Quote of the Day | October 12, 2008: A Great Spectacle

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

By the end of the '50s, a growing number of Americans, especially those in NFL cities, were becoming transfixed with the game. The New York Giants' publicist Don Smith observed that the temper of football crowds by the end of the decade was "violently partisan and devoutly involved. They did not wander about in search of hot-dog vendors during the play, nor go visiting among friends in other sections, as baseball fans would do. They yearned openly to participate in the struggle and would invariably jump to their feet whenever a particularly long run or forward pass seemed about to erupt."

In Smith's view, what had kept fans away from pro football in the past was less apathy than "sheer ignorance, too often fostered by certain sportswriters, who did not believe the professional game could be as thrilling as the college version. When television began to allow fans to see for themselves , they recognized that they had been missing a great spectacle, and one in which it was easy to involve one's self, heart, soul, voice and paycheck."

Tags: Michael MacCambridge, America's Game