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====Scheduling of the NFL season for dramatic effect (1946-1948)====
====Scheduling of the NFL season for dramatic effect (1946-1948)====
The drawing up of the NFL schedule had been a perennial source of contention among the NFL owners,<ref>Willis: 302, 303, 308, 371, 383</ref> because it meant dealing with owners who wanted their teams to confront teams that drew the largest crowds or the weaker teams to pad their team's win-loss record.<ref>Yost: 61; cf. Sullivan: 26.</ref>
The drawing up of a regular season schedule had been a perennial source of contention among the owners since the NFL's inception<ref>Willis: 302, 303, 308, 371, 383</ref> because it meant weighing the interest of owners who wanted their teams to confront teams that drew the largest crowds against owners who wanted to play the weaker teams to pad their team's win-loss record.<ref>Yost: 61; cf. Sullivan: 26.</ref>


Consequently<!-- this impasse, blah, blah, blah-->, the owners in 1946 conferred to Bell the sole discretion in developing the NFL schedule.<ref>MacCambridge 2005: 40; cf. Maule: 242, Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248</ref> He utilized this responsibility by customizing the scheduling of games early in the season to pit the weak teams against other weak teams, and strong teams against other strong teams, in order to augment game attendances by keeping the difference in team standings to a minimum as deep into the season as possible.<ref>Sullivan: 26; Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248</ref>
Consequently<!-- this impasse, blah, blah, blah-->, the owners in 1946 conferred to Bell the sole discretion in developing the NFL schedule.<ref>MacCambridge 2005: 40; cf. Maule: 242, Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248</ref> He utilized this responsibility by customizing the scheduling of games early in the season to pit the weak teams against other weak teams, and strong teams against other strong teams, in order to augment game attendances by keeping the difference in team standings to a minimum as deep into the season as possible.<ref>Sullivan: 26; Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248</ref>

Revision as of 08:06, 17 August 2012

Bert Bell
refer to caption
Bell (center) with Washington Redskins owner George Marshall (right) presenting President Harry Truman an annual pass to NFL games in 1949.
Personal information
Born:(1895-02-25)February 25, 1895
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died:October 11, 1959(1959-10-11) (aged 64)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Record at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Pro Football Hall of Fame

De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was a National Football League (NFL) commissioner who introduced competitive parity into the league to enhance its popularity and ameliorate its commercial viability. His passion for the game of football enabled him to hammer out a path for the NFL to endow it with being, at the time of his passing, the most financially sound sport in the United States (US) and, eventually, the dominant sports attraction in the country. For his stewardship as commissioner, he was posthumously enshrined into the charter class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Bell played football at the University of Pennsylvania, and as quarterback for the Quakers, he led his team to the 1917 Rose Bowl. He was drafted into the US Army during World War I before ending his collegiate career at Penn and becoming an assistant football coach with the Quakers in the 1920s. During the Great Depression, he was an assistant coach for the Temple Owls and, afterwards, a co-founder and co-owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

During his time with the Eagles, Bell convinced the other owners to establish the National Football League Draft in order to afford the weakest teams the first opportunity to sign the best available players. He eventually became the sole proprietor of the Eagles, but the franchise suffered financially. Subsequently, he sold the Eagles and bought a stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers. After World War II, he was elected NFL commissioner and relinquished his ownership in the Steelers.

As commissioner, Bell protected the integrity of NFL games by formulating an anti-gambling stance into the league, negotiated the NFL's merger with the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and crafted the NFL schedule to augment the dramatic effect of late season games. During the Golden Age of Television, he tailored the NFL's rules to strengthen its appeal to mass media, and he enforced a league-wide blackout policy of locally televised home games to safeguard ticket receipts. Amidst criticism from NFL owners and under pressure from Congress, he unilaterally recognized the NFLPA and facilitated in the composing of the first pension plan for the players. His life would abide barely enough to oversee the "Greatest Game Ever Played" and to envision what the NFL would become in the future.

Early life (1895–1932)

Bell was born de Benneville Bell,[1] on February 25, 1895,[2] in Philadelphia to John C. Bell and Fleurette de Benneville Myers.[3] His father was an author[4] and attorney, who served as the Pennsylvania Attorney General.[5] His older brother, John C. Jr., was born in 1892.[5] Bert's parents were very wealthy,[6] and his mother's lineage predated the American Revolutionary War.[7] His father, a Quaker (c' 1884) during the early days of American football,[8] accompanied him to his first football game when Bell was six years old.[9] Thereafter, Bell regularly engaged in football games with childhood friends.[10]

In 1904, Bell matriculated at the Episcopal Academy, the Delancey School from 1909 to 1911 and then the Haverford School until 1914.[10] About this time, his father was installed as athletics director at Penn[9] and helped form the NCAA.[11] At Haverford, Bell captained the school's football, basketball, and baseball teams,[12] and "was awarded The Yale Cup [for being] 'The pupil who has done the most to promote athletics in the school.'"[13] Although he excelled at baseball, his devotion was to football.[14] His father, who was designated a trustee at Penn in 1911,[15] said of Bell's plans for college, "Bert will go to Penn or he will go to hell."[11]

University of Pennsylvania (1914–1919)

Bell (left) with Penn teammates Ben Derr (center) and Joe Berry in 1916.

Bell entered Penn in the fall of 1914,[16] as an English major, and joined Phi Kappa Sigma.[17] In a rare occurrence for a sophomore, he became the starting quarterback for Penn's coach George H. Brooke.[16] On the team, he also was as a defender, punter, and punt returner.[18] After the team's 3–0 start, Bell temporarily capitulated sole possession of his quarterbacking duties until he conclusively reclaimed his position in the eight game,[19] as Penn finished with a record of 3–5–2.[20]

His mother passed away in late 1916, while he was en route from campus to her bedside.[21] He started the first game of the 1916 season for new coach Bob Folwell, but mixed results left him platooned for the rest of the season.[21] Penn finished the regular season with a record of 7–2–1, 10th seed in the east.[20] However, the Quakers secured an invitation to the 1917 Rose Bowl against the Oregon Ducks.[22] Although the best offensive gain for Penn during their 20-14 loss was a 20 yard run by Bell, he was replaced late in the game at quarterback after throwing an interception.[23]

In the 1917 season, Bell led Penn to a 9–2–0 finish,[20] and afterwards, he registered with a Mobile Hospital Unit of the US Army for World War I and was deployed to France in May 1918. As a result of his unit volunteering for dangerous missions, it was a recipient of a congratulatory letter for bravery from General John J. Pershing.[24] Bell was promoted to top sergeant and, after the war ended, arrived back in the US in March 1919 with a discharge soon to be.[24] He returned to Penn as captain of the team in the fall and again performed erratically.[25] The Quakers finished 1919 with a 6–2–1 record.[20] Academically, his aversion to attending classes forced him to withdraw from Penn without a degree in early 1920.[26] His collegiate days ended with him having been a borderline All-American,[27] but this period of his life had proven that he "possessed the qualities of a leader."[28]

Early career (1920–1932)

Bell organized the Stanley professional football team in 1920, but he disbanded it due to the negative publicity produced by the Black Sox Scandal.[29] He joined John Heisman's staff at Penn as an assistant coach in 1920, and Bell would remain thereat for several years.[30] At Penn, he was well regarded as a football coach, and after it's 1924 season, he drew offers for, but declined, head-coaching assignments at other universities.[30] At least as early as 1926, his avocation was socializing[31] and frequenting Saratoga Race Course, where he counted as friends Tim Mara, Art Rooney, and George Preston Marshall.[32] In 1928, Bell tendered his resignation at Penn in protest over the emphasis of in-season scrimmages during practices by Lud Wray, a fellow assistant coach.[33] Bell's resignation was accommodated prior to the start of the 1929 season.[33]

Bell was then an employee of the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia and tried his hand as a stock broker and lost $50,000 (presently, $887,209) during the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[34] His father bailed him out of his deprivation, and Bell returned to working at the Ritz.[34] From 1930 until 1932, he was a backfield coach for the Temple Owls football team.[35] In 1932, Marshall tried to coax Bell into buying the rights to a new NFL franchise, but Bell disparaged the NFL and ridiculed the idea.[36] When Pop Warner was hired to coach Temple for the 1933 season, he chose to hire his own assistants and Bell was let go.[37]

NFL career

Philadelphia Eagles (1933–1939)

By early 1933, Bell's opinion on the NFL had changed, and he wanted to become an owner.[38] However, college football games were provisioned for Saturdays, attracted a far greater attendance than NFL games,[38] and the Pennsylvania Blue Laws prohibited the patronizing of professional football on Sundays.[39] After being advised a prerequisite to a franchise being rendered in Philadelphia was that the Blue laws would have to be mollified,[39] he was the force majeure to getting the laws deprecated.[39] He was then informed that any new franchise in Philadelphia would have to reimburse the arrears owed to the NFL by the Frankford Yellow Jackets.[40] Bell, thereabouts, partnered with Wray,[41] and although they still needed more capital to complete the transaction, they conceded to guarantee Frankford's debt.[42] Bell attempted to persuade his father to lend him money, but his father deplored football as a livelihood and would not abet him.[42] So, Bell borrowed funds from Frances Upton and procured the rights to a franchise in Philadelphia[41], became its president,[43] and christened the franchise the Philadelphia Eagles[44]

After the inaugural 1933 Philadelphia Eagles season,[45] he married Upton at St. Madeleine Sophie Roman Catholic Church in Philadelphia.[46] Day's later, his suggestion to bestow the winner of the NFL championship game with the Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy was affirmed by the NFL.[47] Contemporaneously, a de facto racial segregation occurred in the NFL and African Americans would not return to the NFL until the 1947 NFL season.[48] In the 1934 NFL season, the Eagles finished with a 4–7 record,[49] and the Cincinnati Reds went bankrupt.[50] The Eagles' inability to seriously challenge other teams made it difficult to sell tickets,[51] and Bell's failure to sign a talented college prospect[52] led him to adduce that the only way to bring stability to the NFL was to institute a draft to ensure the weakest teams had an advantage in signing the preeminent players.[53] In 1935, his proposal for a draft was accepted,[54] and in February 1936, the first NFL draft kicked off, at which he acted as Master of Ceremonies.[55] Later that month, his first child, Bert Jr. was born.[56]

In the Eagles' first three years, the partners exhausted $85,000 (presently, $1,866,331),[57] and at a public auction, Bell became sole owner of the Eagles with a bid of $4,500 (presently, $98,806).[58] Austerity measures forced Bell to supplant Wray as head coach of the Eagles,[59] wherein Bell led the Eagles to a 1–11 finish, their worst record ever.[60] In December, an application for an NFL franchise in Los Angeles was obstructed by Bell and Rooney as they deemed it too far of a distance to travel for games.[61] During the Eagles 2-8-1 1937 NFL season,[62] his second child, John "Upton", was born.[63]

In the Eagles' first profitable season, 1938, they posted a 5–6 record.[64] The Eagles finished 1–9–1 in 1939 and 1–10 in 1940.[65]

Pittsburgh Steelers (1940–1945)

In December 1940, Bell conciliated the sale of Rooney's Steelers to Alexis Thompson,[66] and then Rooney acquired half of Bell's portion in the Eagles.[67] In a series of events known as the Pennsylvania Polka,[68] Rooney and Bell exchanged their entire Eagles roster and their NFL rights in Philadelphia to Thompson for his entire Steelers roster and his territorial rights in Pittsburgh.[69] Ostensibly, Rooney had provided assistance to Bell by provisioning Bell a 20% commission on the sale of the Steelers.[70] In the Steelers' inaugural season, Bell, as head coach,[71] was crestfallen after Rooney denigrated the Steelers during training camp with a phrase that would eventually morph into the "[s]ame old Steelers".[72] After losing the first two games of the 1941 season, Rooney compelled him into resigning as head coach.[73] Bell's coaching career ended with a 10–46–2 record, and for coaches with at least five years in the NFL, it was the worst record ever.[74] His first daughter and last child, Jane Upton, was born several months later.[75]

By 1943, 40% of the NFL rosters had been drafted into the United States Armed Forces for World War II, and this shortage could have been, but was not, eradicated by reintegrating the NFL.[76] The resulting difficulty in fielding a full-strength squad led some owners to recommend the league should shut down until the war ended, but Bell auspiciously argued against this action as he feared the league might not be able to jump start itself after the war, and since Major League Baseball was continuing unabated, then the NFL should also.[77]

Throughout Bell's affiliation with the Steelers, he suffered monetarily and Rooney bought an increasing share of the franchise from him.[78] Compounding Bell's problems, Arch Ward fathered the AAFC in 1944 to try to surmount the NFL's sovereignty in professional football.[79] The AAFC promptly began offering enticing contracts to attract attention to its league,[80] which resulted in the pay scale of the NFL being driven up drastically.[81] During his contract proceedings with the Steelers, "Bullet" Bill Dudley attributed Bell's anxiety to the NFL's rivalry with the AAFC.[82] Furthermore, by the end of 1945, the Steelers were in its most economically perilous situation in its history.[83]

NFL commissioner (1946–1959)

Second NFL commissioner (1946)

Elmer Layden was appointed NFL commissioner in 1941, but Ward appeared as dictating his hiring by NFL owners,[84] and this perceived conflict of interest with respect to the nascent AAFC,[85] led to Layden's firing in January 1946.[86] Bell, who was not well respected in Pittsburgh,[87] was elected the second[88] NFL commissioner.[89] He received a three-year contract at $20,000 ($312,491) per year,[90] and transacted a sale of his stake in the Steelers to Rooney,[91] albeit for a price Bell did not construe was full-value.[92] As commissioner, he was immediately placed at the center of a controversy wherein the owners denied Dan Reeves permission to relocate the Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles.[93] Bell moderated a settlement and, as a result, the Los Angeles Rams were born.[93] As a precondition to the Rams leasing the Los Angeles Coliseum, they signed running back Kenny Washington, which ended racial segregation in the NFL, but also caused "'all hell to break loose'" amidst the owners.[94]

Hapes-Filchock scandal and overtime in the NFL (1946-1947)

One the eve of the 1946 Championship game, Bell was notified that Merle Hapes and Frank Filchock of the Giants had been implicated in a bribing scandal.[95] Filchock was sanctioned by Bell to play in the game but Hapes was suspended.[96] At the next NFL owners' meeting, Bell was worried the repercussions from this event would lead to his firing as commissioner,[97] but he was advised his contract would be extended to five years at $30,000 per year.[98] Reinvigorated with renewed support, he persuaded the owners to allow him to put sudden-death overtime into the playoffs.[99]

Subsequently, he wrote an anti-gambling resolution into the league constitution[100] which gave him the ability to permanently ban any NFL associated personnel for betting on a game or for withholding information on a game being possibly fixed.[101] Furthermore, to obstruct gamblers from getting inside information, he kept the names of officials he would assign to games secret,[97] and he directed each team to promulgate a precursory injury report which listed anyone who might not participate in a game.[102] Eventually, he lobbied to get every state in the US with an NFL franchise to criminalize the fixing of sporting events,[103], and he also put employees on retainer to investigate potential betting scams.[104]

Scheduling of the NFL season for dramatic effect (1946-1948)

The drawing up of a regular season schedule had been a perennial source of contention among the owners since the NFL's inception[105] because it meant weighing the interest of owners who wanted their teams to confront teams that drew the largest crowds against owners who wanted to play the weaker teams to pad their team's win-loss record.[106]

Consequently, the owners in 1946 conferred to Bell the sole discretion in developing the NFL schedule.[107] He utilized this responsibility by customizing the scheduling of games early in the season to pit the weak teams against other weak teams, and strong teams against other strong teams, in order to augment game attendances by keeping the difference in team standings to a minimum as deep into the season as possible.[108]

AAFC-NFL merger, Radovich, and television broadcast rights (1946-1950)

The NFL's and the AAFC's struggle generated stress on salaries,[109] attendance,[110] and marketing.[111] After the end of the 1948 NFL season, the NFL had not shown a league-wide profit for three years.[112] Bell and representatives from both leagues met to attempt a merger, but their efforts were fruitless.[113] He apprised the owners that attendance records had shown televising games locally had a negative impact on the sale of home tickets.[114] Nevertheless, he actualized the NFL's first television contract[115]—the 1949 NFL Championship Game.[116] Simultaneously, he dealt with a lawsuit from Bill Radovich, who had been blacklisted by the NFL for leaving the Lions and collaborating with the AAFC.[117] Bell and the owners were advised by John C. Jr. that the lawsuit was potentially not winnable, and the outcome of the case weighed heavily on Bell.[118]

The ultimate impediment in an AAFC-NFL merger was in making the requests of Paul Brown amenable to the NFL owners.[119] Bell gathered enough support from the NFL owners to effectuate a compromise with the AAFC.[120] In December 1949, the leagues merged and he would stay on as commissioner, and three AAFC teams (the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts) would be incorporated into the NFL.[121] Throughout the merger negotiations, he was viewed as treating the AAFC fairly.[122] His contract as commissioner was modified from a five-year to a ten-year pact at the same salary,[123] and he purchased his first house in Narberth, Pennsylvania.[92] Seeking to capitalize on the publicity of the the AAFC-NFL rivalry, he utilized "exquisite dramatic" and business sense and allocated the 1950 NFL season opener to a contest of the 1949 NFL champion Eagles versus the perennial AAFC champion Browns.[124]

Blackout policy and introduction of TV revenue sharing (1950–1953)

By 1950, Bell mandated all home games, except for the Rams, had to be blacked out on TV within a 75 mile radius of the home stadium for the 1950 season.[125] Consequently, the Rams attendance dropped off by almost 50%,[126] and this signaled a potential financial disaster for the NFL.[127] As a result of this blackout policy, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[128] Subsequently in 1951, he pushed through a motion that NFL teams could televise their home games, and he also negotiated a TV contract with the DuMont Television Network to televise the NFL championship games for the next five years.[129]

However, preceding the start of the 1951 NFL season, he reimposed the blackout rule.[130] The DOJ filed suit over his blackout rules and Bell retorted, "You can't give fans a game for free on TV and also expect them to go to the ballpark". The suit was ordered to trial for January 1952.[131] After the season ended, he gained unilateral control over the setting of television policy for the entire NFL,[132] negotiated a deal with DuMont granting it the rights to nationally broadcast certain regular season games,[133] and directed that the income from the contract was to be partitioned equally between all the teams.[134] In the DOJ's case against the NFL's television policy, the judge ruled that the blackout policy was legal, but neither Bell, nor the NFL franchises collectively, were permitted to negotiate a TV contract;[135] Bell was ecstatic.[136] Later that year, Bell forced one of the owners of the Cleveland Browns to sell all of his shares in the team after it had been determined he had betting on Browns' football games.[137] Although he hated to fly,[138] at some indeterminate point, he visited the training camps of every team and lectured on the danger gamblers posed to the league.[139]

Marketing of the NFL (1953–1956)

As commissioner, Bell's emphasis was on showcasing the NFL's best assets—the players, and he therefore authorized a Pro Bowl should be held at the end of each season.[140] But in the early 1950s, on the field activities sometimes denigrated to borderline assault and battery[141] with teams' star players being viciously targeted.[142] He answered charges the league was too savage by saying, "'I have never seen a maliciously dirty football player in my life and I don't believe there are any [in the NFL].'"[143] Nevertheless, he ordered broadcasts to follow a strict rule of conduct whereby TV announcers would not be permitted to criticize the game, and neither fights, nor injuries, could be televised by virtue in his belief that announcers were "'salesman for professional football [and] we do not want kids believing that engaging in fights is the way to play football.'"[144]

Bell was criticized for censoring TV broadcasts, a charge he dismissed as not pertinent because he regarded the NFL as not impeding the print media but only as advertising a product.[145] After CBS and NBC gained the rights to broadcast NFL games in 1956,[146] he advised the franchises to avoid criticizing the games or the officials, and forewarned that TV would give "'us our greatest opportunity to sell the NFL and everyone must present to the public the greatest games...combined with the finest sportsmanship.'"[147] This relationship with television was the beginning of the NFL's rise to becoming America's most popular sport.[148]

NFL player's union movement (1956–1957)

In Radovich v. National Football League, the Supreme Court ruled in Radovich's favor and declared the NFL was subject to antitrust laws,[149] and the implication was that the legality of the NFL's draft and reserve clause were dubious.[150] Bell pressed a case in the media for the NFL being exempted from antitrust regulations and proffered the NFL as a sport and not a business[151] and declared he welcomed an investigation from Congress in regards to the court's ruling.[152] The House Judiciary committee, chaired by Emanuel Celler—who believed that the NFL draft was illegal and should be abolished, convened in July 1957 to discuss the ramifications of the Radovich decision.[153] Red Grange and Bell testified at the committee's solicitation and argued the draft was essential to the NFL's well-being.[154] Representatives of the NFLPA contradicted these statements and said the draft and the reserve clause were anti-labor, and it seemed as if Congress was going to abrogate the NFL's implementation of the draft.[155] Faced with Congress becoming more intimately involved with the running of the NFL, Bell formally recognized the NFLPA and declared he would negotiate with its representatives.[155]

However, Bell was speaking only for himself and without the auspices of the owners.[156] At an ensuing NFL meeting, Rooney admonished the other owners that they either had to recognize the NFLPA or remove Bell as commissioner.[157] But, in order for the owners to formally recognize the NFLPA, they had to agree in a vote that required a super-majority.[158] After Bell persuaded Carroll Rosenbloom to unite with him in recognizing the NFLPA,[156] Bell was still unable to obtain acknowledgement of the NFLPA as a bargaining agent for the players, but he did reach a compromise to get the owners to acquiesce to some of the NFLPA's requests for salary standards and health benefits.[159]

The greatest game ever played and final days (1958–1959)

For the 1958 season, the durations of timeouts was extended from 60 to 90 seconds[160] and he originated a new rule into the NFL which instructed referees to call a few TV timeouts during each game—a change which triggered criticism from sportswriters.[161] The 1958 NFL Championship Game became the first NFL championship game decided in overtime[162] and it was considered to be the greatest football game ever played.[163] The game further increased football's marketability to television advertising, that was precipitated by the Giants by win in the 1956 NFL Championship Game,[164] and the drama associated with the sudden-death overtime was the catalyst.[165] Years later, after witnessing Bell openly crying after the game, Raymond Berry attributed it to Bell's realization of the impact the game would have on the prevalence of the sport.[166]

The death of Mara in February 1959 unsettled Bell and he experienced a heart attack later that month.[167] Bell converted to Catholicism in the summer of 1959 because of the lifelong urging of his wife,[103] Mara's death, and his enduring friendship with Rooney,[168] a practicing Catholic.[169] Bell had been advised by his doctor to avoid going to football games, to which he quipped, "I'd rather die watching football than in my bed with my boots off."[167]

Death and funeral (1959)

Bell and his children attended an Eagles game at Franklin Field on October 11, 1959.[170] The Eagles held complimentary box seats for Bell and guests to watch the game, but he preferred to buy his own tickets and sit with the other fans.[170] Sitting behind the end zone during the fourth quarter of the game, he succumbed to a heart attack and was pronounced dead later that day.[171] His funeral was held at Narberth's St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church as dignitaries, close friends, and admirers attended the mass as Monsignor Cornelius P. Brennan delivered the eulogy.[172] Conspicuously present at his funeral mass was a floral arrangement placed by the NFLPA.[172] Dominic Olejniczak and all the owners of the NFL franchises were pallbearers.[173] Bell was interred at Cavalry Cemetery in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.[174]

Legacy and honors

Bell was inducted postmortem into the Professional Football Hall of Fame,[175] the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame,[176] the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame,[177] and Haverford's Athletic Hall of Fame.[13] The Maxwell Football Club, which he founded in 1937,[178] has presented the best NFL player of the year with the Bert Bell Award since 1959.[179] The Bert Bell Benefit Bowl was exhibited in his honor from 1960 through 1969.[180]

Bell was "a man of buoyant joviality, with a rough and ready wit, laughter and genuine humility and honesty, clearly innocent of pretense and [pretension]."[181] Though his relationship with the NFL spanned the desegregation and reintegration of the NFL, as an owner, he never had an African American on any of his teams, but Bert Jr. believed the mere discussion of whether his father was prejudiced was absurd.[103] Bell's ability to mediate disputes was unparalleled in in the history of the NFL.[182] One of the best things the owners ever did was to allow Bell to construct the NFL schedule.[183] Bell's handling of the NFL's merger with the AAFC was acclaimed as a personal triumph.[184] Although he did not have the wherewithal to prevent the wholesale betting on games,[185] he was proactive in ensuring games were not tampered with by gamblers,[186] and he created the foundation of the contemporary NFL anti-gambling policy.[187]

He was criticized as being too strict with his blackout policy when he refused to let sold-out games to be televised locally.[188] Nevertheless, his balancing of television broadcasts against protecting game attendance made the NFL the "healthiest professional sport in America",[97] and he was the "leading protagonist in pro football's evolution into America's major sport."[189] He had understood that the NFL needed a cooperative television contract with revenue-sharing, but he failed to overcome the obstacles to achieve it.[190] He was portrayed by sportswriters as ensuring the owners treated the players fairly,[191] and his decision to recognize the NFLPA in the face of adversity from NFL owners was a "master stroke" in thwarting Congressional intervention in the NFL.[155] After he initiated terms for a pension plan with the players in 1959, little progress was made by the NFL with the NFLPA,[192][193] however, the first NFL players' pension plan, the Bert Bell National Football League Retirement Plan, was approved in 1962.[194]

Bell's implementation of the draft did not show immediate results,[195] but the NFL draft was "the single greatest contributor to the [league]'s prosperity" in its first eighty-four years.[196] His original version of the draft was later ruled unconstitutional,[197] but his purpose in anchoring the success of the NFL to competitive balance in the league has been "hailed by contemporaries and sports historians".[198] As Bell had often said, "[o]n any given Sunday, any team in the NFL can beat any other team."[199]

Published works

  • Bell, Bert, "The Money Game." Liberty Magazine, XIII (November 28, 1936), pp. 59–60.
  • Bell, Bert, "Offensive Football." Popular Football, (Winter 1941), p. 111.
  • Bell, Bert, "This is Commissioner Bell Speaking." Pro Football Illustrated, XII (1952), pp. 60–63.
  • Bell, Bert; with Martin, Paul, "Do the Gamblers Make a Sucker Out of You?." Saturday Evening Post, CCXXI (November 6, 1948), p. 28.
  • Bell, Bert; with Pollock, Ed, "Let's Throw Out the Extra Point." Sport, XV (October 1953), p. 24–25.[200]
  • Bell, Bert (1957). The Story of Professional Football in Summary. Bala Cynwyd, PA: National Football League.

References

  1. ^ Didinger with Lyons: 6; cf. Claassen: 163, Yost: 54
  2. ^ MacCambridge: 41; cf. Didinger with Lyons: 6, Rothe: 34, King: 20, Lyons: 1
  3. ^ Lyons: 1; cf. Didinger with Lyons: 6
  4. ^ Lyons: 2; cf. Yost: 67
  5. ^ a b Lyons: 3
  6. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 41; cf. Lyons: 1–3
  7. ^ Lyons: 2
  8. ^ "Penn Football: Origins to 1901".
  9. ^ a b Sullivan: 23–24
  10. ^ a b Lyons: 3–4.
  11. ^ a b Lyons: 2–3, 5.
  12. ^ Lyons: 4; cf. King: 21.
  13. ^ a b "Bert Bell heads Haverford School Hall of Fame induction class". Main Line Times. Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Foundation. 14 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  14. ^ Lyons: 5
  15. ^ Marquis: 286
  16. ^ a b Lyons: 5–7
  17. ^ Rothe: 34
  18. ^ Zeitlin, Dave (July 28, 2009). "The Man Who Modernized Pro Football".
  19. ^ Lyons: 6–7
  20. ^ a b c d MacCambridge 2009: 1080
  21. ^ a b Lyons:7-8
  22. ^ King: 21; cf. Lyons: 9
  23. ^ Lyons: 10
  24. ^ a b Lyons: 11–15
  25. ^ Lyons: 16–20.
  26. ^ "All American Selection Quits Quaker College". New-York Tribune. 1920-01-13. p. 12.; cf. Lyons: 20–21, MacCambridge 2005: 42, Willis: 310–311
  27. ^ Lyons: 20; cf. Umphlett: 143–144
  28. ^ "How Did it Strike You". Evening Public Ledger. 1922-11-17. p. 30.; cf. Colleges Already Preparing for Football by Cleaning Out Cash Registers and Polishing Up Stars
  29. ^ "Widespread Baseball Probe Harmful for Pro Grid Sport; Bell Disbands Local Eleven". Evening Public Ledger. 1920-10-05. p. 18.; cf. Stanley Football Team Disbands
  30. ^ a b Lyons: 22–23.
  31. ^ Lyons: 23-29
  32. ^ Lyons writes, against all common sense, it was Jack Mara, Tim's son, as the person he befriended. Lyons: 23, 29
  33. ^ a b Lyons: 25–27
  34. ^ a b Lyons: 30-32
  35. ^ "Bell Signed by Temple". The New York Times. 1929-12-04. p. 42.; cf. Rothe: 34, Lyons: 28, Willis: 310
  36. ^ Lyons: 49
  37. ^ Lyons: 28; cf. MacCambridge 2009: 1081
  38. ^ a b Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 56, 95.
  39. ^ a b c Westcott: 101; cf. Willis: 303–304, Algeo: 13–15, Ruck; Patterson, and Weber: 95 Cite error: The named reference "WWARPW" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  40. ^ Horrigan, Joe (1982). "National Football League Franchise Transactions" (PDF). The Coffin Corner. 4.
  41. ^ a b Lyons: 46–47; cf. Claassen: 336, MacCambridge 2005: 42, Peterson: 112, Westcott: 101
  42. ^ a b Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 28
  43. ^ Lyons: 48–50
  44. ^ Lyons: 47; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 42
  45. ^ Willis: 310–311; cf. Coenen: 237, Didinger with Lyons: 255
  46. ^ Lyons: 33–38, 41.
  47. ^ Willis: 327–328
  48. ^ Levy: 55; cf. Algeo: 38
  49. ^ Didinger with Lyons: 255
  50. ^ Gill, Bob. "The St. Louis Gunners" (PDF).
  51. ^ Lyons: 54
  52. ^ Lyons: 56; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 43
  53. ^ Peterson: 119; cf. Williams: 41
  54. ^ Willis: 341–343; cf. Lyons: 57–58, DeVito: 84, Didinger with Lyons: 256
  55. ^ Williams: 41–42; cf. Peterson: 119
  56. ^ Lyons: 60
  57. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 43; cf. Lyons: 63
  58. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 43; cf. Claassen: 335, Lyons: 63
  59. ^ Lyons: 63; cf. Claassen: 342
  60. ^ ;Didinger with Lyons: 256
  61. ^ Willis: 355
  62. ^ Didinger with Lyons: 257
  63. ^ Lyons: 70
  64. ^ Lyons: 72–73.
  65. ^ Didinger with Lyons: 258
  66. ^ Algeo: 16
  67. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 183–184; cf. Herskowitz: 149, Lyons: 81–82
  68. ^ Algeo: 16
  69. ^ Lyons: 87; Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 187
  70. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 303; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 45
  71. ^ Lyons: 88; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 45
  72. ^ "Rooney and Bell Views Differ After Early Look at Steelers". August 10, 1941.; cf. Claassen: 247, Lyons: 90, Leblanc: 62
  73. ^ Lyons: 90–91
  74. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 225; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 45
  75. ^ Lyons: 92
  76. ^ Algeo: 29, 35, 46.
  77. ^ DeVito: 103
  78. ^ Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 71
  79. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 13; cf. Davis 2005: 196–197
  80. ^ Davis 2005: 199; cf. Piascik: 11, Littlewood 166, Staudohar: 56
  81. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 228; cf. Davis 2005: 200–201
  82. ^ Whittingham: 229
  83. ^ Claassen: 251–252
  84. ^ Littlewood: 133
  85. ^ Littlewood: 157–158
  86. ^ Davis 2005: 199; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 15, Peterson: 159
  87. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 225; cf. Davis 2005: 201
  88. ^ Williams: 41.
  89. ^ Lyons: 116–117; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 15
  90. ^ "Layden Quits; Bell New Czar". Milwaukee Sentinel. 1946-01-12.
  91. ^ Lyons: 114
  92. ^ a b Lyons: 166–167
  93. ^ a b MacCambridge 2005: 15–16; cf. Davis 2005: 201–202, Yost: 57–58: Lyons: 117–118
  94. ^ Rathet; Brown: 210
  95. ^ "Merle Hapes, 75, Ex-Giant Fullback". The New York Times. July 21, 1994.; cf. Coenen: 127, Peterson: 159–160, MacCambridge 2005: 48, Pervin: 15, Lyons: 130
  96. ^ Lyons: 130–131; cf. Pervin: 16, Davis 2005 p. 207
  97. ^ a b c Hirschberg, Al (1958-11-23). "He Calls the Signals in Pro Football". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 23+.
  98. ^ Lyons: 129
  99. ^ Lyons: 289; cf. DeVito: 83, Willis: 301, Maule: 242
  100. ^ Lyons: 131–132; cf: Bell Planning Campaign to Kill Gambling,
  101. ^ Lyons: 203–204; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 48–49
  102. ^ Lyons: 134–135; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 48–49
  103. ^ a b c Lyons: 142
  104. ^ Yost: 60; cf. Daley: 193
  105. ^ Willis: 302, 303, 308, 371, 383
  106. ^ Yost: 61; cf. Sullivan: 26.
  107. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 40; cf. Maule: 242, Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248
  108. ^ Sullivan: 26; Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 248
  109. ^ Lyons: 129; cf. Davis 2005: 203–204
  110. ^ Coenen: 125–126
  111. ^ Coenen: 125
  112. ^ Lyons: 171
  113. ^ Piascik: 125; cf. Lyons: 146
  114. ^ Coenen: 154
  115. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 290
  116. ^ Lyons: 156–157
  117. ^ Lyons and the New York Times incorrectly list Radovich for playing with the Los Angeles Seals. U.S. House Committee III, 1957, pp. 2778–2779; cf. Piascik: 27, Carrol with Gersham, Neft, and Thorn: 1197, Lyons: 154
  118. ^ Lyons: 154–155
  119. ^ Lyons: 151
  120. ^ Davis 2005: 229
  121. ^ Lyons: 150, 163; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 52
  122. ^ Brown with Clary: 194
  123. ^ Lyons: 147
  124. ^ Peterson: 191–192; cf: Brown with Clary: 197
  125. ^ Coenen: 154; cf. Davis 2005: 259–260, 266, 268–269, LaBlanc p. 10.
  126. ^ Peterson: 197; cf. Hessions: 45, MacCambridge 2005: 70
  127. ^ Rader: 86–87
  128. ^ Coenen: 157.
  129. ^ Hall, Dan (1951-05-22). "Hallucinations". St. Petersburg Times. p. 17. [Bell said the] $475,000 [received from the contract] goes into the players' pool.; cf. Pro Football and DuMont Sign a $475,000 TV Pact, MacCambridge 2005: 73, 480, Rader: 86–87; contra: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Lyons and Patton report the title game receipts were only $75,000 for the 1951 NFL Championship Game. Fans Rush for Tickets to NFL Game, Lyons: 179, Patton: 35
  130. ^ Davis 2005: 271; cf. MacCambridge, 2005: 73
  131. ^ Coenen: 157–158
  132. ^ Rader: 86; cf. Peterson: 197
  133. ^ "Westinghouse to Sponsor Professional TV Football". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. May 14, 1953.; cf. Lyons: 196
  134. ^ Coenen; 156, 162; cf. Lyons: 196
  135. ^ Patton: 55; cf. Peterson: 198, Lyons: 199–200
  136. ^ Rader: 86
  137. ^ Brown with Clary: 230–232
  138. ^ Patton: 48
  139. ^ U.S. House Committee III, 1957, p. 2587; cf. Summerall with Levin: 36–37
  140. ^ Brown with Clary: 214
  141. ^ Ratterman; with Deindorfer: 125
  142. ^ Graham, Otto (October 11, 1954). "Football Is Getting Too Vicious". Sports Illustrated.; cf. Piascik: 155
  143. ^ Maule, Tex (January 21, 1957). "I Don't Believe There Is Dirty Football". Sports Illustrated.
  144. ^ King: 37; cf. I Don't Believe There Is Dirty Football
  145. ^ Lyons: 282
  146. ^ Patton: 37; cf Rader: 87
  147. ^ Maraniss: 168–169
  148. ^ Lomax: 16
  149. ^ Coenen: 182; cf. Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 293
  150. ^ Coenen: 182; cf. Lyons: 255–256
  151. ^ Lyons: 261
  152. ^ "Pro Football Would Welcome Probe, Says NFL Commissioner Bert Bell". The Tuscaloosa News. February 27, 1957. p. 8.
  153. ^ Carroll: 199
  154. ^ U.S. House Committee III, 1957, p. 2596; cf. Carroll: 199
  155. ^ a b c Larsen, Lloyd (2-Aug 1957). "Bell's Player Recognition Could be Real Winner for Pro Football". The Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2:3. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  156. ^ a b Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 78
  157. ^ Rooney; Halaas and Masich, 2007, p. 78.
  158. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 294; cf. U.S. House Committee III, 1957, p. 2580a-2580at
  159. ^ Staudohar, 1986, 63; cf. Oriard: 57
  160. ^ Gifford; with Richmond: 121; cf. Maule: 245
  161. ^ Powers: 84
  162. ^ Gifford uses literary license when he writes "The overtime rule had been instituted for this game..." p. 210 Gifford; with Richmond: 207–208, 210, 214
  163. ^ Maule, Tex (January 19, 1959). "Here's Why It Was The Best Football Game Ever". Sports Illustrated.; cf. Gifford; with Richmond: 230
  164. ^ Patton: 41
  165. ^ Powers: 88; cf. Gifford; with Richmond: 213
  166. ^ Gifford; with Richmond: 229; cf. Greatest Game: Remembering '58 NFL finale, The Man Who Modernized Pro Football
  167. ^ a b Lyons: 308
  168. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 311
  169. ^ Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 26; cf. Ruck; Patterson, and Weber: 84
  170. ^ a b Lyons: 275
  171. ^ Bernstein, Ralph (October 12, 1959). "Heart Attack Is Fatal To Bert Bell". Times Daily. Other authors alternately list his age at death (e.g., Ruck p. 313, Lyons p. 306) and his date of death (Lyons p. 306).
  172. ^ a b Lyons: 312
  173. ^ "Bell Funeral This Morning". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 14, 1959.; cf. Lyons: 311–312
  174. ^ Lyons: 311–312
  175. ^ Lyons: 315
  176. ^ "Penn Athletics Hall of Fame". Penn Athletics. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  177. ^ "Inductees". Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012.
  178. ^ Rooney; Halaas and Masich: 238
  179. ^ Pagano, Robert (1998-05). "Robert 'Tiny' Maxwell" (PDF). College Football Historical Society. I (IV): 1–3. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); cf. Lyons: 314
  180. ^ Lyons: 315
  181. ^ Red Smith (1959-10-14). "Bell Never Got to Big to Laugh at Himself". Milwaukee Journal. p. 18.
  182. ^ MacCambridge 2005: 39
  183. ^ Paul: 263
  184. ^ MacCambridge 2005; 53
  185. ^ Oriard: 13; cf. Gifford with Richmond: 29, Brown with Clary: 230–232
  186. ^ Lyons: 131–132; cf. MacCambridge 2005: 48–49
  187. ^ Yost: 60–61
  188. ^ "Wonderful World Of Sport". Sports Illustrated. January 6, 1958.; cf. Coenen: 167, Detroit Free Press
  189. ^ Ruck; Patterson and Weber: 222
  190. ^ Patton: 52–53; cf. Herskowitz Spreading the wealth rings a Bell
  191. ^ Riger with Maule: 9
  192. ^ Berry deprecates the importance of the NFL's agreement to a pension plan with the owners in 1959. Berry; with Gould and Staudohar, 1986, p. 96.
  193. ^ Staudohar writes: "In 1959 the [NFLPA] achieved another breakthrough when it persuaded the owners to provide a pension plan for the players." Staudohar, 1986, p. 63.
  194. ^ "NFL Adopts Pensions for Five Year Vets". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. May 25, 1962.
  195. ^ Coenen: 90; cf. MacCambridge 2005,: 41
  196. ^ Yost: 55
  197. ^ Staudohar: 79–81; cf. Smith v. Pro Football, Inc., 420 F. Supp. 738, 593 F. 2d 1173 (1978)
  198. ^ Coenen: 89
  199. ^ Lyons: 287; cf. MacCambridge 2005, 107
  200. ^ Smith: 156

Bibliography

Primary materials

  • Lyons, Robert S. (2010). On Any Given Sunday, A Life of Bert Bell. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-731-2

Secondary materials

  • When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi, by David Maraniss, 1999, ISBN 978-0-618-90499-0
  • Organized Professional Team Sports: Part 1. United States House Committee on the Judiciary I, Subcommittee on Antitrust (1957).
  • Organized Professional Team Sports: Part 3. United States House Committee on the Judiciary III, Subcommittee on Antitrust (1957).
  • District Judge Allan Kuhn Grim (1953-11-12). "United States v. National Football League, 116 F. Supp. 319 – Dist. Court, ED Pennsylvania 1953".
  • Algeo, Matthew (2006). Last Team Standing. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81472-3
  • Berry, Robert C.; with Gould, William B. and Staudohar, Paul D. (1986). Labor Relations in Professional Sports. Dover, MA: Auburn House Pub. Co. ISBN 0-86569-137-1
  • Brown, Paul; with Clary, Jack (1979). PB, the Paul Brown Story. New York: Atheneum.
  • Carroll, Bob; with Gershman, Michael, Neft, David, and Thorn, John (1999). Total Football:The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-270174-6
  • Carroll, John M. (1999). Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02384-6
  • Claassen, Harold (Spike) (1963). The History of Professional Football. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  • Coenen, Craig R. (2005). From Sandlots to the Super Bowl: The National Football League, 1920–1967. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 1-57233-447-9
  • Daley, Arthur (1963). Pro Football's Hall of Fame. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.
  • Danzig, Allison (1956). The History of American Football: Its Great Teams, Players, and Coaches. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  • Davis, Jeff (2005). Papa Bear, The Life and Legacy of George Halas. New York: McGraw-Hill ISBN 0-07-146054-3
  • DeVito, Carlo (2006). Wellington: the Maras, the Giants, and the City of New York. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-57243-872-9
  • Didinger, Ray; with Lyons, Robert S. (2005). The Eagles Encyclopedia. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-449-1
  • Gifford, Frank; with Richmond, Peter (2008). The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-171659-1
  • Herskowitz, Mickey (1990). The Golden Age of Pro Football. Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87833-751-2
  • Hession, Joseph (1987). The Rams: Five Decades of Football. San Francisco: Foghorn Press. ISBN 0935701400
  • Hibner, John Charles (1993). The Rose Bowl, 1902–1929. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers. ISBN 0-89950-775-1
  • King, Joe (1958). Inside Pro Football. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  • Layden, Elmer; with Snyder, Ed (1969). It Was a Different Game: The Elmer Layden Story. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall, Inc.
  • LaBlanc, Michael L.; with Ruby, Mary K. (1994). Professional Sports Team Histories: Football. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. ISBN 0-8103-8861-8
  • Levy, Alan H. (2003). Tackling Jim Crow, Racial Segregation in Professional Football. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., Inc. ISBN 0-7864-1597-5
  • Littlewood, Thomas B. (1990). Arch: A Promoter, not a Poet: The Story of Arch Ward. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press. ISBN 0-8138-0277-6
  • Lomax, Michael E. (April 2001). "Conflict and Compromise: The Evolution of American Professional Football's Labour Relations 1957–1966" (PDF). Football Studies. 4 (1): 5–39.
  • MacCambridge, Michael (2005). America's Game. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-307-48143-6
  • MacCambridge, Michael (2009). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game. New York: ESPN Books, Inc. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1
  • Marquis, Albert Nelson (1934). Who's Who in America: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of the United States, Vol., 18, 1934–1935, Two Years. Chicago: The A. N. Marquis Company.
  • Maule, Tex (1964). The Game; The Official Picture History of the National Football League. New York: Random House
  • Oriard, Michael (2007). Brand NFL: Making and Selling America's Favorite Sport. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3142-7
  • Patton, Phil (1984). Razzle-Dazzle: The Curious Marriage of Television and Professional Football. Garden City, NY: The Dial Press. ISBN 0-385-27879-9
  • Paul, William Henry (1974). The Gray-Flannel Pigskin: Movers and Shakers of Pro Football. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
  • Pervin, Lawrence A. (2009). Football's New York Giants. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4268-3
  • Peterson, Robert W. (1997). Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507607-9
  • Piascik, Andy (2007). The Best Show in Football: The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
  • Powers, Ron (1984). Supertube: The Rise of Television Sports. New York: Coward-McCann. ISBN 0-698-11253-9
  • Rader, Benjamin G. (1984). In its Own Image: How Television Has Transformed Sports. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 0-02-925700-X
  • Rathet, Mike; with Smith, Don R. (1984). Their Deeds and Dogged Faith. New York: Balsam Press. ISBN 0-917439-02-3
  • Ratterman, George; with Deindorfer, Robert G. (1962). Confessions of a Gypsy Quarterback; Inside the Wacky World of Pro Football. New York: Coward-McCann, Inc.
  • Riger, Robert; with Maule, Tex (1960). The Pros. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  • Rooney, Dan; with Halaas, David F. and Masich, Andrew E. (2007). My 75 Years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-2603-5
  • Rothe, Anna; with Prodrick, Elizabeth (1951). "Bert Bell" in Current Biography: Who's News and Why 1950. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company.
  • Ruck, Rob; with Patterson, Maggie Jones and Weber, Michael P. (2010). Rooney: A Sporting Life. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-2283-0
  • Smith, Myron J. Jr. (1993). Professional Football: The Official Pro Football Hall of Fame Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28928-X
  • Staudohar, Paul D. (1986). The Sports Industry and Collective Bargaining. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press. ISBN 0-87546-117-4
  • Sullivan, George (1968). Pro Football's All Time Greats. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
  • Summerall, Pat; with Levin, Michael (2010). Giants: What I Learned about Life from Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-0-470-90908-9
  • Umphlett, Wiley Lee (1992). Creating the Big Game: John W. Heisman and the Invention of American Football. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28404-0
  • Westcott, Rich (2001). A Century of Philadelphia Sports. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-861-4
  • Whittingham, Richard (2002). What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8032-9819-4
  • Williams, Pete (2006). The Draft: A Year Inside the NFL's Search for Talent. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-35438-1
  • Willis, Chris (2010). The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-7669-9
  • Yost, Mark (2006). Tailgating, Sacks and Salary Caps. Chicago: Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4195-2600-8

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