NFL Century: The One-Hundred-Year Rise of America's Greatest Sports League

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 227 ratings

Price: 20.25

Last update: 01-30-2025


About this item

From the former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame comes a sweeping and lively history of the National Football League, timed to coincide with the NFL's 100th-anniversary season.

"I can think of no one better qualified - or more enthusiastic - to chronicle the National Football League’s century-long history than Joe Horrigan." (Marv Levy, Hall of Fame NFL coach)

The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges - the Great Depression and World War II, controversies and scandals, battles over labor rights, and competition from rival leagues - to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL, by drawing upon decades of NFL archives. Compelling, eye-opening, and authoritative, NFL Century is a must-hear for NFL fans and anyone who loves the game of football.

Advance praise for NFL Century

"Joe Horrigan takes the reader on a delightful tour of the seminal moments of the NFL in the past one hundred years - the players, owners, coaches, executives, and historical events that made the game of football the most popular in America. It’s a wonderful walk down memory lane for any football fan, young or old." (Michael Lombardi, author of Gridiron Genius)

“There is no one - and I mean no one - who knows more about the history of the NFL than Joe Horrigan, the heart and soul of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As the gold standard of sports leagues celebrates its 100th season, it’s appropriate that the gold standard of sports historians has written NFL Century, an entertaining and educational journey.” (Gary Myers, New York Times best-selling author)


Top reviews from the United States

  • Tom W. Chilek
    5.0 out of 5 stars NFL @ 100
    Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2019
    Great book on the history and memories of the first 100 years of the National Football League. The book captured most of the significant moments of this Sunday fall tradition. Only thing, I was hoping there was a chapter dedicated the the World Football League of the mid 1970's. Not much has been written about this league and it would have been interesting to read how all the player defections into the league affected the NFL as a whole. But that is minor thing. I highly recommend this book to any football fan. Here's to another 100 years! :)
  • tim johnson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Boook
    Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2025
    Pleased
  • JZ
    4.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable history of the NFL
    Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2023
    This is an enjoyable history of the NFL’s first hundred years. All of the major events and eras of the league’s great history are covered, from the league’s humble roots to the 1958 Championship (“The Greatest Game Ever Played”) through the first Super Bowls to the modern era.

    The book is an enjoyable read, but does not delve into great detail about any particular subject or era or the many fascinating personalities who helped changed the sport, such as George Halas, Paul Brown, Art Rooney, etc. The later chapters, covering the tenures, covering the eras of Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue read like they were written by Rozelle and Tagliabue’s stenographers. All in all, a good book, but I thought John Eisenberg’s The League painted a more revealing picture of the NFL’s origins.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read and interesting facts & stories. Football History from different advantage. Enjoyed the last chapter in particular.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2019
    Great read! Football history from a different perspectives and clearly corrected a few myths. Joe Horrigan knows his football- 42 years of knowledge!
  • Michael
    5.0 out of 5 stars What the nfl was like
    Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2019
    Great book with lots of pictures of the history of the nfl
  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Super Bowl Read
    Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2020
    Great book about the history of the NFL through the little known stories. Very cool ???? and a must for any football fan
  • Amy H.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Intro to the football business
    Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2021
    This book was a bit dry. The author focuses on the business side of football -- namely, owners and managers. He left a lot of material a football fan would want to know about untouched. In particular, there was almost no mention of player safety and none what-so-ever of CTE. However, I learned plenty about the development of the NFL, and I was engaged throughout. A chart of the major figures in the NFL, especially during the very early days, would have been helpful because it was easy to lose track of who was who
  • Dan L.
    2.0 out of 5 stars Needs a factchecker
    Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2019
    I was disappointed by this book. It had the potential to be so much better and it ended up being a regurgitation of information previously written about elsewhere. The most glaring thing were the blatant factual errors and mistakes on proper names. Influential Tampa Bay owner Hugh Culverhouse was "Culverson" more than once and a couple sportswriters names were wrong (Bill Lyon and Bill Plaschke were Lyons and Paschke). The worst one was in a Chapter discussing what the NFL did after 9-11 Art Modell was referred to as the owner of the Cleveland Browns. Too bad he had moved the Browns to Baltimore to become the Ravens some years earlier.

    I really wanted to like this book, but it seemed like it was thrown together in a rush and/or assembled by research interns using other source material who have no knowledge of the NFL and its history. Nothing original about this book. Disappointing.

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