Birth of the New NFL: How the 1966 NFL/AFL Merger Transformed Pro Football - Softcover

Felser, Larry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1599211513 ISBN 13: 9781599211510

Publisher: The Lyons Press, 2008

Synopsis

The year 1966 marked the birth of the National Football League as we know it, when owners in the NFL and the upstart American Football League agreed to an unprecedented merger, to take place at the start of the 1970 season. They also agreed to play, beginning at the end of the ’66 season, a game between each league’s champion―a game that came to be called The Super Bowl. The Birth of the New NFL tells the story of that historic season, leading to the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It also tells the off-the-field story, the one between warring owners and cities―a story often more brutal than the one on the field. Larry Felser has interviewed the leading men of the day, from Al Davis and Jack Kemp, to Wellington Mara, Art Modell, Lamar Hunt, Gene Upshaw, Dan Rooney, and many others. He presents the struggles of top teams for the chance to represent their respective leagues in the biggest game ever, while also offering a behind-closed-doors view of the wheeling and dealing it took to reach the agreement.

About this title

About the Author

Larry Felser is a former president of the Pro Football Writers of America. In 1983 he was elected to the writers’ wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He reported on the Buffalo Bills from their inception through 1962 for the Buffalo Courier-Express and from 1963 through 1976 for the Buffalo News.

From the Back Cover

The year 1966 marked the birth of the National Football League as we know it, when owners in the NFL and the upstart American Football League agreed to an unprecedented merger, to take place at the start of the 1970 season. They also agreed to play, beginning at the end of the '66 season, a game between each league's champion--a game that came to be called the Super Bowl. The Birth of the New NFL tells the story of that historic season, leading to the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. It also tells the off-the-field story, the one between warring owners and cities--a story often more brutal than the one on the field. Larry Felser has interviewed the leading men of the day, from Al Davis and Jack Kemp to Wellington Mara, Art Modell, Lamar Hunt, Gene Upshaw, Dan Rooney, and many others. He presents the struggles of top teams for the chance to represent their respective leagues in the biggest game ever, and provides a gripping, behind-closed-doors account of the wheeling and dealing it took to reach the agreement.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1599211513
• ISBN 13: 9781599211510
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256