Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football (Sport and Society) [Hardcover]

John M. Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sport and Society | Publication Date: May 12, 1999

Before the Super Bowl, before "Monday Night Football", even before the NFL, there was Red Grange. Catapulted into the public eye in 1924 by scoring four touchdowns in twelve minutes for the University of Illinois, the "Galloping Ghost" went on to a trailblazing career as a professional player, Hollywood football idol, and broadcaster. He ranked with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey in the 1920s as the most heralded figures in America's "golden age of sport", and when "Sports Illustrated" did a special issue in 1991 on the greatest moments in sports, Grange was selected for the cover. Grange's star rose in tandem with that of the sport itself. His spectacular performance as a college player coincided with football's evolution into a rallying point of university life, undergirded by post-World War I money, cars, roads, stadiums, and mass media. With a natural talent and down-home image that helped legitimize professional football, Grange became one of the first athlete-heroes and the first major sports figure to serve as a play-by-play broadcast commentator. John Carroll depicts the career of this softspoken pioneer who helped lift pro football above its reputation as "a dirty little business run by rogues and bargain-basement entrepreneurs". A reluctant celebrity and folk hero, Red Grange stood throughout his life as a symbol of older, rural American values: an unpretentious self-made individual making a mark in a society increasingly controlled by machines, vast corporations, and stifling bureaucracies. His story is an essential element in understanding football's central place in American culture.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Red Grange was one of the certified heroes of an era that produced the anchors to any sporting hall of fame--Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones--but Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football is no simple exercise in hero-worship. A professor of history at Lamar University, John M. Carroll works to put Grange in perspective against the backdrop of an amazing era--the '20s--and tackle the Galloping Ghost's myth. Still, in Grange's case, the myth remains awfully impressive.

A true superstar, Grange was a reluctant idol, letting his actions speak for him. In an era before big athletic scholarships, Grange paid for his education by delivering ice in the summer, a job that made him stronger than most of the defense men he'd regularly bowl over. As a junior at Illinois, Grange secured his legend with an inconceivable performance against Michigan, running for four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes. Before the final gun sounded--Carroll recounts this, and other games in glorious detail--Grange had added a fifth score on the ground, passed for a sixth, racked up a ridiculous 402 rushing yards on the day, and cemented his reputation. Post college, his all-American drawing power and singular brilliance on the field virtually saved the struggling young NFL; Carroll is quite thorough in his examination of the fledgling league and its odor of "a dirty little business run by rogues." Yet, despite all the fame and celebrity, a flirtation with Hollywood, and a respected post-playing career in the radio booth and various businesses, Grange never escaped his heartland unpretentiousness; he always seemed to know who he was and how he got that way. "I could run," he once said, "and that was the basis of any success I ever had." Because he ran so well, of course, that success evolved into a full-blown legend worthy of Carroll's scrupulous and absorbing examination. --Jeff Silverman

From Library Journal

Carroll (Regents' Professor of History, Lamar Univ.) provides an excellent review of the life of Red Grange, the very mention of whom creates images of football; he is credited with being a major catalyst for the growth and increasing popularity of professional football. Starting with the historic Illinois-Michigan college football game in 1924, the author provides substantial documentation in chronicling the life of Grange from the time of his difficult, even traumatic childhood and adolescence through his successes in college and professional football to his death. Carroll details many of the social issues that not only confronted society during the 1920s and 1930s but also influenced the rise of football's popularity. The media frenzy that surrounded Grange's life helped to spotlight professional football's quest for legitimacy with sports purists. An informative and enjoyable book; highly recommended for all sports collections.ATim Delaney, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (May 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252023846
• ISBN-13: 978-0252023842
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,429,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Grange is Number One!, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football (Sport and Society) (Hardcover)

My father always talked about Red Grange. I never really knew who he was. This book brings everything into perspective. Mr. Carroll captures the essence of Red Grange, but more than that, he makes clear why Grange was the most important college player of this century and how he created the momentum which led to the explosion of pro football

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Humility Still Mattered, April 11, 2002

By 

Michael J. Moran (New Milford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football (Sport and Society) (Hardcover)

This book does a great job of giving interesting detail and thoughtful perspective so you can see how an individual fit into the times and how the events of the single life mirrored the larger developments in society. You learn a lot about football, about men of that era and what character traits they valued, and about the role of the media and it's use of celebrity to create an audience. I enjoyed this so much I bought another Carroll book on a different early football hero - Fritz Pollard - and that is just as informative and insightful.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Engaging story of pioneer on, off the field, September 18, 2000

By 

David Dahl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football (Sport and Society) (Hardcover)

This is a readable, well-researched book. Carroll tells how Grange rose to become one of America's first true superstars and how he left school early to join the then-disrespected ranks of pro football. While scholarly, a feeling for a truly humble man shines through.