All Hail the Pros: Football in the '60s and '70s
By Jim Murray. Excerpt from the book 'Neil Leifer, Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football, 1958-1978'
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The same people who sanctimoniously blocked pay-radio now block pay-TV. You shouldn't use the sacred airways of the people and then charge them for it, said these holy men who were charging General Foods or General Motors by the minute for it. So they backed themselves into a corner when they conceded that the mysterious broadcast waves that carry sound and image were, somehow, a public trust. In that case, countered the government, the television industry must not only be licensed but GOVERNED. And, the other day, in all its majesty, the Congress of the United States ruled by overwhelming vote that the National Football League, a heretofore private enterprise, must GIVE its attractions away.…
The nice dilemma now is that television—and pro football—are locked off from any eventual grosses from pay-TV.When their seats are sold, their attraction must go on advertising-subsidized TV. Pro football and Madison Avenue are in bed together till death do them part.What makes me sore is, where were the guys when I wanted to hear the Sharkey-Carnera fight in 1933? Or when I had to listen to Columbia-Princeton instead of Notre Dame-Southern Methodist in 1935? Can I get back the $21 bucks I spent to go down and see Babe Ruth play in 1934—$21 bucks that it took me eight months to save from my Liberty magazine route.
NOW, they tell me the best things in life are free—and here all these years I thought it was just a damn song title. ["TV Football Giveaway," October 24, 1973]
Page [1] [2] [3]
Page [1] [2] [3]
The same people who sanctimoniously blocked pay-radio now block pay-TV. You shouldn't use the sacred airways of the people and then charge them for it, said these holy men who were charging General Foods or General Motors by the minute for it. So they backed themselves into a corner when they conceded that the mysterious broadcast waves that carry sound and image were, somehow, a public trust. In that case, countered the government, the television industry must not only be licensed but GOVERNED. And, the other day, in all its majesty, the Congress of the United States ruled by overwhelming vote that the National Football League, a heretofore private enterprise, must GIVE its attractions away.…
The nice dilemma now is that television—and pro football—are locked off from any eventual grosses from pay-TV.When their seats are sold, their attraction must go on advertising-subsidized TV. Pro football and Madison Avenue are in bed together till death do them part.What makes me sore is, where were the guys when I wanted to hear the Sharkey-Carnera fight in 1933? Or when I had to listen to Columbia-Princeton instead of Notre Dame-Southern Methodist in 1935? Can I get back the $21 bucks I spent to go down and see Babe Ruth play in 1934—$21 bucks that it took me eight months to save from my Liberty magazine route.
NOW, they tell me the best things in life are free—and here all these years I thought it was just a damn song title. ["TV Football Giveaway," October 24, 1973]
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Guts and Glory: The Golden Age of American Football, 1958-1978
Hardcover, slipcase, 39.6 x 33 cm (15.6 x 13 in.), 350 pages
$ 500.00
$ 500.00
The best of sports photographer Neil Leifer's 10,000 rolls of football pictures, including hundreds of rare and unpublished images. Limited to 1,500 copies, each numbered and signed by Neil Leifer.
NFL Championship, Packers 34, Cowboys 27, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, January 1, 1967: Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders strike a pose in support of their team, making its first appearance in a championship game. Photo: Neil Leifer