The best
Football books:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of Football books by number of unique Reddit comments:
Top Reddit reviews mentioning Football books:
NEVER FORGET - the way he was used by the military for propaganda, how they burned his uniform and journal, how they lied about and covered up his death by friendly fire.
https://www.amazon.com/Where-Men-Win-Glory-Odyssey/dp/030738604X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgU6SwuZJIY
Big ups to his brother for calling out the bullshit at his funeral.
Why they were so happy when NFL player Pat Tillman joined up and became a ranger. Also why they covered up his death being from friendly fire. Read Where Men Win Glory. It's a great book
Comes with experience. It's probably the most complex team sport there is, with games being more chess matches than anything.
You can accelerate your learning by reading books like Take Your Eye off the Ball if you're really invested in learning more, but even something like getting into the Madden games can help a lot. Plenty of online resources as well for concepts and formations and whatnot.
While you'll learn plenty just by watching, without a bit of background on the fundamentals, a lot of stuff is gonna be lost on the average viewer.
Not a documentary, but one of the few really respected Cleveland Media guys, Terry Pluto, wrote a fantastic book about it called False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail, though he does get a bit personal with it, which is understandable because he's a diehard fan who took it personal.
EDIT: He spends a lot of time talking about how Tags and the rest of the owners dicked around with the bidding war that propelled the value of NFL teams by initially demanding that the Browns cost the ownership $1 Billion dollars, despite the Panthers and Jags costing $140M a few years prior. Eventually the bidding stopped at just over $500 million.
DOUBLE EDIT: Should note this book was written in 2004.
Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwin is one of the best football books money can buy
Used copy on Amazon can be had for a few bucks
In addition to the previously-mentioned Youtube and Madden, I'll recommend a book, Take Your Eye Off the Ball. It's excellent at explaining the general responsibilities of every player on the field, and what teams look for when drafting them.
If you're new to football then I couldn't recommend this book more. Once you get a basics for the rules and general flow of the game, this will take your knowledge of schemes and ability to see the on-field strategic battle in real-time to an entirely new level. Even longtime NFL fans should read it if they haven't as everyone can still learn more.
> [Deion] Sanders was a feather-duster. When he tackled, it was with the gusto of a 90 year-old woman. “One time a running back ran a sweep toward him, and Deion dove halfhearted into the turf,” says Case. “We’re watching film the next day, razzing him pretty good. As serious as he could be, he said, ‘I saw that dude coming and I had to make a business decision.'”
From Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman
Take Your Eye Off The Ball is pretty much the go to literature on this.
YouTube is a good resource. Lots of people breaking down gameplay there, but a lot of it is usually about specific players and good individual techniques.
https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696
I thought this book was good for learning scheme. I read it after it was recommended on here a few years back. Good stuff imo.
Keep your eye off the ball NFL edition is good
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629371696/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i.vWAbRA5EMJN
Also the art of smart football
The Art of Smart Football https://www.amazon.com/dp/069244825X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qawWAb8X0RP9W
Here's a book I recommend for anyone wanting to learn the strategy behind football. It's called "Take Your Eye Off the Ball" written by Pat Kirwan with a foreword by Pete Carroll and Bill Cowher
It's on Amazon for $2.12 used - Can't beat that.
Herschel has some serious mental health issues, dating from way back. I'm not terribly surprised he's thrown his hat in with the GOP.
https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Free-Dissociative-Identity-Disorder/dp/1416537503
If you are looking for a book, "Take your eyes off the ball" was a nice read ! lots of details on each side of the ball, but very accessible also.
Here's the official summary of his book being sold on Amazon:
>In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman’s journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of the events and actions that led to his death. https://www.amazon.com/Where-Men-Win-Glory-Odyssey/dp/030738604X
Why are you such a proudly ignorant asshole? The only reason these investigations fucking happened you ignorant shit was because the family was questioning the inconsistencies and because they didn't back down they exposed the real story. Seriously, did you know anything about this topic before coming into this thread?
I haven't been involved with coaching at a high level, but I will recommend a book that goes over this, to route concepts, to some popular play-calling verbiage. For example Zebra is sometimes referred to as 11 personnel, or 1 RB and 1 TE. This book is a book I think every football fan should have on the shelf.
It's called Take your eye off the ball
Written by Pat Kirwan, with forewords by Pete Carroll and Bill Cowher
It's only $5.08 on Amazon right now. I wouldn't pass that up.
Gus Malzahn wrote about his hurry up offense philosophy whenever he was still a high school coach. It’s only $20 on Amazon. What’s crazy to me is it’s from 2003 so I’m not sure how much it holds up over 14 years.
DISCLAIMER: I haven’t read it yet, but I thought I’d suggest it because if it became a book club options it’d force me to read it. But it also might be a shit book so I don’t want to give it my personal stamp of approval.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Hurry-Up-No-Huddle-Offensive-Philosophy/dp/1585186546
Apparently Jameis couldn't even read street signs before his procedure. No idea how he went that long and won so much in college playing blind.
I hope he does well, just to prove this guy right https://www.amazon.com/Jameis-Winston-Derangement-Syndrome-Overlook/dp/1078348146
> "Take your eye off the ball" is a great book for learning about the game, positions, systems, the draft, training and everything else.
I've heard this said as well but haven't bought it ever -- amazon us link is here...
The Real Football Network, Pat Kirwan's site, is offering the updated version on his site
They're running a sale on the bundle packs as well.
1. Yes.
2. As a new fan you're going to want to get to know the stars of the team. On offense, Aaron Rodgers (Quarterback), Jordy Nelson (Wide-Reciever), Randall Cobb (Wide-Reciever). On defense, Clay Matthews (Outside Linebacker), Julius Peppers (Outside Linebacker), "HaHa" Clinton-Dix (Safety) Mike Daniels (Defensive-End)
3. For tactics as a fresh beginner I'd recommend the book "Take Your Eye Off the Ball" by Pat Kirwan with forewords by Bill Cowher (Former Head-Coach of the Steelers) and Pete Carroll (Current Head-Coach of the Seahawks). It's currently $3 on Amazon used and it provides the perfect foundation of understanding what goes on behind the curtain, sort of speak. Amazon
4. Check out fantasy football. That will really hook you into getting to know these players. Although the season is over you can do mock drafts with actual people over at Fantasy Football Calculator
I'll be releasing a torrent of the Packers entire season sometime this week. Download it and see if football is something you'd like to get more into.
This book really helped me.
EDIT: Here's the UK link
I haven't found any channels that do a good job of starting with the basics, but this book does a great job. It's an easy read, starts with the basics and goes into great detail
Take Your Eye Off the Ball. Covers basic and intermediate football knowledge. For more than that, you'll just have to dig into some All-22 footage.
Lots of good advice in the thread already but I'll try and add to it. I'm gonna take a flying leap and assume you're pretty familiar with soccer.
Obviously, football has a bunch more start and stops than soccer does. However, the tactical/positional aspects can be similar. In soccer, certain teams have certain styles. Some play 10 men behind the ball with a very conservative, defensive style (e.g. Italy). Many couple that with a fast counter attack looking for a quick score (Madrid). Some teams play a fluid possession game with lots of holding by the midfielders and a probing, conservative offensive approach (Barca). Some attack through the wings, others up the middle....you get the idea. There are formations that support all of those types of play: all the variations of 4-4-2, 3-5-1, stuff with attacking midfielders, defensive midfielders etc etc. Additionally, you get the personnel/players to support the respective style of play and formation.
Ok, one of the things I like about football is all those factors can be changed every play according to the situation. Imagine if soccer coaches had unlimited substitutions every time the ball went out (from a roster of 53 total players). If a team is behind they'll call riskier plays looking for something big. If a team is ahead, they'll call more conservative plays to try and maintain a lead until time runs out. There is a ton of variation in how coaches will deploy their players to accomplish their goals. Plus, every strategy has advantages and disadvantages, so there is always a sort of chess match going on between the two teams.
This book is a great intro to some of this stuff. Also, feel free to ask questions...I'll try and clarify any/all of this if I can. There's also a bunch of really smart and helpful people in this sub....just keep hanging around and you'll pick it all up in no time!
From when, college football tactics are evolving every day. You can see difference in play style from year to year. Even 5 years ago, teams played differently than they do today. I recommend you read The Essential Smart Football It is by Chris B. Brown. If you read that and note the years each article was written you will get a solid idea of how much football has changed over just the last 10-15 years even.
Did John Fetterman ever publish a ghost written book about his struggles with Multiple Personality Disorder? Nope.
However... Herschel "Werewolf" Walker sure as hell did.
https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Free-Dissociative-Identity-Disorder/dp/1416537503
here ya go - make sure you get your Xmas order in there!