The Real All Americans [Paperback]

As a guy rule of thumb, when your wife says "I think you should read this book about football", it's a good idea to listen to her. My wife started recommending this book after the first chapter, and I was happy when she finally turned it over to me. Sally Jenkins' "The Real All Americans" is by turns fascinating, entertaining, and moving.

Anyone who has ever played football is likely to enjoy the description of the early stages of the game. It is amazing how brutal it could be, and how little regard there was for the "rules", such as they were, of the day. The phrase "if you're not cheating, you're not trying" comes to mind.

Ever wonder why we have "Pop Warner" football? Well, here is Warner in all of his glory. He does not come off as a particularly nice person, but as an innovator and a competitor, he had few peers. He took control of the speedy-but-undersized Carlisle Indian School football team in an era when brute force was what won football games, and he created a winning program by emphasizing speed, passing, and misdirection. My favorite anecdote? In order to create confusion, prior to a Carlisle game against Harvard he had players sew football-shaped patches onto their uniforms. In response, the Harvard coach had the balls painted the same crimson color of his team's jerseys. In a compromise, the patches and colored balls were both removed.

The book does more than just revisit football's roots. It is a fascinating history of the aftermath of the United States' western expansion. The director of Carlisle, LTC Richard Pratt, comes of as stern but fair, with the best interests (as he saw them) of his students at heart. He was a firm believer that the conquered tribes would fare best if assimilated into larger American society. The Carlisle Indian School was explicitly set up to remove children from their parents and their tribes, separate them from their heritage, and indoctrinate them into America. It was at best a mixed success, and it ultimately failed after Pratt left. For many, myself included, this chapter was missing from our history books. Jenkins' retelling is riveting and at times poignant.

So, think of this as two books for the price of one. If you are a fan of sport, you'll think the chapters on football are a hoot. If you enjoy American history, even in one of its darker moments, the descriptions of the moral dilemma facing the country and the tribes will fascinate you. Either way this book will be well worth the read.

5 stars.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Not only for the history of the early years of football but also for an insight into the backgrounds and personalities of the larger than life central figures of the book.

This book does a great job about not only talking about the Carlisle football team with Jim Thorpe and their victories over major college football at the turn of the 1900's. It does a great job of tying in all of the cultural, historical, and contextual information about Native Americans in white society, and about how they succeeded or failed in their endeavors on their journey. The book also gives a great insight into Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe and how tiny Carlisle emerged into a football powerhouse.