From Publishers Weekly
Before it merged with the NFL in 1970, the American Football League helped usher into the limelight such cultural monuments as Joe Namath, O. J. Simpson and the Super Bowl. This meandering oral history of the AFL's 10-year existence, featuring interspliced interviews with 170 players, owners, coaches, secretaries and media personalities, is as inchoately supportive as a roaring stadium. Dallas Morning News sports editor Miller (Down to the Wire) styles the saga as a grudge match between scrappy AFL upstarts and NFL bullies, but, as in many sports stories, athletic rivalries obscure the workings of monopoly capital. The league started when the NFL dragged its feet in extending franchises to wealthy men in small-market cities; and it ended when the two leagues merged to halt the inter-league bidding wars that were driving up players' salaries. This tale of competition fostered and then strangled is fleshed out in interviews that offer a close-up look at the business side, delving into the details of franchise negotiations, television contracts and the jockeying for draft picks. But this material is, of course, buried under a pile-up of football anecdotes and play-by-play reminiscences of games 40 years past (one account of a single brutal tackle is told over three pages, from seven different perspectives). Miller inserts some sketchy historical exposition, but too often he leaves the narrative thread to the interviews, where it gets fragmented between intercutting shaggy-dog stories told by half a dozen eyewitnesses. Hard-core fans with long, long memories will delight in the gridiron minutiae, but other readers may be baffled by the scrimmage. B&w photos. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
“Outlandish, informative, and above all, funny.”
—Sports Illustrated
Now in paperback, Going Long brings the incredible story of the maverick American Football League to life through the words of the players, coaches, owners, and others who lived it. This story of the AFL is filled with legendary names such as Bob Griese, Joe Namath, Lamar Hunt, Jack Kemp, Len Dawson, and more. From the contentious formation of the league, to paychecks bouncing as often as footballs, to improbable Super Bowl victories, Going Long presents the colorful and sometimes bizarre tale of eight teams and a league that refused to die.
From the Back Cover
Praise for Going Long
"The voices in Going Long remind us what fun the American Football League was."
--Boston Herald
"American Football League fans will absolutely love Going Long."
--Publishers Weekly
"Pigskin fans will find many delights in this lively examination of the American Football League told in the words of those who lived it, from team owners, coaches, and players to trainers and fans."
--Dallas Morning News
"Miller's saucy oral history vividly recalls the exploits of Namath, Kemp, Alworth, and Stram; such historic events as pro football's longest game, the 'Heidi game'; and the watershed event of Super Bowl III."
USA Today Sports Weekly
"There's a Ken Burns documentary in here somewhere."
--Portland Oregonian
From its inauspicious beginnings through its improbable Super Bowl victories and its ultimate demise, the American Football League had a colorful and sometimes bizarre 10-year history that will not soon be forgotten. Now in paperback, Going Long takes you back to that thrilling decade with the men who made the AFL--and who made it great. In this unique oral history, 170 voices come together to tell the unbelievable story of that maverick league.
This rollicking tale is filled with legendary names such as Bob Griese, Joe Namath, Lamar Hunt, Jack Kemp, Len Dawson, and more. From the contentious formation of the league to paychecks bouncing as often as footballs to improbable Super Bowl victories, Going Long presents the colorful and sometimes bizarre tale of eight teams and a league that refused to die.
About the Author
Jeff Miller is an editor for the Dallas Morning News's acclaimed sports section and has won numerous state and national newspaper sportswriting awards. The author of two sports books, Down to the Wire and Sunshine Shootouts, he lives in Dallas, Texas.
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