every NFL game to national television.

Rozelle's monumental achievements include the introduction of the Super Bowl in the '60s followed by the NFL's most rapid expansion and the establishment of Monday Night Football. The '80s saw Rozelle presiding over drug scandals, labor struggles, and the league's legal battles with team owners such as Oakland's Al Davis, who famously won a lawsuit to move his Raiders to Los Angeles.

Jerry Izenberg chronicles the iconic life of Rozelle, who revolutionized the culture of sports in America and is responsible for turning the NFL into the preeminent sports league in the world.

Jerry Izenberg is a sports columnist emeritus for the Newark Star-Ledger and is the author of several books, including Through My Eyes: A Sports Writer's 58-Year Journey. He won the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press Sports Editors and was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2000.

David Stern is former commissioner of the National Basketball Association.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803255746
Publisher:	Nebraska
Publication date:	10/01/2014
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Jerry Izenberg is a sports columnist emeritus for the Newark Star-Ledger and is the author of several books, including Through My Eyes: A Sports Writer’s 58-Year Journey. He won the Red Smith Award from the Associated Press Sports Editors and was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2000.
 
David Stern is former commissioner of the National Basketball Association.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Foreword David Stern xi

Acknowledgments xv

Prologue 1

1 In the Beginning 7

2 Moving On 28

3 The Accidental Coronation 43

4 The Boy Wonder Takes Center Stage 52

5 How Do You Tell Vince? 62

6 Heads They Win, Tails He Loses 81

7 The 100-Yard Armageddon 90

8 Sex, Lies, and Bringing Up Baby 105

9 Ain't Gonna Study No War No More 126

10 Bringing in the Sheaves 141

11 The Failed Coups 162

12 Power to the Tackles 177

13 Another Day, Another Dragon to Slay 196

14 At War with the Counterculture 210

15 Davis Again: Fend without End 222

16 Never Take a Knife to a Gunfight 234

17 The Final Battles 254

18 Death Be Not Proud 272

List of Interviews 285

Notes 287

Index 297

Editorial Reviews

“Read Rozelle: A Biography, and you’ll know not only why the NFL got gargantuan, but why Rozelle is the single biggest reason why it got so big.”—Peter King, senior writer for Sports Illustrated

Peter King

"Izenberg's Rozelle:A Biography is an outstanding read and not to be missed."—Peter Finney, Times-Picayune

Times-Picayune - Peter Finney

"The book allows us to appreciate Rozelle's savvy. He always seemed to have something for everyone—you never went home hungry if you hung out with Pete."—Gerald Eskenazi, Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal - Gerald Eskenazi

"Jerry Izenberg was an astute observer of the NFL’s extraordinary growth during the Pete Rozelle era. His coverage was down to earth, his sources were in the know, and he often challenged conventional wisdom. Now, with the benefit of research and reflection, Izenberg’s assessment of Rozelle and key League personalities is as hard-hitting as one might expect. . . . [Izenberg’s views are] briskly rendered, sometimes humorous, and never ambiguous."—Paul Tagliabue, former NFL Commissioner

Paul Tagliabue

"Rozelle: A Biography offers an in-depth illustration of the Rozelle’s appearance in popular culture and is useful for an understanding of his popularity—and why we now consider the commissioner such an important role in North American sport."—Andrew D. Linden, Sport in American History

Sport in American History - Andrew D. Linden

"Izenberg is from the old school, answering questions, questioning answers. It's good to read about Rozelle and the NFL's growing pains. It's even better because Izenberg did the reporting and the writing."—Stan Hochman, philly.com

philly.com - Stan Hochman

"[An] excellent biography."—Los Angeles Daily News

Los Angeles Daily News

10/01/2014
Izenberg is one of a handful of veteran sportswriters who has covered all 48 Super Bowls, and his intricate knowledge of the inner workings of the NFL serves him well here. The author started writing this biography in the 1970s and set it aside for decades before finishing it recently. Many of the people he originally interviewed are now deceased, so it is fortunate that he preserved their insights into Pete Rozelle (1926–96), perhaps the most significant commissioner in U.S. sports history. In 2007, Rozelle was the subject of a substantial and definitive biography by Jeff Davis, but this shorter work gives a different perspective and is essential reading, too. The author employs a delightfully old-school sports writing style and his sources provide sharp, revealing stories that have not previously been disclosed. Tableaus depicting Rozelle's interactions with longtime secretary Thelma Elkjer and NFL power broker Tex Schramm are particularly striking. The book admiringly makes a strong case that Rozelle was the indispensable man behind the NFL's explosive growth into a massive cultural and economic force in American society. VERDICT All professional football fans will enjoy this well-reported biography of a seminal figure in NFL history.—John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ

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