The First 50 Super Bowls

 The Super Bowl redefined American sports. Over the past half century, the NFL’s championship game has grown from humble beginnings to the biggest sporting event of the calendar year—an event that creates legendary stories, from Len Dawson’s conversation with the president to Jim O’Brien’s game-winning kick and Randy White’s post-game duet with Willie Nelson. Covering 50 Super Bowls, from 1966 through 2016, this book gives an insider’s view of each game, with recollections from the people who participated, many told for the first time.

The Super Bowl redefined American sports. Over the past half century, the NFL's championship game has grown from humble beginnings to the biggest sporting event of the calendar year--an event that creates legendary stories, from Len Dawson's conversation with the president to Jim O'Brien's game-winning kick and Randy White's post-game duet with Willie Nelson. Covering 50 Super Bowls, from 1966 through 2016, this book gives an insider's view of each game, with recollections from the people who participated, many told for the first time.

From its inauspicious beginnings as "The First World Championship Game between the AFL and NFL" in 1967 to the raucous worldwide cultural event that was Super Bowl 50, Allan Maki and Dave Naylor count down the greatest moments in each staging of the first 50 Super Bowls.Be it Joe Namath's guaranteed victory in Super Bowl III or the Miami Dolphins' perfect ending in Super Bowl VII or David Tyree's helmet catch in Super Bowl XLII, all the iconic moments are recounted here, and more!

In 1966, as the champions of the AFL and NFL prepared to play each other for the first time, Kansas City Chiefs–owner Lamar Hunt wrote the following to Commissioner Pete Rozelle: “I have kiddingly called [the championship game] the Super Bowl, which obviously can be improved upon.” How wrong Hunt was. After the AFL merged with the NFL, “Super Bowl” became the official title of the NFL championship game in the years to come. In celebration of the first fifty Super Bowls, David Fischer traces its evolution from a game that didn’t sell out in 1967 to a worldwide phenomenon with a viewership in the hundreds of millions. Packed with dozens of arresting full-color illustrations—highlighting game action, memorabilia, and players and coaches—The Super Bowl includes sections on the greatest games, individual performances, and game-changing plays. Fischer explores unique Super Bowl angles as well, including a ranking of “The Best Who Never Won” and “The Best Who Never Lost,” along with perspectives from players and fans. He covers the action, the heroes, the strategy, and the records from half a century of championship football. This celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of America’s premier sporting event is an essential addition to any football fan’s collection. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of America's greatest game.

In 2016, the Super Bowl, the climactic spectacle of American professional football, celebrated its 50th anniversary. The Super Bowl stands as the broadest ‘shared experience’ in American culture. As television ratings, cultural practices, and scholarly tomes reveal, more people participate in watching the Super Bowl than in any other common endeavour in the United States. The Super Bowl has become a new national holiday dedicated to the celebration of consumption—the driving force underneath modern culture. Beyond the borders of the United States, the Super Bowl does not rank as highly as a global phenomenon, though it increasingly draws larger audiences in a few nations around the globe. Some watch as curious students of American habits, others seem to be developing affinity for American-style football. The global dynamics of the consumption of football reveal much about the dynamics of American ‘soft power’ and cultural influence in the new globalized social networks that are emerging as consumption increasingly powers not only the United States but also the world economy. A Half Century of Super Bowls: National and Global Perspectives on America’s Grandest Spectacle analyzes the Super Bowl in shaping American and global communities and identities. It was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Super Bowl, an authoritative collection of iconic, strategic, and record-breaking plays draws on first-person knowledge to offer insight into the outcome of each competition.

This updated version of 100 Things Broncos Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of Broncos football. Whether you're a die-hard fan from the days of Dan Reeves and Steve Atwater or a new supporter of Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning, this book contains everything Broncos fans should know, see, and do in their lifetime.