Passing Game

Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football

Contributors

By Murray Greenberg

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$17.99

Price

$22.99 CAD

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ebook

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ebook $17.99 $22.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around November 4, 2008. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Benny Friedman, the son of working class immigrants in Cleveland’s Jewish ghetto, arrived at the University of Michigan and transformed the game of football forever. At the time, in the 1920s, football was a dull, grinding running game, and the forward pass was a desperation measure. Benny would change all of that.

In Ann Arbor, the rookie quarterback’s passing abilities so eclipsed those of other players that legendary coach Fielding Yost came back from retirement to coach him. The other college teams had no answer for Friedman’s passing attack. He then went pro — an unpopular decision at a time when the NFL was the poor stepchild to college football — and was equally sensational, eventually signing with the New York Giants for an unprecedented 10,000, bringing fans and attention to the fledgling NFL.

Passing Game rediscovers this little-known sports hero and tells the story of Friedman’s evolution from upstart to American celebrity, in a vivid narrative that will delight and enlighten football fans of all ages.

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On Sale
Nov 4, 2008
Page Count
352 pages
Publisher
PublicAffairs
ISBN-13
9780786726950

Murray Greenberg

About the Author

Murray Greenberg is a former litigator and graduate of Brandeis University (where Benny Friedman was the first athletic director and only football coach), as well as Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

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