Customer Reviews

The Redskins Encyclopedia

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though my family's from Texas, I spent a lot of time growing up in the Washington, DC, suburbs, so I certainly appreciate the history and occasional runs of glory of the Redskins franchise and the integral role the team plays in the city's identity and sense of itself (far more than, for example, the Seahawks do here in Seattle). So from that basis, I can comfortably say that 'Skins fans of most any vintage will find a lot in this "encyclopedia" to treasure. It's a book that lends itself both to random open-up-and-reading and serious research.

The bulk of "The Redskins Encyclopedia" is a season-by-season look at the team's performance on the field. More attention is paid, naturally, to the most successful seasons, with certain specific games, including Super Bowls, analyzed in some depth. Less successful campaigns are generally given less ink, but the coverage is still satisfying. Following that are two chapters on notable 'Skins players, coaches, execs, and owners. The book concludes with an exhaustive appendix listing records, draft picks, year-by-year results, a roster of everyone ever to wear the burgundy and gold, and more.

I thought the best chapter was the one devoted to the Redskins' rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys.

At the same time, though, there are a number of important omissions.

The most obvious of these is the lack of color photographs -- or indeed, color of any kind. Apart from one small text box on page 87 discussing the origins of the Indian-head logo, there is no discussion ... and still less any depiction ... of the team's uniforms or logos over time (small print on the book's cataloguing page says "This book is not sanctioned by the NFL or its teams," so presumably the author couldn't get the rights to reproduce any of the 'Skins' livery). There is no index. And the cover is practically generic.

As you'd expect from an "encyclopedia," this is a very text-heavy, photo-light book. The sections read -- and look -- like newspaper articles, and often even have newspaper-like headlines ("Resourceful Redskins Put Muzzle on Ditka, Bears" on page 148, for example). Given Michael Richman's journalistic background, I suppose that isn't surprising, but I often found the style uninspiring. That combined with the lack of color almost led me to give this three stars instead of four.

What salvaged the four-star rating was largely the remarkable amount of information available to the reader here. I'm sure my lovely bride, a lifelong Redskins fan, and any number of football fans in general, will enjoy having this around.

At this point, some fifteen years after the serious glory days ended, Redskins fans are used to spin. In that light, the Redskins Encyclopedia by Michael Richman is a real breath of fresh air. The simple fact that the final part of the team history section of this book is titled "Mediocrity Redskins Style" should tell you all you need to know about the editorial independence.

Richman tells the stories of triumph, tragedy and (always) hard work with verve. And while he doesn't explicitly engage in discussing what-ifs, his stories invite one to wonder such matters as what would have happened in 2000 if Norv Turner had been allowed to finish the season rather than being fired when the team was 7-6. Add to that biographies on the Redskins' greatest players and coaches and full records of team statistics up through the 2006 season, and the result is a treasure trove for the dedicated Redskins fan.

As I write this, the Redskins are 4-2, and by the time the holiday season rolls around, fans will have a pretty good idea of whether the team is a play-off contender or another also-ran team. Either way, this book belongs in their hands.

Written as the definitive history of the Washington Redskins Football Franchise, it is hard to argue that this is anything other than that. It is a large format book and there is tons of interesting information in here. Season recaps, top player bios, playoff game summaries, and lots and lots of BW photography (no colors). A great gift for a Redskins fan.

There are a multitude of books available on each team in the National Football League, but you'll never find a more entertaining, comprehensive, and fair assessment of a franchise, or the league it popularized, than you'll find in Michael Richman's "The Redskins Encyclopedia".

From it's humble beginnings as a seat-filler in Boston, with less-than-thrilled owner George Preston Marshall losing money year after year, the team would slowly build momentum, while gathering the elements that would establish it's distinctive character. Renamed the Redskins (not as an ethnic slur, but to imply an affiliation with Boston's baseball Red Sox), Marshall and Boston would never warm up to each other, and, on the advice of his then wife, silent star Corinne Griffith, he would move his team to Washington, D.C., in 1937...and the legend would truly begin.

There is so much to savor in this large volume...Marshall's innovations (lavish halftime shows, the first 'team band' and official song, beautiful team cheerleaders), his failings (being branded a racist for being the last owner to integrate his team...in fact, a decision made not out of antipathy toward blacks, but fear of losing southern revenue), and his legacy (the legendary Cowboys-Redskins rivalry began because he fought against allowing a franchise in Dallas, fearful of losing his southern fanbase...when, in 1961, Dallas finally joined the NFL, they remembered who worked the hardest to prevent their birth...and the bitterness against Marshall's team has only increased, over time, making the teams' annual confrontations major events).

Of course, the Redskin saga involves more than Marshall, and the volume lovingly reminisces about the players, from Cliff Battles and Sammy Baugh, to Eddie LeBaron, to the Sonny/Billy QB controversy, Huff, Theismann, Riggins, Taylor, Mitchell, Doug Williams, the Hogs, the 'Over-the-Hill' Gang, Portis, so many more; the coaches, from the earliest days through Otto Graham, Vince Lombardi, George Allen, and Joe Gibbs; and the unforgettable games that decided seasons and won and lost Super Bowls. And as befits an encyclopedia, there is a wealth of information on every aspect of the team...making this an invaluable reference tool.

Whether you're a Redskins fan or not, "The Redskin Encyclopedia" will provide hours of entertainment about a sport that has become the most popular in America, and a team whose emergence parallels the growth of the NFL.

It is a 'must' for every sports fan's bookshelf!

. . . for fans of one of the most storied franchises in NFL history.

The aptly named "Redskins Encyclopedia" takes the reader all the way back to the founding of the team in Boston, through its move to Washington, DC in the early 1930's, and on through the present (the Joe Gibbs era, round 2). Every season is described in detail, as is every playoff game. Also featured are biographies of Redskins greats (and near-greats -- a nice added feature) throughout the decades. Along the way, I learned quite a bit of interesting Redskins trivia.

While this book is an immense project, I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the lack of color throughout the book. This is a "coffee table" sized volume, and in the opinion of this reviewer, would have benefited from a few full-color glossies. But that's my only complaint.

This book would be a treasured gift for any Redskins fan on your gift list.

Recommended.

For a new fan of the franchise, Michael Richman's Redskins Encyclopedia would be a great starting point to learn about the important people, seasons and events of the storied organization. Richman provides a thorough write-up of each season and gives lengthy bios for important Skins like John Riggins and Joe Gibbs. A standard "record book" is included, although a stat fan like me will be disappointed. I don't just want to know that John Riggins is the leading rusher in Redskins history; I would also like to quickly find how far away Clinton Portis is from catching him or see how many yards Art Monk gained in his last season. Seasonal stats are also lacking from the yearly write-ups, an omission that could have been easily changed with a small stat box included with each season.

Although the descriptions of each season and the bios for each player make this selection an interesting coffee table book for any Redskins fan, I wouldn't see myself using it as much as I do my other sports almanacs and media guides. It's not a resource guide as much as it is a history book, meaning the term "encyclopedia" is probably misapplied here.

Let me start this review by admitting that I am not a Redskins fan, I am actually a Cowboy's fan and a fan of the NFL in general. Being a transplanted Texan 20 years removed from home, living here in the shadow of the nation's capital I finally decided to learn more of the nitty gritty of the Redskins rather than just boo and jeer them.

Former Defensive lineman Dexter Manley (who wants his ashes scattered over the RFK turf after his death) writes the forward.

This book does not disappoint. It is huge! It must weigh several pounds. Every season since the Boston Redsins of 1932 up through last years 2006 team is covered with it's very own chapter.

There are several speciality chapters...my favorite of course is the one devoted to the Redskins VS Cowboys. I knew most of the stories (Kenny Houston's tackle, Clint Longley's miracle ect...) but there are some quotes and stories that I had never heard before.

There are hundreds of photos in this book. All black and white which is fine by me. It lends a certain historical flair to the book....exactly what you'd expect from and encyclopedia from back in the 60's which is what this book reminds me of except it is devoted to only one subject...the Redskins. I guarantee you there are pictures in this book that you have never seen. The picture of Andre The Giant holding Joe Theisman on page 100 is unbelievable.

Speaking of the pictures check out the rather un-pc picture on page 57 of the 1962 Redskins cheerleaders, complete with buckskin style uniform, a brave's feather head band and bare footed. Boy would that catch some guff these days. Funny you can have modern cheerleaders practically naked and everyone thinks it's great but put a white chick in a fake indian costume and protestors with picket signs most likely will show up.

President Nixon's facination with the team and Coach Allen is examined in print and photos. Say what you will about the man....President Nixon really loved football, even going so far as to suggest plays for coaches to use in Super Bowls!

The book speaks about the team name and let me say that anyone who thinks the the team using the term Redskins is insulting should take a look at this book and see the pride and devotion that the team name, logo and mascots have been embraced by the Redskins faithful. I can understand how someone would find the term offensive but in this particular case they would be wrong. I actually hope the team never caves in and changes the name.

You want to see real controversy...imagine if all the owners go together and decided to name their teams after all white/european mascots/themes....no more Indians, Braves, Redskins, Warriors, or Semminoles...from now on it will be Vikings, Celts, Saxons, Spartans, Cossacks, Conquestadores, Gauls, Romans, Scotts, Hessians, Dragoons, Centurians, Rough Riders, Fusiliers and so on...then you would really see some folks crying "racism".

Sorry to devolve into that rant but if you are really follow the Redskins that subject must be addressed.

I have heard conflicting stories as to the origins of the Redskins fight song and that is discussed at length in the book, even the history of the Redskins band (one of the few things I like about the team) is in this book. Think back to high school and college football...the very distinct and special sound of the drums...man did that sound like football on a crisp autum day. Most NFL teams don't even have a band but rather a PA guy blasting the crown with Hells Bells, The Final Count Down or that Gary Gliter tune. Not the Redskins, they still have a real band making real football music. Bravo, well done! Thank god Snyder did not fire them.

Speaking of owners, the misadventures of the various (George Preston Marshall, Jack Kent Cooke, Dan Snyder) Redskins top dogs are covered. Of course the Jack Kent Cooke stories are the best, the other guys are colorful and powerful but there was something special about The Squire. I wish the story about the guy riding on the hood of his drug dealer wife's jag would have been in the book but I guess it was a little too spicy for football fare. Piss off Jack Kent Cooke and you were on the fast track to unemployment or some other equally unpleasant thing. John Riggins was one guy who actually got the better of Mr. Cooke...he sat out an entire season to make his point and in the end it was the Redskins that cried uncle and went knocking on the door of The Diesel's lean-to.

Speaking of Big John....Riggins once told Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'connors to "loosen up baby" and he then proceeded to pass out under a table while Vice President Bush gave a speech. I wish this book had the photo of him being dragged out of the room. I actually once won a radio contest and was sent to New Orleans for an NFL game of the week because I sent a question into Riggo back in his Greaseman show days. The question was "what happens at the bottom of the pile?". His answer is unprintable in this review. Riggo was one of the very few Redskins I ever really liked. I can't believe the Jets traded him?!

I learned some things....everyone know about Lombardi but I never knew packer legend Curly Lambeau was a Washington Redskins coach...you want to know what the Redskins paid in trade for john Riggins or Sonny Jurgensen or Wilbour Marshall...well this book will tell you that. There are stories about the racial integration of the team in 1961 and about the game being played on 07DEC41 when word of the Pearl Harbor attack was received that were new to me. Pretty cool stuff.

A words on stats and records. Any Redskins stat you can think of is covered in this book. I look at stats all the time for my fantasy football squads and as a part of my being a regular NFL fan and the only better place to get stat information than this book would be at NFL.com (a pretty amazing collection if you haven't checked it out already) under the stat tab. Every coach, every playoff game, every free agent siging (especially the 2000 season attempt to buy a quick winner) are examined in depth.

This book claims that the Washington Redskins should be "America's Team"....sorry that title is already taken. But as a Cowboy fan I wish Dallas has a book equal to this one. It quite simply is the end all be all of everything Washington Redskins. If you need a gift for a Skins fan this is the ticket.

Undertaking something as ambitious as an "encyclopedia" of one of the greatest and most storied professional sports franchises in American history takes a very special fan of that team with an eye for detail and meticulous care to make it the best it can be. And that's precisely what Michael Richman has does with this book.

Although I am a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan, I was awe-struck by the historical look at the inception of the Washington Redskins, including all the memorable moments from the early years to their move the nation's capital where they have ruled triumphantly for the past seven decades.

Take a trip down memory lane and relive some of the greatest moments in NFL history, including the birth of the Redskins/Cowboys rivalry that still exists to this day. You'll especially enjoy the stats from EVERY SINGLE SEASON as well as an anthology of the greatest Redskins players of all time at the back of the book.

If you or someone you know is a Redskins fan, then you can't let this special REDSKINS ENCYCLOPEDIA slip through your hands. It's a real treasure that needs to be in your sports library.

Now, can somebody write one for the DALLAS COWBOYS? :D

The history of the Washington Redskins is what NFL Films would call "storied." The franchise, whose very name still evokes controversy in Native America, was for many years of its existence and before expansion and the Sunbelt came to pro football,the "Southern Team." Like any good Southern team, it was for whites only until the NFL forced owner George Preston Marshall to integrate his team with the likes of Bobby Mitchell in the early sixties.

As this comprehensive book details, the Redskins have had more than their fair share of characters, from Sonny Jurgenson, and Billy Kilmer to Joe Don Looney and John Riggins. Riggins once told Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at a White House dinner, "Loosen up Sandy baby." Looney, who lived up to his name was one of few players to go from the NFL to Vietnam and back again. He once hid under a pile of parkas to avoid returning to the field during a game.

This coffee table book has it all-all the stats, all the players, all the history (good and bad.) It will be a great addition to any Skins fan's library.

The author describes this book as "the most comprehensive journalistic account of the Redskins ever"... and he's not kidding!

In fact, this may be the most comprehensive book (encyclopedia) of any football team ever written. Using archives, interviews, narratives, and photographic history, this book covers just about everything you can imagine in the teams 75 years of history.

The first 230 pages are a year-by-year history of the Redskins (starting, of course, in 1932). It's filled with pictures, stories, statistics, and Q&A. The next 100 pages are histories of most notable players in the team's history. Finally, there are 70 pages of records and stats, followed by an extensive appendix.

The author himself has been a lifelong Rockville resident and a die-hard fan since 1971 (at age 10). When working for the Associated Press in the 90's, he covered the Skins, and later went on to write for Sports Illustrated. This gave him an "in" with the franchise, along with opportunities to get interviews and inside information not available to other journalists. He currently writes for Redskins.com, GameDay magazine, and works full time at Voice of America.

But what makes this book better than most sports histories are the personal stories. Richman may be a professional journalist, but the voice and passion of that 10-year-old fan certainly comes through in the anecdotes and biographies.

My only (small) complaint is that there are no color photos in here. I completely understand that adding color photos to an already enormous book would have made it cost prohibitive. Nonetheless, the photos are both novel and fun (i.e., cheerleaders and marching bands from 50+ years ago, old ads and flyers, etc).

I'm certain the sportscasters and journalists will be using this book in the press box as a reference. I take my hat off to Mr. Richman for such an overwhelming achievement.