Sanctioned Savagery
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€29.99
"Big Hits”
"concussion crisis"
"dishing it out"
"flying wedge"
"getting your bell rung"
"Junction Boys"
"necessary roughness"
"paying the price"
"reckless abandon"
"sanctioned savagery"
"savagery"
"taking it"
"unnecessary roughness"
1931 football crisis (Cadet Richard Sheridan)
A01=Michael Oriard
Ann McKee 1906 football crisis
Author_Michael Oriard
Bear Bryant
Bennet Omalu
Bud Wilkinson
Category=JBSL
Category=JHBS
Category=SCX
Category=SFBD
Chris Nowinski
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
concussion
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
eq_sports-fitness
football "gladiator"
football fatalities
football injuries
Grantland Rice
hardshell plastic helmet
high school football
James Hopper
Knute Rockne
Mike Webster
National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Football League
National Football League Players' Association
Paul Tagliabue
Roger Goodell
Walter Camp
Woody Hayes
youth football
Product details
- ISBN 9781469690643
- Dimensions: 25 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 09 Sep 2025
- Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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American football was a violent sport from its beginning as a college game in the 87 s and 88 s, in part because learning how to deal with the pain and violence, to "take it," made men out of college boys. Michael Oriard, former NFL linebacker and professor emeritus of English, shows us that this fundamental belief persisted for more than a century, until signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) were found in Pittsburgh Steelers' center Mike Webster's brain. Suddenly, the cost of "taking it" could mean long-term damage not just to the body but also to the brain. Without anyone knowing it, that risk had soared since the 95 s and 9 s, when the hardshell plastic helmet became the primary weapon for blocking and tackling, as taught by a new generation of college coaches, led by the University of Alabama's Bear Bryant.
In this cultural history of football at nearly all levels—high school, college, and pro—Oriard traces the perennial tension between health and culture regarding football as reflected in what the public read in newspapers, magazines, and online. Through examining how we once felt and how we now feel about the game, Oriard challenges us to grapple with the possibility that football might be too violent, in an intolerable way.
In this cultural history of football at nearly all levels—high school, college, and pro—Oriard traces the perennial tension between health and culture regarding football as reflected in what the public read in newspapers, magazines, and online. Through examining how we once felt and how we now feel about the game, Oriard challenges us to grapple with the possibility that football might be too violent, in an intolerable way.
Michael Oriard is a retired professor from Oregon State University and a former football player for the University of Notre Dame and the Kansas City Chiefs. He is the author of six previous books about football, including Reading Football, King Football, and Brand NFL.
