Football players of the 1960s seemed to personify a crewcut traditional manhood that channeled the Puritan work ethic. Yet, despite a social upheaval against such values, the National Football League won over all of America--and became a cultural force that recast politics in its own smashmouth image. Jesse Berrett offers an invigorating appraisal of a dynamic era and Pigskin Nation reveals how pro football created the template for a future that became our present.
The National Football League has spent the last two decades engaging in an extensive cover-up campaign of potential links between its sport and long-term brain injuries…