Customer Reviews

Remember the AFL: The Ultimate Fan's Guide to the American Football League

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like the author, I followed the AFL during all its years of operation. Unlike the author, I was never a collector of football cards, so I really enjoyed the plethora of them that are presented, in color, in this book.

However, this is not just a photo book. There is a well-written retrospective on each season, which is organized team-by-team (rather than week-by-week, for instance). I couldn't detect any particular order in which the teams are covered within each season, except that the two teams involved in the league championship game are covered last, with the winner being the very last team covered. The championship game itself (and later the Super Bowl) is covered within the material on the teams, rather than having a separate space. The AFL All Star games, however, are each given about a separate half page of coverage at the end of the seasons when the game was played.

Within this format, each team is given at least three pages each season, with the championship winner given up to eight pages. For each team within a season, the coverage is chronological, with more important games and player moves discussed in greater depth. Rushing, passing, receiving, and scoring stats for team leaders conclude each team section.

The seasonal retrospectives make up Part I of the book, about 350 pages (after 20 or so pages of introductory material); Part II of the book, the trivia section, is only about 50 pages long. However, in addition to this designated trivia section, there are trivia type questions interspersed throughout the retrospective sections as well.

I did find a few typos, almost inevitable in a book with this many numbers and names, but the only actual misstatement I found (p52) was that Tom Harmon, who broadcast some AFL games, had never played pro football (he played for the Rams in '46 and '47)--a non-substantive error relative to the topic of the book.

Dave Steidel chronicals the birth and growth of the American Football League in a lively and entertaining way. He tells the stories both as a passionate fan and also as a sports historian, emphasizing the wide open and exciting league that was to leave such an enormous and yet underappreciated impact on modern football. The AFL continues to be underrated by those either who lack historical perspective or perhaps who were beguiled by the early NFL pre-merger snobbery of the 1960's. Hopefully this fine book will put some of that attitude to rest, so that those like my father (Charlie Hennigan, Oilers '60-'66) who played in the AFL may get some of the recognition they deserve. Steve Hennigan, MD

Football is America's single most viewed and popular sport. In 1959, eight wealthy businessmen who were unable to obtain or develop football franchises with the well-established National Football League (NFL) banded together to create a rival organization called the American Football League (AFL). During its limited lifetime the AFL gained the interest and loyalty of its fans but ultimately failed to survive in the corporate competition for revenue with the teams of the NFL. "Remember The AFL: the Ultimate Fan's Guide To The American Football League" is a superbly illustrated history that combines Dave Steidel's meticulous and exhaustive historical research with hundreds of period photographs (including many of the AFL related classic football cards and collectibles) to provide nostalgia with an overview of the rise and fall of the teams, players, managers, and owners of the AFL teams. Enhanced throughout with statics, trivia, anecdotal stories, and more, "Remember The AFL" is a seminal work and a highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Sports & Athletic football history reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This is a very good coffee-table book covering the history of the AFL. It is full of great pictures and overall histories of the teams during the 1960's. Some of the names will jog your memories of those great AFL teams. However, I wish there were some anecdotes that would shed light on the actual personalities of the pioneer players from the early years of the AFL. With names like Wahoo McDaniel, Bo Hickey, etc. you know there just had to be some real characters during those days. An anecdotal account would be a great companion to this book and the author should consider this idea for a follow-up book.

In this book, the history is vividly covered with so much information on early players and teams. It is richly illustrated and shows the evolution of the helmets and logos through the years. The thing about the old AFL was that they were risk-takers and that made for exciting games. Whether they were stretching the field on long pass plays, or doing something tricky with special teams, you could never fit these teams into a neat category. This would make a perfect gift for any football fan. The book is great!

If your a fan of the AFL,you need this book. This book has it all! The year by year review of the new league, stats, team by team analysis, etc. The old photos are amazing. What a great bunch of players- characters really... Fred " The Hammer" Williamson, Ben Davison, Cookie Gilchrist, Len Dawson, Fred Biletnikoff, Lance Alworth, John Hadl,Joe Willie Namath, I could go on and on...GREAT BOOK!

I became a big fan of the AFL when they came into existence. I loved the wide open offensive games which were entertaining. I always wondered if the AFL would of put a team into Chicago if the two leagues hadn't merged. This book is easily the best book I've read on the AFL.

BUY BUY BUY BUY RIGHT NOW!!! DROP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND ORDER THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE A FOOTBALL HISTORIAN.

..I enjoyed every page of this book.
I was always an NFL fan, and cried when the Colts (the BALTIMORE COLTS) lost to the NY Jets. That being said, I am a history buff of "older football" during this time period, and found this book a joy to read. The use of AFL football cards just added to the enjoyment (lots of color)

Other reviews go into detail on WHY to buy it (& they are correct). Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Covers each team's season highlights with stats, scores and summaries of each team's season. The action pics are fantastic as are the football card pics. Don't really get why they used color reproductions to show uniform styles over the years (why not color pics?).

There are quizzes throughout that you may enjoy but I found annoying having to flip back and forth.

Basically, it's a nice looking coffee table book and not much more. You can get pretty much the same info off the remembertheafl Web site and NFL Films DVD sets like "From the Vault" or the various ex-AFL (now AFC) "Complete History" DVDs.

(The AFL history TV series "Full Color Football" shown on Showtime TV features stuff from this book, too.)