Brand NFL

Professional football today is an $8 billion sports entertainment industry-and the most popular spectator sport in America, with designs on expansion across the globe. In this astute field-level view of the National Football League since 1960, Michael Oriard looks closely at the development of the sport and at the image of the NFL and its unique place in American life. New to the paperback edition is Oriardrs"s analysis of the offseason labor negotiations and their potential effects on the future of the sport, and his account of how the NFL is dealing with the latest research on concussions and head injuries.

Michael Oriard, a former professional football player, is Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture and Associate Dean of the College of liberal Arts at Oregon State University. He is author of several books on football, most recently, Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCS Era.