Description:
Red Grange was one of the certified heroes of an era that produced the anchors to any sporting hall of fame--Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bill Tilden, Bobby Jones--but Red Grange and the Rise of Modern Football is no simple exercise in hero-worship. A professor of history at Lamar University, John M. Carroll works to put Grange in perspective against the backdrop of an amazing era--the '20s--and tackle the Galloping Ghost's myth. Still, in Grange's case, the myth remains awfully impressive. A true superstar, Grange was a reluctant idol, letting his actions speak for him. In an era before big athletic scholarships, Grange paid for his education by delivering ice in the summer, a job that made him stronger than most of the defense men he'd regularly bowl over. As a junior at Illinois, Grange secured his legend with an inconceivable performance against Michigan, running for four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes. Before the final gun sounded--Carroll recounts this, and other games in glorious detail--Grange had added a fifth score on the ground, passed for a sixth, racked up a ridiculous 402 rushing yards on the day, and cemented his reputation. Post college, his all-American drawing power and singular brilliance on the field virtually saved the struggling young NFL; Carroll is quite thorough in his examination of the fledgling league and its odor of "a dirty little business run by rogues." Yet, despite all the fame and celebrity, a flirtation with Hollywood, and a respected post-playing career in the radio booth and various businesses, Grange never escaped his heartland unpretentiousness; he always seemed to know who he was and how he got that way. "I could run," he once said, "and that was the basis of any success I ever had." Because he ran so well, of course, that success evolved into a full-blown legend worthy of Carroll's scrupulous and absorbing examination. --Jeff Silverman
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