Rozelle: A Biography

Pete Rozelle as the Commissioner of the National Football League is an iconic figure and the epitome of what a sports commissioner should be. He had multiple sides to his personality. He was a hard edged fighter with compassion. He had a love for the game, compassion and empathy for owners and players, and managed to keep the billionaire club of NFL owners in check.This biography of Pete Rozelle does an outstanding job of chronicling his life, with most of its focus on his traits that made him an outstanding NFL commissioner. Despite being a compromise candidate for Commissioner, he seemed born for the job and was literally was the bridge to the modern NFL.One of his biggest accomplishments was recognizing the importance of public relations and he used his skills in that area to lift the NFL from the shadow of college football and half empty stadiums to become America’s favorite sport. He cleverly recognized the extreme importance that television would become not just for exposure for the game but revenue as well. Even more important was developing the profit sharing model where all teams would get an equal share of the revenue to ensure some degree of competitive balance across teams.He also faced many intricate controversies which he managed mostly well. The NFL suffered a great deal of labor unrest and despite some difficulties in that area he laid the groundwork for what has been, until now, a long period of labor peace with the NFLPA. He worked diligently in the merger of the NFL with the AFL which created a vibrant professional football league, but later staved off the upstart USFL. His greatest nemesis was Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, who constantly sued the league, including winning the right to move the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles. Layer on the drug scandals of the 1980’s one can argue he navigated the NFL through some of its toughest times.Rozelle’s legacy ultimately is his successfully moving the NFL into the limelight eclipsing all other American sports in popularity, especially leveraging the exposure and revenue generated by television.This biography is well written and organized and its brevity and economy of words is refreshing. Anyone interested in the history of the NFL should certainly read this biography.

While I think this book captured the essence of Pete Rozelle, I found some glaringhistorical errors. First, the book says that when Rozelle became commissioner thatall non sold out games were blacked out in home city. The fact is that all home gameswere blacked out in the home city, sell out or not. This was the policy since the early50s and did not change until 1973 when the blackout was lifted for sellouts. Second,the realignment that moved the Browns, Colts and Steelers was decided upon in thespring of 1969 and not in 1970 as the book says. The alignment of the NFC wasin fact determined in eary 1970. Third, the New York Titans became the Jets inearly 1963, not after the 1963 season as the book says. What I have said here isvalidated by the chronological section of the current NFL Record and Fact Book.

When compared to Lombardi's biography, this book contains historical errors as depicted by another reviewer, grammatical/factual errors (Acapulco is not on the Gulf of Mexico, this book says it is) and most importantly a lack of depth regarding the book's subject vs Marinass' Lombardi effort.That being said, it is a very enjoyable read and no other book I've found covers Rozelle's life as thoroughly. Thus I recommend it, but it will fall short of expectations for many; especially for a work that was decades in the making.

Quick read -- and great history of the man who helped shape the NFL that we know and love today.The biggest problems with this book is the editing -- there are some pretty bad gaffes. But, if you overlook those and concentrate on the story they can kinda be forgiven.

If you love the NFL and are interested in its history, then you will love this book. I highly recommend it for any serious fan.

I was too young to know what he did early in his career and it helped to learn this.

I enjoyed the book. It gave me a real insight into Rozelle's character.

excellent read