Why We Love Football: A History in 100 Moments
Joe Posnanski (Dutton, $39.99, 392)
Joe Posnanski is one of the best sportswriters in the biz because he is fundamentally human and humane when writing about his subject. In Why We Love Football he explores 90 important moments and ten of the best players in NFL history to show why sports can be elevating and not merely enervating. There are famous (and infamous) moments from professional, collegiate, and even high school football: The Catch, The Helmet Catch, The Ice Bowl, The Holy Roller, Win One for the Gipper, Miracle at Michigan, Miracle in Mississippi, The Miracle at the Meadowlands, The Miami Miracle, The Music City Miracle. Two stories are worth highlighting. One is the inspirational story of Jake Porter who had a genetic disease called Chromosomal Fragile X syndrome. He practiced his signature well into high school and practiced with the football and basketball teams. Then, in the final game of the season, he was put on the field for one play when the score was well out of hand, to take a knee, and end the play – just one opportunity to touch the ball in a game. The opposing coach, whose team was winning 42-0, called Porter’s coach to midfield and told him to let Porter run; his team and Porter’s teammates were pointing to the end zone, encouraging him to run for the end zone. Porter thought he had scored the winning touchdown (“And you know what?” Posnanski asks. “He did”) and put practicing his signature to good use as he signed autographs for the fans he inspired.
The other the story is of the “Hail Mary” pass by Roger Staubach (not the first Hail Mary pass, which probably occurred in a game between Notre Dame and Ohio State in 1935). In fact, Posnanski reports, “the term “Hail Mary pass’ was commonplace” in the mid-1960s to describe (in another sportswriter’s words) “a desperation pass against hope.” Then in December 1975, during a cold game in Minnesota, it “became a whole other thing.” The pass, which had never been practiced by the Dallas Cowboys and did not even have a name traveled 54 yards in the air; the receiver had to slow down and go back to catch the ball. Staubach explained the play: “I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.” Roger Bennet of NFL films would later say Staubach “did not just invent a word. He pretty much invented hope.” Posnanski says that football “can be a hard sport to love” due to its violence and danger. But its ultimate appeal is greater than mere bloodlust. If, as Posnanski says, baseball fans look back, football fans look forward, then football is the sport of hope, which is a virtue, as is this collection of 100 reasons to love football.
