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Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship | 
 enlarge | Author: David Fleming
Publisher: ESPN
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.44
You Save: $12.51 (50%)
New (28) Used (16) from $11.93
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 85404
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 1933060352
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332640974817
EAN: 9781933060354
ASIN: 1933060352
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
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Product Description
In 1925, the Pottsville Maroons, a football team from the heart of Pennsylvania coal country, joined the fledgling National Football League. Built by an eccentric owner, molded by a visionary coach and loaded with hardscrabble miners, college All Americans and the +sky's the limit' ethos of the Roaring Twentys, the Maroons did the unthinkable and dominated the NFL in their rookie season. (Their improbable rise was chronicled each week in the local paper by a rookie Pottsville sportswriter named John O'Hara.)Little Pottsville outscored its first seven opponents 162-6. The boys so thoroughly pummeled one opponent, angry fans shot up their train car as the Maroons rode out of town. In the final game of that first season the Maroons traveled to the Midwest to face the league-leading Chicago Cardinals in what was viewed as the championship game for 1925. The Maroons overcame a Windy City snowstorm and an injury to their best player to defeat the Cardinals 21-7.But the fans wanted more.College ball was still king. And as news of Pottsville's success was splashed across the news reels and headlines throughout the country, a movement began to have the Maroons face a team of college All-Stars from the University of Notre Dame, featuring the legendary Four Horsemen, the finest collection of talent the game had ever known. Experts believed the NFL was still decades away from competing with college football. But on a neutral field in Philadelphia, in a battle described as The Greatest Football Game Ever Seen, the Maroons shocked the world and turned the football establishment upside-down, defeating Notre Dame 9-7 on a last-second field goal by their captain Charlie Berry who had his kicking cleat bronzed for eternity.The championship was theirs. The NFL was finally on the map. The Maroons victory over Notre Dame had legitimized the league. It also destroyed the town and the team that made it all possible.Claiming the upstart Maroons had violated the territory of another franchise by playing Notre Dame in Philadelphia, the NFL suspended Pottsville and awarded the 1925 NFL championship to the Chicago Cardinals. The Cardinals refused to accept the bogus title and the 1925 crown was never officially awarded. For more than 80 years, fans of the Pottsville Maroons-the team Red Grange said was the greatest he ever faced-have fought to have the 1925 title returned to its rightful owners.With Breaker Boys their remarkable story is told at last.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 18 more reviews...
The Maroons Get Their Due! June 26, 2008
I grew up in the Anthracite Coal Region of eastern Pennsylvania (Mount Carmel) and remember my Dad speaking of the Pottsville Maroons on several occasions. I didn't give the team much creedence, after all they seemed to be nothing more than a forgotten footnote in NFL history that generated some local pride. The team had never been the subject of any literary work, just the subject of a few short articles over the years in the local Pennsylvania newspapers. Now David Fleming breaths life into the Maroons and brings them out of the shadows. This book is great! Not only does Mr. Fleming tell the dynamic story of a deserving team that was wronged, but he also presents a vivid depiction of the Anthracite Coal Region during the roaring Twenties. Fleming's description of Pottsville's heyday is hard to imagine given the state of the decay the town is in now as are most other Coal Region towns including Mount Carmel. The main characters in the Maroon's story are brought to life and by the time you turn the last page you'll be drafting a letter to the current NFL Commissioner demanding that the Maroons be re-instated as 1925 NFL Champions.
Great Book! May 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book, "The Breaker Boys" is one of the best sports books that i have ever read. It takes you through the Pottsville Maroons 1925 season where they were cheated out of the NFL championship. The book gives you a historical background of the maroons football franchise of the 1920's and how much the maroons brought together the city of Pottsville. This book is a must read for any sports fan with it's interesting historical evidence of one of the greatest shames in the history of the NFL.
Great Book! March 7, 2008
I loved everything about this book. Nice concise chapters, lots of interesting tidbits about the 20's, very well researched, I felt like I was in the coal mines, the Pottsville stadium, the bar sitting around the radio listening to the championship game. Would be an awesome movie. The characters really are all great, from the 'Howitzer' to the Four Horsemen to the evil "old money white men" owners of the big-city NFL teams. Have I mentioned the word "great?" Ha ha. Seriously, worth a read.
 A Great Injustice March 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The 1925 Pottsville Maroons, greatest team in NFL history? It is too difficult to compare teams across the decades as the game has changed so much. I have to admit that the book presents enough information to convince me that the Maroons were the best team on 1925, and they were robbed of the NFL Championship title.
The book tells the story of Dr. Streigel, and how he built a powerhouse team. Once Striegel was allowed to enter the fledgling NFL, he used his money and clout to gather some of the decades great fooball players. He manage to get college and homegrown players to bond as a team.
Unfortunately, Striegel did not make many friends in amongst the NFL Onwers. This did not help when controvery arose when the Maroons played a non-league game against the Notre Dame All-Stars. The game wasn't sanction by the league and was also played in the Frankford Yellowjackets territory.
It is a great story of football with a bittersweet ending. If only some threats were taken seriously, or the powers that be had a chance to cool off and think through what was happening. Hopefully this book will raise interest in the story and can make the NFL right a wrong that is over 80 years old.
An Amazing True Story February 1, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have read a lot of sports books over the years, but this one just might be the best. The story of the Pottsville Maroons is one that you will not soon forget.
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