| Description |
382 pages, 22 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 381-382). |
| Contents |
On any given Sunday -- A long ride to Baltimore -- Welcome to the Colts -- The great ticket heist was my kickoff in Baltimore -- A scout's life is for Kit Carson but not for everybody -- The making of an NFL scout -- Spy vs. spy settles NFL-AFL war -- The South is burning! -- Running my own show in Baltimore -- Worst loss in the history of losses -- Some things can't be fixed -- Why did you ever come here? -- Everybody's got to serve somebody -- A new league, a second chance -- No more fish in the sea -- Scouting for QBs, the most important position in sports -- Only one Moses wore a whistle -- Out of the frying pan, into the fire -- Epilogue. |
| Summary |
"To understand how the NFL became the sports phenomenon it is today, you can study its history as an active participant. Upton Bell grew up at the knee of the NFL's first great commissioner, his father, the legendary Bert Bell, who not only saved the game from financial ruin after World War II but was one of its greatest innovators. Coining the phrase "On any given Sunday," Bert invented the pro football draft and proposed sudden death rules. Present at the Creation details Bell's firsthand experiences, which started as he watched his father draw up the league schedule each year at the kitchen table using dominoes. There he learned the importance of parity, which is a hallmark of the league's success, and also how to create it. Over the past fifty-three years, Bell has been an owner, a general manager, a personnel executive, a scouting director for two Super Bowl teams, a television commentator and analyst, and a talk-radio host. He has seen the NFL from the inside and has experienced many of the most important moments in NFL history." -- Book jacket. |
| Subject |
Bell, Bert, 1894-1959.
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Baltimore Colts (Football team)
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National Football League -- History.
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Football managers -- Biography.
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Sportscasters -- Biography.
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Sports administration.
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| Genre/Form |
Autobiographies.
|
| Added Author |
Borges, Ron, author.
|
| ISBN |
149620039X |
|
9781496200396 |
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