Sports Illustrated football's greatest

Sports Illustrated's vault of nearly 60 years' worth of photographs and stories has been mined for a series of large format sport-specific books in recent years, including The Football Book (updated in 2009). While that title covered the history of the game and the players, this work is essentially a collection of top ten lists designed to start arguments among fans. The lists were selected by seven SI writers, some with stronger football credentials than others, cataloging the ten greatest players at each position or position grouping (e.g., offensive line) with additional lists regarding coaches, games, plays, one-year teams, franchises, and stadiums. Selections are justified mostly by quotes and excerpts from previous SI articles. Each of the selectors also creates his own top-ten category, e.g., football movies, and all vote getters are listed in the back of the book. While the text is fairly minimal and partly repackaged material, the array of mostly color photos is dazzling. Above all, the rankings will kindle spirited debate. No Steve Young among the quarterbacks? Bronko Nagurski as a top ten linebacker, but no Jack Ham? Joe Montana over Johnny Unitas? Tom Brady over Peyton Manning? Bill Parcells a top ten coach? What were they thinking? VERDICT A beautifully laid-out coffee-table book sure to start conversations among football fans of any age.-John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.