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The King of Sports: Football's Impact on America Hardcover – September 24, 2013

by Gregg Easterbrook (Author)

94 customer reviews

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Gregg Easterbrook, author of the wildly popular ESPN.com column Tuesday Morning Quarterback takes on football's place in American society.

Gridiron football is the king of sports – it's the biggest game in the strongest and richest country in the world. Of the twenty most-watched television broadcasts ever, both in the United States and internationally, all twenty were Super Bowls. In The King of Sports, Easterbrook tells the full story of how football became so deeply ingrained in American culture. Both good and bad, he examines its impact on American society at all levels of the game.

The King of Sports explores these and many other topics:

* The real harm done by concussions (it's not to NFL players).
* The real way in which college football players are exploited (it's not by not being paid).
* The way football helps American colleges (it's not bowl revenue) and American cities (it's not Super Bowl wins).
* What happens to players who are used up and thrown away (it's not pretty).

* The hidden scandal of the NFL (it's worse than you think).

Using his year-long exclusive insider access to the Virginia Tech football program, where Frank Beamer has compiled the most victories of any active NFL or major-college head coach while also graduating players, Easterbrook shows how one big university "does football right." Then he reports on what's wrong with football at the youth, high school, college and professional levels. Easterbrook holds up examples of coaches and programs who put the athletes first and still win; he presents solutions to these issues and many more, showing a clear path forward for the sport as a whole. Rich with reporting details from interviews with current and former college and pro football players and coaches, The King of Sports promises to be the most provocative and best-read sports book of the year.

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

College and professional football generates billions of dollars annually in revenue. Easterbrook, the author of ESPN’s popular column Tuesday Morning Quarterback, looks beyond the dollar signs, examining many of the sport’s darker issues. Among them: the public dollars used to finance the stadiums used by NFL teams when, simultaneously, the same local governments reduce money allocated to education, public infrastructure, and aid to the needy. The book opens with a look at Virginia Tech football, where the graduation rates are high and players learn through the positive reinforcement of head coach Frank Beamer and his staff. Easterbrook then moves to the rest of college football, which mostly exploits the players for the enrichment of the university, the athletic administrators, and the coaching staffs. Another chapter looks at the long-term financial health of NFL players; one organization reports 70 percent of NFL players declare bankruptcy within 10 years of retirement. Despite the wealth of negative content here, Easterbrook still professes to enjoy the game and offers a series of reforms for football at all levels. A valuable analysis that will significantly alter the ways that readers view football. --Wes Lukowsky

Review

“The King of Sports is a fantastic book” ―Chuck Todd

“Read this book with a highlighter in hand. It is the most significant book you will ever read on football.” ―Brian Kenny, former anchor, SportsCenter

“I've long admired Gregg Easterbrook's writing. Now I admire his conscience. The King of Sports is an important book for football America.” ―Peter King, senior writer, Sports Illustrated

“The King of Sports provides a vivid, authoritative, insightful and above all provocative account of the role of football in American life.” ―Michael Mandelbaum, author of The Meaning of Sports

“The King of Sports is a must-read for all of us who love the game of football.” ―Aaron Schatz, editor-in-chief, Football Outsiders.com

“[Easterbrook] delivers hits more devastating than the most ferocious, head-hunting linebacker…. [he] does it again, again and again in The King of Sports, a startling and disturbing new book that takes aim at hypocrisy in the National Football League and big money college football.” ―Buffalo News

“Provocative and thoughtful.” ―Tampa Bay Times

“College and professional football generates billions of dollars annually in revenue. Easterbrook, the author of ESPN's popular column Tuesday Morning Quarterback, looks beyond the dollar signs, examining many of the sport's darker issues… A valuable analysis that will significantly alter the ways that readers view football.” ―Booklist

“Easterbrook presents muchto consider and discuss in his diagnosis and treatment plan, which should be of interest to a broad audience.” ―Library Journal, starred review

“No matter how you feel about football's issues, The King of Sports offers plenty to think about. It's a blitz of sports and cultural perspective well worth any fan's time.” ―Creative Loafing Charlotte

“One of the Web's surprise cult hits.” ―The New York Times on Tuesday Morning Quarterback

“Hilarious entertainment . . . Tuesday Morning Quarterback has pretty much locked up the genre of humorous football poetry.” ―National Public Radio, "All Things Considered"

“Trenchant analysis, wrenching case studies, Utopian recommendations.” ―Kirkus Reviews on Tuesday Morning Quarterback

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (September 24, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 125001171X
ISBN-13: 978-1250011718
Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 94 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #473 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sociology of Sports
- #2031 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Football (American)

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VTMark

I hate and love this book all at once

April 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

If you love College Football the way I do then you need to read this book to understand how the powers that are raking in the millions are killing this sport. I was very disappointed to read how athletes from College all the way down to the pee wees are being manipulated, abused and taken advantage of. When I played in the 80's this was not the case. There is nothing wrong with the game of College Football today, but there is something wrong with the men who are running it. Easterbrook does an excellent job of explaining, and verifying with numbers, the insidiousness of this sport that the tailgaters of America know and love and are completely ignorant of what is going on. Easterbrook also details out what can be done to fix the game without compromising the integrity and competitiveness. That's the sad part, the game does not have to be this way, and if fixed, the on field performances do not change. The only thing that changes is that the athletes will graduate and be able to become productive members of society. Oh and by the way, he peels back the onion on the NFL also. As an example it is interesting to know that the average career span for a player is 3.7 years and that to qualify for the pension plan you need to play for four years.

I love football. I played D1 Power 5 college football in the 80's and until I read this book I was not ashamed of my sport; I am now and hope that there is something that I can personnally do before it collapses on itself.

If you are a fan, you need to read this book. If you are not a fan, you need to read this book.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

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NC actuary

provocative

February 23, 2014

Verified Purchase

Stories are supposed to elicit an emotional response, and this book scored a touchdown. I was outraged at the "non-profit" status of the NFL and the author's documentation of its finances. My outrage continued when I read about the NFL clubs indirect use of taxpayer money while making enormous profits. Then the author wrote about NCAA football and I became ashamed that I am a fan. The medical and mental problems of players after their careers are over broke my heart.
OTOH, I was gladdened by the story of Frank Beamer's success at Virginia Tech, and how he achieved it in an appropriate manner. Coach Beamer's consistent emphasis on academics is obviously the backbone of that program, showing that success in academics doesn't have to be sacrificed for success on the gridiron. The author analyzes the apparently lax academic requirements for college football and how they are cloaked in murky statistics.
A good read, but be prepared to have your opinion of football challenged.

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Amazon Customer

A Must Read for Football Fans

April 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

Everyone with basic knowledge of college football knows that those kids are there to play football, not to receive an education. Gregg Easterbrook decided to delve into this highly debated aspect of America’s beloved game by shadowing the Virginia Tech football team for a year. Virginia Tech is a team that “does it right.” They have strict academic requirements, don’t force their team to stay on the field too long, and still run a successful football program. Easterbrook spends time getting to know the players, and you get glimpses at many different players’ backgrounds. The book doesn’t go into too much depth as far as characters go because it was written primarily to inform the audience about the cold hard facts. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech’s outlook on football is not often used in most other schools. The NCAA’s academic and practice time rules are broken by most other college teams; but for some reason, most never experience repercussions for their actions. As the book progresses, Easterbrook moves on to the National Football League. He spends the majority of the book writing about the corruption in the NFL, and some of his points will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. Between building stadiums with tax dollars and a complete lack of concern for player safety, it makes you wonder how the NFL continues to keep all of their bad aspects out of popular media. The NFL is not a good organization, and Easterbrook exposes many of their faults throughout the book.
The only part of this book that I did not like was that he split the story of his time at Virginia Tech into two segments: one was the first few chapters, and the second was the last chapter. I understand what he was going for by showing that football can be done correctly at the beginning and the end of the book; but for a casual reader who spends a few weeks reading the book, they may not remember the beginning that well, and the segmentation takes away from the experience.
I would suggest this book to any football fan. If you dedicate a full day of the week to a sport, you should try to educate yourself in every aspect of it (even the things that aren’t as fun to hear about). It touches on interesting topics that bring in different ethical debates into the game of football. As a football fan, I was glad that I read this book that exposed the NFL for what it really is. Easterbrook does a solid job of showing that football isn’t all fun and games.

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