Clouds over the goalpost : gambling, assassination, and the NFL in 1963

Clouds over the goalpost Gambling, assassination, and the NFL in 1963

Lew Freedman

Book - 2013

"The pro football season of 1963 was dominated by the unexpected. In April, months prior to the beginning of play, it was revealed that two All-Star players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were gambling on the sport and would be suspended from play for at least a year. Even worse, in May, one of the league's bigger-than-life personalities, Big Daddy Lipscomb, was found dead, with police saying he perished from a heroin overdose, something those who knew him best still dispute. As play began in September, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened its doors in Canton, Ohio, the same town where the National Football League was founded in 1921 and inducted its first class. Also, the war for players and prestige raged with the upstart Americ...an Football League trying to obtain equal footing in the public eye. On the field, it was to be the year the Chicago Bears and their aging owner-coach George Halas knew glory once more, fighting off the latest dynasty Green Bay Packers led by Vince Lombardi in a season-long chase for the Western Division title. Yet even that was overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While the nation mourned and other sports leagues suspended activity, the NFL played on with its regular season that sad weekend-- a choice commissioner Pete Rozelle later called the worst mistake of his tenure. Clouds over the Goalpost is filled with controversy not only on the field, but off it as well. From the various suspensions to an exciting championship game between the Bears and Giants, 1963 was a year that the NFL would never forget-- for both the good and the bad" -- from publisher's web site.

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Subjects
American Football League > History.
National Football League > History.
Football > History > 20th century.
Football > Betting.
Published
New York : Sports Publishing [2013]
Language
English
Main Author
Lew Freedman (-)
Physical Description
327 pages ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781613213988
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. Halas Aims at the Packers
  • Chapter 2. The Golden Boy and Mongo Sent to the Woodshed
  • Chapter 3. "Big Daddy" Lipscomb
  • Chapter 4. Football at Last
  • Chapter 5. Bears-Packers I
  • Chapter 6. A Pro Football Hall of Fame
  • Chapter 7. Bears on a Roll
  • Chapter 8. The Other Guys
  • Chapter 9. Bears on Fire
  • Chapter 10. Packers on a Streak
  • Chapter 11. Bears-Packers II
  • Chapter 12. Defense as a Weapon
  • Chapter 13. JFK Assassinated
  • Chapter 14. Jimmy Brown and the Rest of the Gang
  • Chapter 15. The AFL in '63
  • Chapter 16. No Easy Games
  • Chapter 17. No Go in Green Bay
  • Chapter 18. Bears-Giants, 1956
  • Chapter 19. The AFL Championship Game
  • Chapter 20. Halas Back in Title Game
  • Chapter 21. The Champs
  • Epilogue
  • Acknowledgments
  • Sources
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Based on the title and subtitle, readers may approach this expecting some larger truths about the state of the nation in 1963, as reflected in the NFL season the year Kennedy was assassinated. They will be disappointed. The gambling suspensions of Paul Hornung and Alex Karras are addressed perfunctorily, and the decision of the NFL to play its games the weekend following JFK's murder is given just slightly more attention. However, readers who just want an exciting account of a dramatic football season with a cast of gridiron immortals such as George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, and Mike Ditka will be richly rewarded. Veteran newspaperman Freedman interviews many of the 1963 season survivors and fills in the gaps with extensive research to lay out a dramatic step-by-step account of the season, a neck-and-neck race between the eventual champion Chicago Bears and their archrivals and defending-champion Green Bay Packers. Freedman offers personal anecdotes and insights into the key characters as well as many of the lesser lights. Enjoyable reading for fans of the NFL and its history.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Fifty years on, Freedman (The Fifty Greatest Players in Chicago Bears Football History) revisits the haunted 1963 NFL season, a surprising and compelling one in its own right. He looks at the teams, coaches, and players who made it special. As expected, he directs most of his attention to the Chicago Bears and their quest to dethrone the two-time-champion Packers. The hero of the book is 68-year-old George Halas, Bears team founder and league patriarch, driving his team to one last NFL title. Freedman also examines the gambling suspensions of the Packers' Paul Hornung and the Lions' Alex Karras, the mysterious heroin-overdose death of Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, who played with the Colts and the Steelers, and the curious decision by Commissioner Pete Rozelle to play all league games two days after JFK's assassination. The American Football League is briefly noted. VERDICT Lovers of football history will enjoy this book although it breaks no new ground in retelling some familiar stories. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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