Sunday's Heroes: NFL Legends Talk About the Times of Their Lives [Hardcover]

Richard Whittingham (Author), Pat Summerall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Dating back to its inception in 1920, the National Football League was built on and by players who loved the game of football, who had incredible pride in the game they played, and whose intensity often accompanied them off the football field. Though the league and the game have undergone many changes in the past nine decades, much has also remained the same about the people who play it - the heroes. In Sunday's Heroes: NFL Legends Talk About the Times of Their Lives, Richard Whittingham allows us to relive great moments in NFL history through the words and stories of the heroes who lived them. From Jim Thorpe to Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas to John Elway, Sunday's Heroes puts us in the huddle with the greatest players of all time, and shares some of the best football stories the NFL has to offer.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A coffee-table book with 200 old photos and plenty of first-person recollections from Hall of Fame players. Whittingham, who has written a number of football books, is an able tour guide and a solid writer. His goal is to let readers know what it's like to suit up on Sunday, and he makes a good run at it, thanks in equal measure to his informative text, interspersed with quotes and anecdotes from dozens of former players and coaches, and the hundreds of action photos. The best chapter is titled "Mayhem, Violence and Pain," which combines humor (legendary linebacker Sam Huff describing a wild practice-session fracas) with a sobering reminder of how damaging the game can be to the men who play it: "I didn't know it then," says Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus, "but pain would be with me for the rest of my life." Pair this with Pro Football's Heroes of the Hall (see above) for the season's best NFL coffee-table fare. Kevin Canfield
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Occassionally, a book sets itself apart with both its content and its graphic presentation. This is one of those books, and to boot, one of the few that adquately deals with the early history of the National Football League. Previous histories of the game's early years have recycled the same photographs time after time, but this work features several truly unusual and outstanding pictures that this reviewer has never seen before.Whittingham, who has written extensively about pro football, interviewed many of the early figures and gathered reports on many who have died to produce a collection of anecdotes that is one of the finest books about the history of the NFL to appear in the mass market. The author is particularly adept at weaving the personal anecdote and interview with the historical record. Professional fans, no matter what their age, and even younger followers will find this to be a fine introduction to the history and people who were so important in the formation of what is probably today truly America's national pastime. Enthusiastically recommended." ~ Library Journal

"Whittingham spans most of the NFL's history and prsent a collection of observations and anecdotes about many of observations and anecdotes about many of pro football's legends, including John Madden, George Halas, Terry Bradshaw, Dick Butkus, Sam Huff and Red Grange. The numerous black-and-white photos show coaches, players and scenes from key games." ~ Sacramento Bee, Allen Pierleoni

"If 'old school' is hot, then this book about the NFL is trying to teach the past couple generations that the NFL is more than just a cool jersey. This oversized book is a combination picture book and narrative history of the NFL from its 'legends.' It should say something that Paul Hornung wrote the foreword, Pat Summerall the introduction and Mike Ditka the afterword. It is in very easy-to-read format that allows you to start wherever you open it. If anything, it shows you that the NFL didn't used to be the polished, made-for-TV behemoth that it is now."~ Nashville Tennessean, Bill Bradley

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572435178
• ISBN-13: 978-1572435179
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,224,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Are You Ready for Some Football?, January 22, 2004

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sunday's Heroes: NFL Legends Talk About the Times of Their Lives (Hardcover)

Just before Championship Sunday last week, I wanted to read something to get me in the mood for the two big games. Sunday's Heroes turned out to be a good choice.

The book's concept is simple. Talk to the greats of the NFL game and ask them to share their favorite stories about their own careers and the other greats they have known. Then, generously illustrate those comments with black and white photographs that capture the game's most famous and grittiest moments. Although it's not the same as watching a game, Sunday's Heroes is a wonderful pregame show.

Here are the chapters:

Soft Helmets, Hard Heads; Curious Insights; Views from the Sidelines; Mayhem, Violence, and Pain; On the Wackier Side; Personalities; and The Ultimate Game.

For anyone who is a fan of the old NFL teams, especially the Bears, Packers, Steelers, Giants and Redskins, this book will be seen as a gift from God. Of the newer teams, only the Cowboys get a full treatment. If you are a fan of the old AFL teams or the newer NFL franchises, you won't find much in the book about your teams. That's why I graded the book down one star.

There were many interesting surprises in the book. You will learn what it was like to play with no helmet, play 60 minutes, to hear some pretty funny ways to describe plays in a huddle, and practice with some of the game's most violent defenders. The humor is sometimes very rewarding. When Joe Namath was asked by Howard Cosell how many great football commentators there were, Namath replied that there was one less than Howard thought there were. There's irony also. Mean Joe Greene is remembered for carrying a stricken Lynn Swann off the field in the 1975 AFC Championship game. Swann reports that the act wasn't the caring act it seemed. "Joe didn't care about me that much." "[Joe] just didn't want to waste a timeout. Joe was always trying to figure out how to win a ballgame."

As I finished the book, I realized that we are fortunate whenever we can live in times when the greatest violence we see is in the game of football.

Congratulations to the Patriots on their win in Super Bowl XXXVIII! Congratulations also to the Carolina Panthers for playing an outstanding game against them.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for the coffee table during football season and a great way to prepare for it, November 21, 2009

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sunday's Heroes: NFL Legends Talk About the Times of Their Lives (Hardcover)

This is a perfect book for the coffee table during the football season. In it, the essence of football is captured in ways that no book describing the modern game can. It contains a series of interviews of players and coaches that were there at the beginning of the NFL right up to the point that it became the economic powerhouse that it is now. It is astonishing how little the players received in the early years, made even more significant by the lack of expense money, most had to furnish their own shoes. They were also very tough men; it was common practice to throw a discrete punch or two during plays.
My favorite story of all is by Art Donovan on pages 38 and 39. The Colts and Giants were playing an exhibition game and the game was being played shortly after a circus had performed in the stadium. When the Giant offensive lineman would get down in their set, the Colts defensive linemen would throw elephant excrement in their faces. When one of the Giants finally retaliated, he received a five-yard penalty for illegal motion. I roared with laughter when I read it.
This is an excellent book for the devoted fan's preseason preparation as it demonstrates how much the modern NFL and its' players owe to the people that preceded them.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Book, May 29, 2010

By 

Michael Chiavaroli - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sunday's Heroes: NFL Legends Talk About the Times of Their Lives (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. You get the story of the NFL when it was in its infancy. I would recommend this book to any NFL or football fan.