Why We Love Football
A History in 100 Moments
-
-
4.8 • 26 Ratings
-
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Kirkus Reviews Most Anticipated Book of the Fall
A moving celebration of the history of American football from the New York Times bestselling author of Why We Love Baseball
After his bestselling home run books Why We Love Baseball and The Baseball 100, Joe Posnanski turns from the national pastime to the number one sport in America. Why We Love Football is Posnanski’s newest must-have deep dive into the archives and legends of the sport, and the result is a rousing tale of the 100 greatest moments in football lore.
This is the best kind of sports writing. Entertaining, enlightening, heartbreaking, hilarious, and always fascinating, these stories of the sport offer a panoramic look across its history. From hidden gems and classic tales to famous moments told from previously unheard perspectives, this book is the football book for even its most ardent fans.
From Patrick Mahomes's magic to the Ice Bowl, from Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass to a plethora of football "miracles," Why We Love Football is an unforgettable, conversational masterpiece you won’t ever want to end, and a can't-miss take on football from one of the greatest sportswriters of our time.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Turning his attention to the gridiron, sports journalist Joe Posnanski curates 100 truly iconic moments from America’s most popular sport. With the eye of a connoisseur, he gathers a broad range of snapshots, jumbling together heartwarming high school tales, scenes of collegiate chaos, and iconic NFL memories. Cleverly, he weaves in a list of his top 10 all-time players, offering a defining moment for each. As he did in his baseball books, Posnanski sets aside all modern cynicism and looks at the sport with an excited sense of childhood wonder. It’s clear that he’s still a seasoned sports journalist, though, especially when he’s poring through fascinating facts and anecdotes, turning Roger Staubach’s famed Hail Mary pass into a fascinating dissection of where that term came from. Even if football isn’t your first love, this book is a true joy for any sports fan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the ebullient follow-up to 2023's Why We Love Baseball, journalist Posnanski rolls the highlight reel on the most memorable plays to ever grace the gridiron. The recaps mix the humorous and the heartfelt, describing Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez's 2012 "butt fumble" as well as a 2002 Ohio high school game in which both teams cooperated to let an intellectually disabled student score a touchdown. Posnanski has a talent for restoring excitement to even the most well-known plays, offering a tense account of how Giants quarterback Eli Manning evaded Patriots defenders, who had engulfed him as if in "a zombie movie scene," and passed to wide receiver David Tyree, who made an improbable catch in the Giants' upset win in Super Bowl XLII. Elsewhere, Posnanski recreates the chaos of 1982's "the Play"—when UC Berkeley made a game-winning touchdown with their opponents' marching band already on the field, mistakenly believing the game over—and the exhilaration of the "Immaculate Reception," a 1972 play in which Steelers fullback Franco Harris parlayed an astonishing catch into a touchdown that clinched his team's win over the Raiders. Brimming with a fan's enthusiasm and capturing the awe, bemusement, and thrills that the sport inspires, this is another win from Posnanski.
