Chris Willis: 7 books
Red Grange
The Life and Legacy of the NFL's First Superstar
Language: English
Release Date: August 9, 2019
In celebration of the National Football League’s 100th season, noted football historian Chris Willis brings to life the story of Red Grange, the nation’s first NFL star, in this definitive biography.
Harold “Red” Grange became a national sensation as a junior halfback at the University...
A Nearly Perfect Season
The Inside Story of the 1984 San Francisco 49ers
Language: English
Release Date: July 16, 2014
The San Francisco 49ers entered the 1984 season determined to erase the memory of their three point loss to the Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game the year before. Nineteen games later, they had not only won the Super Bowl, they had redefined NFL history by becoming the first team to...
The Columbus Panhandles
A Complete History of Pro Football's Toughest Team, 1900-1922
Language: English
Release Date: February 1, 2007
In 1901 workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus, Ohio formed a professional football team called the Columbus Panhandles. The railroad workers, mainly European immigrants, learned the game of football not on college gridirons, but on the sandlots of railroad yards during...
Dutch Clark
The Life of an NFL Legend and the Birth of the Detroit Lions
Language: English
Release Date: June 1, 2012
In 1963, 17 charter members were inducted into the newly established Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining the likes of Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, and Sammy Baugh was Detroit Lions quarterback Dutch Clark. A bona fide superstar for the NFL in the 1930s, Clark led the Lions to success...
Walter Lingo, Jim Thorpe, and the Oorang Indians
How a Dog Kennel Owner Created the NFL's Most Famous Traveling Team
Language: English
Release Date: May 5, 2017
At the beginning of the Roaring Twenties the NFL was just a footnote within the landscape of American sports. The early pro game was played on dirt fields by vagabond athletes who would beat up or punch out their opponent for fifty dollars a game. But one team was different than the rest: the Oorang...
Old Leather
An Oral History of Early Pro Football in Ohio, 1920-1935
Language: English
Release Date: July 7, 2005
Very little has been documented about the early days of pro football and the pioneers who had a major influence in the history of the NFL. Chris Willis, head of the Research Library at NFL Films, seeks to address this neglect. In this collection of original and archival interviews, former players,...
The Man Who Built the National Football League
Joe F. Carr
Language: English
Release Date: August 19, 2010
Founded in 1920, the National Football League chose famed athlete Jim Thorpe as its first president, a position he held briefly until a successor was elected. From 1921 to 1939, Joe F. Carr guided the sport of professional football with intelligence, hard work, and a passion that built the foundation...