History of NFL Preseason and Exhibition Games

This book provides information on every NFL and AFL preseason game played from 1960 to 1985. Interesting events, significant games, key players, new rules, and off-season developments are all detailed, making this a unique and important reference for fans and historians alike.

Mark L. Ford is assistant editor of the Professional Football Researchers Association and President of the Eastern Broadcasting Company. He is a frequent contributor to Coffin Corner, journal of the Professional Football Researchers Association.

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. 1920-1959: Before They Were Called "Preseason Games" 2. 1960: A First for Almost Everything 3. 1961: Confronting the Segregated South 4. 1962: Experiments in Atlanta, Fort Worth, and Cleveland 5. 1963: Kickers and Paper Lions 6. 1964: A Soccer Player Changes American Football 7. 1965: AFL versus NFL, NBC versus CBS 8. 1966: Last Chance to Get in on the Merger 9. 1967: The Summer of Upsets 10. 1968: Don't Call Them "Exhibitions" 11. 1969: A Final Summer for the AFL 12. 1970: One League, Twenty-Six Teams, One Strange Summer 13. 1971: New Stadiums, New England 14. 1972: Too Many Injuries 15. 1973: Playing for Kicks 16. 1974: New Rules, New Competition; No Freedom, No Football 17. 1975: Work Stoppages and Walkouts 18. 1976: A Surfeit of Preseason 19. 1977: No More Barnstorming 20. 1978: Out with Six and Fourteen, in with Four and Sixteen 21. 1979: Reconfiguring for the 1980s 22. 1980: Raiders on the Move 23. 1981: Raiders Staying Put 24. 1982: Solidarity Handshakes 25. 1983: Taking the Show to England 26. 1984: The "No Fun League" 27. 1985: On the Threshold of a New Era Bibliography Index About the Author