The Great NFL Fun Book- Where the Football Love Started

The 1970s kids NFL Bible

As I said in an earlier post about the magic of Scholastic book fairs and the NFL, my love for the game began in school. Why is that besides it was just a magical time where there was no Internet, social media, 4K streaming, etc? I credit (and blame) the ones who marketed the game and figured out that in order for the NFL and pro football (take notes CFL Commissioner) to prosper, you needed to feed gridiron crack to the kids, and for kids, Scholastic book fairs were academic crack fairs where kids discovered what truly interested them. I am not saying sports books are bad, because without them I never would have paid attention to geography, poetry (thank you Steve Sabol and John Facenda) or taken such an avid interest in reading.   Among the best books of that late 70s era besides All-Pro Football Stars was The Great NFL Fun Book I & II, which if you had them, I don't need to remind you of just how awesome it was a ten year old to read and get lost in.  They just don't make books for child sports fans like this these days.  Don't believe me? Give it a read here for free courtesy of the Internet Archive....

United States History and the Baltimore Colts

The words
"Baltimore Colts"
evokes memories
of childhoods past.

What I love about football history is the history is also a history of America and the world in which we, as well as the players and coaches live. Which is exactly why I love with Jack Gilden's "Collision of Wills," and after the From the 55 Yardline podcast began I knew we needed to interview Mr. Gilden, for the city of Baltimore is where NFL, CFL and USFL champions have called home in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. No other American city can lay such a claim, and with that the history of the football is also a reflection of American history. As has also been demonstrated by Michael Olesker's "The Colts' Baltimore" and William Gildea's "When the Colts Belonged to Baltimore." and "Sundays at 2:00 With the Baltimore Colts" by Vince Bagli and Norman Macht, to name just a few.

Simulation Football Leagues, Living in the Past, and Learning to Love Football Again

A few years ago I found myself on a plane to my Navy reserve duty and cracked open one of my many football books. Being an uber football nerd from the 1970s I have always loved playing computer football games; however, unless I was playing against someone in the same room, be it on an Odyssey 2, Game Cube, or  Play Station. Sadly, my childhood only saw one instance of me playing a table top football simulation in 1980, that being Sport's Illustrated "Paydirt."

Now mind you, I am involved in fantasy football every year usually, including this year when I got invited into my office's league [very disappointing season for me].  However, as I read Ted Kluck's wonderful book, Past Time, I knew I was really missing out on something special, that being a member of a simulation football league.  In essence, I had been missing out on being a member of not just a league, but a group of people that, like me, love the professional football of yesteryear.