War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL

ISBN-13: 9781538124840

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - Inc.

Publication Date: 06-26-2019

Pages: 296

Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

Chris Serb is an independent journalist who has written extensively for such publications as Chicago Tribune, Chicago History, Writer’s Digest, Chicago Athlete, and Men’s Fitness. He is the author of Sam’s Boys: The History of Chicago’s Leone Beach and Legendary Lifeguard Sam Leone (2000), whose profits were donated to charity. Serb was a finalist for Chicago Headline Club’s prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for Best Sports Feature in 2000.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

A Note on Names and Nicknames xiii

Prologue: "War Football" xv

1 George Halas Sees His Future 1

2 Walter Camp's Vision 9

3 Cupid Takes Aim at the Northeast 23

4 A True All-American at Camp Custer 31

5 Camp Sherman's March through Ohio 39

6 Beckett's Marines Conquer the West 45

7 Selling War Football 53

8 Brickley Kicks for Uncle Sam 63

9 Jock Sutherland's Fighting Dentists Head Down South 71

10 Frank Pollard, Omar Bradley, and Race in War Football 79

11 Coach Ike 85

12 The Cleveland Navy Battles Pop Warner 91

13 George Halas and the 1919 Rose Bowl 101

14 How Football Helped Win the War 119

15 The AEF Tournament 127

16 Peace and College Football's Golden Age 145

17 War Football and the Birth of the NFL 151

Epilogue 173

Appendix 1 War Football Players 187

Appendix 2 All-Service Teams, 1917-1919 205

Appendix 3 War Football Records 209

Notes 223

Bibliography 257

Index 261

About the Author 275