It’s at as well as Barnes & Noble, independent booksellers and the bookstore near you. And then there’s Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, who screwed up his career by abusing drugs, and then won $28 million in the Texas state lottery. Some have struggled financially as well as physically. They were the last NFL generation that wasn’t set for life by virtue of playing pro football. What surprised me was that the vast majority of those players went on to other careers. I watched a bunch of grainy ’70s games, read everything I could find on the subject, and then started phoning ’70s players, coaches and broadcasters. How did you research the book and what surprised you most as you did so? Rules changes favoring the passing game helped Bill Walsh’s 49ers usher in a more efficient, scripted style of play-the modern, corporate, huge-money NFL we watch today. Thanks mostly to TV, teams were getting rich and players were making ten times what guys earned a decade before. Monday Night Football was new-an experiment that only last-place ABC was willing to try.īy the time Dwight Clark snagged Joe Montana’s pass in 1982, the NFL was America’s dominant sport. Andy Russell and Ray Mansfield carpooled to work to save on gas that cost 55 cents a gallon. Terry Bradshaw sold used cars in the off-season. Back in ’72, rookie Franco Harris actually hitchhiked to practice. I think Headbangers is the first to suggest that the NFL took on its modern form in the ten-year period between the sport’s most famous plays: the Immaculate Reception and The Catch. What makes the book unique in its coverage of those 70’s teams? It was a process-an evolution that’s really fascinating, full of epic games, crazy plays and vivid characters. It’s easy to forget that pro football didn’t always dominate the sports landscape the way it does today. After writing three books that were largely about golf, I wanted to write about the number-one sport. I grew up watching the early Monday Night Football and the great teams of the ’70s. I was a tyke in 1967, watching the first Super Bowl on a little black-and-white TV. Kevin Cook, Author, The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s-The Era that Created Modern Sports:įirst, can you let readers know how and why you decided to take on this subject and how you started doing so?

The Last Headbangers by Kevin Cook