Quote of the Day | August 2, 2008: Oversized Coal Miners & West Texas Psychopaths

Michael MacCambridge's 2004 America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation:

Freedom of association is a powerful thing. Every organization in America is someone's version of utopia. The National Football League in its ascendance was the perfect, egalitarian vision of commissioner Pete Rozelle. A lifelong fan and former public relations executive, the Jesuit-trained Rozelle understood that leagues were most likely to succeed financially when they lived up to the ideals of a higher cause -- fair play.

More than any other person, Rozelle engineered the game's transformation, as Colts lineman Art Donovan put it, "from being a localized sport based on gate receipts and played by oversized coal miners and West Texas psychopaths to a national sport based on television ratings." The changes Rozelle brought about, as well as the policies he preserved, reflected this philosophy. Central to his leadership was a thorough understanding of the principles and practices of mass communication. His mastery in tailoring the NFL's image for a broad middle-class audience helped make the game more appealing, both in person and on television. In short, Rozelle sold sports as they'd never been sold before -- as a sophisticated passion, rather than a trivial juvenile pastime.

Tags: Michael MacCambridge, America's Game