Customer Reviews

Rozelle: Czar of the NFL

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

 

 

Rozelle: Czar of the NFL alleges to be a biography of the former NFL Commissioner, but instead it is a meandering, disjointed, almost unreadably round-about tale of certain aspects of the NFL's history. It provides remarkably little, if any, true insight on the man who served as the league's Commissioner from 1960 to 1989, relying heavily on interviews with Ernie Accorsi and Rozelle's daughter for its material but oddly enough not providing any true insight from these sources.

What do I mean by meandering? Well for instance, after 250 pages of the book I've learned through the book's contents that Marlboro cigarettes were originally marketed as a "women's" brand... but I don't know what Rozelle's mindset was when the AFL came along, I don't know anything about his relationships with owners other than Dan Reeves of the Rams, and I know absolutely nothing as to what possessed the owners of the NFL to elect him as their Commissioner beyond the fact that he was a compromise candidate.

Simply and bluntly put, this book is worthless to anyone wanting to learn about its subject. Does anyone know how I can get in touch with Jeff Davis in an effort to get my money back?

Not only is this book full of errors, but half of the book isn't even about Pete Rozelle.

This isnt a book...it's an awful run-on sentence. This is a worthy subject nonetheless....hopefully someone who knows how to write will take on the subject someday. This is nothing but as told to Jeff Davis "kerflooey"...a word that was actually used on page 24

Jeff Davis should have stayed dead with the confederacy....he devalues his Northwestern education with this...can the university give him an honorary defrocking for this. In sum...this book wa neither written nor edited......just bad journalism.

This book, in spite of its title, is not at all a biography of Pete Rozelle. It is a collection of stories about some events that have taken place during the history of the NFL (e.g. Blair Motion Pictures being brought in-house by the NFL and re-christened 'NFL Films') where Pete Rozelle occasionally and all too infrequently makes brief appearances. When a biography that is purportedly about some subject isn't actually about that subject, that is a grave flaw.

While some stage-setting is necessary to any biography this entire book is merely stage-setting for a production that never takes place. For example, nearly an entire chapter is devoted to the first American Football League (AFL) season and championship game. While the AFL and subsequent merger with the NFL are important, a detailed recounting of the innagural AFL season and championship game are not at all necessary to developing an appreciation of Pete Rozelle's life and accomplishments (especially when little mention of Rozelle is made). And this is but one of myriad examples. Imagine watching the film 'Patton' where George C. Scott (as Patton) has about 20 minutes of screen time during the entire 160 minute film and you've got some of grasp Jeff Davis' appalling "Rozelle: Czar of the NFL."

Davis also has the annoying habit of not bothering to edit material taken from interviews. If he's recounting an interview with, say, Steve Rosenbloom(whom Davis relies on far too heavily anyway), Davis prints everything that Rosenbloom happened to say on that occasion even if the majority of it has little to do with whatever meandering tangent the book happens to be on.

Finally, where in the world was McGraw-Hill (the book's publisher) during all this? Did they fail to assign an editor to this project? One would think that when this was presented to the publisher someone would have said, "Wait a minute. You were supposed to write a biography about Pete Rozelle and this is something else entirely. We can't publish this."

Fortunately I only checked this book out of the local library. It looks like some other reviewers had the misfortune to pay for this book. You'd do much better with (and even learn more about Pete Rozelle from) Michael MacCambridge's excellent book "America's Game."

When I first saw this book, I knew I had to buy it and read it immediately as Pete Rozelle was one of the icons of my young life. What a disappointment :( ! The book seems to be about everyone else but Pete Rozelle - he's like a guest star in his own story.

Starting from the time Rozelle was elected commissioner, we hear more about George Halas than Pete Rozelle. Why was he a compromise candidate? After his election the story meanders and deals with people, places and incidents only tangentially related to Pete and the growth of the NFL. Many times I was lost in the maze of names both personal and corporate that surround and protect the story of Rozelle from outsiders.

Some of the chapters are long and rambling and make one wonder why the story of the beginning of NFL Films requires 23 pages. Other chapters are the same.

I really thought I would get some more insights into the NFL I grew up with, as a baby boomer "I saw it all" from the rise of the packers to the merger, expansion and becoming the #1 spectator sport. After reading a biography about Wellington Mara and Ernie Accorsi's autobiography, I thought I'd learn more about the people who shaped the NFL. But after some 200 or so pages, I can't continue. It's too painful.

An excellent high level history of the NFL since 1950, but not so much as a biography of Pete Rozelle. There is little insight into the man. Lots of what's and when's, very little "how".

Example...many instances are offered about his ordered life, his ability to make people feel at ease. How did he do it? What made him unique?

Far too much reliance on Rozelle's daughter, Steve Rosenbloom, and Eddie Accorsi as sources. Too many lines of thought were opened, and then dropped. For instance, he goes on about how in the 1950's Redskins' owner George Marshall was a major player as an owner...then suddenly he disappears. Jack Kent Cooke is described as a Rozelle enemy because Rozelle married Cooke's former daughter in law...and then the point is dropped. Did Cooke every hamstring Rozelle because of the relationship?

To many ideas are brought up, then dropped without completing the circle. To little is told really flesh out the picture of Rozelle beyond a stick figure with a great tan and ready smile who drank Rusty Nails and smoked too much.

It is a good book...but it could have been great.

ONE star for this book? Please, it's far, far better than that. I agree that it isn't a true biography of Rozelle and probably shouldn't have been marketed as one. Rather than an account of Rozelle's tenure during the golden years of the NFL, it is an account of the golden years of the NFL during his tenure.

It often delves deeply into important events, such as the "Greatest Game Ever Played" in 1959 and the long, often bitter process that led to the NFL-AFL merger. To its great credit, it does not credit Rozelle as the prime force behind said merger, but the former Dallas rivals Tex Schramm and Lamar Hunt. Many other mileposts along the road to NFL greatness are covered in great detail (granted, sometimes TOO detailed), like the birth of Monday Night Football and the emergence of NFL Films as the king of recorded sports.

Since the writer is based in Chicago, it's no surprise that much of his perspective is based there and in the NFL's New York headquarters. I would have liked to see more variety, but the book might have been 600 pages then and appealed to fewer readers. I have long been an maven of NFL history, but I learned a great deal from this book (far more than I expected) and anyone with similar interests will as well. Flawed as it is, I highly recommend it.

Despite what other reviewers have said, this is an excellent book. No, it's not really a biography, so if you want to get more indepth into Rozelle's divorce or what he wore to the Senior Prom, then skip the book. But, if you are interested in a first hand look at the NFL through the eyes of those responsible for its ascent, this is a great book. It very much parallels the Mark Maccambridge book, "America's Game" which is terrific. The reader learns about the intricacies of the NFL/AFL merger, the labor strife of the 70s and 80s, and the "threats" from wannabe football leagues as well as little known facts regarding Joe Namath's almost early retirement due to indirect gambling associations and the infamous Heidi Game. The book is more about the NFL than it is about Rozelle, but it's a terrific book for anyone who enjoys modern NFL history.