Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times. Mark Leibovich
id="u9ad2b22d-25ca-5325-af96-6984cb52ddf6">
HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in the US by Penguin Press 2018
This UK edition published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
FIRST EDITION
Text © Mark Leibovich 2018
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Cover photographs © Kwangmooza/Getty Images (background); Darren Haggar (badge)
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Mark Leibovich asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Brief portions of this work, some in slightly different form, first appeared in The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine
NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green
Source ISBN: 9780008317614
Ebook Edition © September 2018 ISBN: 9780008317645
Version 2018-08-17
In loving memory of great friends:
my father, Miguel Leibovich, and brother, Phil Leibovich
Contents
Introduction FOOTBALL, IN SPITE OF ITSELF
Chapter 1 THE SUPER BOWL WITHOUT JOCK STRAPS
Chapter 5 “BEWARE THE PISSED OFF PRETTY BOY”
Chapter 6 GARISH FIST ORNAMENTS
Chapter 9 NO ONE BUYS TICKETS TO WATCH A MORALITY PLAY
Chapter 12 “WE PAY HIM DAMN WELL TO BE NEUTRAL”
Chapter 16 IMMORTALITY GETS OLD
Chapter 17 “START BLOW- DRYING TEDDY KOPPEL’S HAIR ’CAUSE THIS ONE’S DONE”
Chapter 21 “WE DON’T WANT YOU IN LOS ANGELES”
Chapter 22 “I’M DRUNK, I’M STUPID, I’M A PATS FAN,” THE MAN TOLD POLICE
Chapter 23 THE TV REPORTER IN THE BELICHICK UNDERWEAR
Chapter 26 THIS MAN’S LIVER BELONGS IN CANTON
Chapter 27 “FAITH, FAMILY, AND FOOTBALL . . . PROBABLY NOT IN THAT ORDER”
Chapter 28 “WE NEED A BLACK CHARLTON HESTON”
Chapter 29 JUST COMPARTMENTALIZE, BABY