Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football (Sport and Society) - Hardcover

Carroll, John M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252023846 ISBN 13: 9780252023842

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1999

Synopsis

Before the Super Bowl, even before the NFL, there was Red Grange. Catapulted into the public eye in 1924 by scoring four touchdowns in twelve minutes for the University of Illinois, the "Galloping Ghost" went on to a trailblazing career as a professional player, Hollywood idol, and broadcaster. He ranked with Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey in the 1920s as one of the heralded figures in America's "golden age of sport." 

Grange's spectacular performance as a college player coincided with football's evolution into a rallying point of university life boosted by post-World War I money, cars, roads, stadiums, and mass media. John Carroll depicts the life and career of the soft-spoken pioneer who helped lift pro football above its reputation as "a dirty little business run by rogues and bargain-basement entrepreneurs." A reluctant folk hero, Grange stood as a symbol of older, rural American values: an unpretentious self-made individual making a mark in a society increasingly controlled by machines, vast corporations, and stifling bureaucracies. His story is an essential element in understanding how football became central in American culture.

About this title

About the Author

John M. Carroll is Regents Professor and Distinguished Faculty Lecturer at Lamar University and the author of Fritz Pollard: Pioneer in Racial Advancement.

Reviews

Harold "Red" Grange was arguably the most significant football player of all time. He rose to prominence in the post^-World War I era by having his best games for the University of Illinois in the national spotlight against top-ranked opponents. After leaving Illinois as a national icon, he provided credibility to the fledgling pro-football ranks by playing for the Chicago Bears. History professor Carroll examines Grange's career in the light of its effect on football in particular and society in general. Grange, Carroll reveals, was one of the very first sports "celebrities." Like today's superstars, he was lured by movie contracts, he was the subject of tabloid rumors, and he attracted annoying lawsuits simply because he was famous. Grange was also one of the first ex-athletes to turn to broadcasting. This is a carefully researched, well-written study of a man who forged new ground in football and in the art of being a celebrity. Expect interest as millennium lists of great athletes continue to showcase Grange. Wes Lukowsky

Carroll (Regents' Professor of History, Lamar Univ.) provides an excellent review of the life of Red Grange, the very mention of whom creates images of football; he is credited with being a major catalyst for the growth and increasing popularity of professional football. Starting with the historic Illinois-Michigan college football game in 1924, the author provides substantial documentation in chronicling the life of Grange from the time of his difficult, even traumatic childhood and adolescence through his successes in college and professional football to his death. Carroll details many of the social issues that not only confronted society during the 1920s and 1930s but also influenced the rise of football's popularity. The media frenzy that surrounded Grange's life helped to spotlight professional football's quest for legitimacy with sports purists. An informative and enjoyable book; highly recommended for all sports collections.ATim Delaney, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0252023846
• ISBN 13: 9780252023842
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296