Football for a Buck
The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL
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Narrated by:
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Joel Richards
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By:
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Jeff Pearlman
About this listen
The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump.
In Football for a Buck, Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports listeners back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost and how, 30 years ago, Trump was a scoundrel and a spoiler. This is sports as high entertainment - and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s won an unprecedented and unmatched four Super Bowls in six years. A dozen of those Steelers players, coaches, and executives have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, and three decades later their names echo in popular memory: "Mean" Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Mike Webster, Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, and John Stallworth.
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Great Book
- By cap on 07-18-18
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Madden
- A Biography
- By: Bryan Burwell
- Narrated by: Mark Moseley
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Several years after his playing career was cut short by injury before it had a chance to really begin, John Madden was hired as an assistant coach by the Oakland Raiders, one of professional football's most iconoclastic franchises. Two years later he was named the team's head coach and proceeded to lead the Raiders to five championship games in his first seven seasons. Following years of heartbreaking losses in some of history's most memorable games.
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Essential For Raider And Madden Fans
- By MovieGuy on 03-08-16
By: Bryan Burwell
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12
- The Inside Story of Tom Brady's Fight for Redemption
- By: Casey Sherman, Dave Wedge
- Narrated by: Greg Baglia
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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12 is the propulsive story of this gritty comeback. It's a drama that unfolds in the locker room, the court room, and under the brightest lights in all of sports - the Super Bowl. Now for the first time, listeners will have an exclusive look into Tom Brady's experience and the NFL's shocking strangle-hold on their players. With unprecedented access to Brady himself, his teammates, and his lawyers, we will see just how a football legend went up against one of the largest corporations in the world to stage the greatest comeback in NFL history and emerge a god of the gridiron.
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He didn't do it
- By Rigid on 08-03-18
By: Casey Sherman, and others
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Saban
- The Making of a Coach
- By: Monte Burke
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.
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Narrator is awful.
- By kenneth on 08-12-15
By: Monte Burke
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The Yucks
- Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History
- By: Jason Vuic
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Long before their first Super Bowl victory in 2003, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did something no NFL team had ever done before and that none will ever likely do again: They lost 26 games in a row. It started in 1976, in their first season as an expansion team, and it lasted until the penultimate game of the 1977 season, when they defeated Archie Manning and the New Orleans Saints on the road. It was the beginning of a new streak for a team that had come to be called "The Yucks".
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Fun Listen
- By Dan Junevicus on 08-10-24
By: Jason Vuic
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Monsters
- The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Tom Taylorson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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For Rich Cohen and millions of other fans, the 1985 Chicago Bears were more than a football team: they were the greatest football team ever - a gang of colorful nuts, dancing and pounding their way to victory. They won a Super Bowl and saved a city. It was not just that the Monsters of the Midway won but how they did it....
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For any Bears fans
- By Frank S. Saltiel on 11-18-21
By: Rich Cohen
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Badasses
- The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
- By: Peter Richmond
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A book that explores the enduring legends of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders, Badasses is the definitive biography of arguably the last team to play old-fashioned tough-guy football. Peter Richmond, co-author of the New York Times best seller The Glory Game, offers a fascinating look at the 1970s Oakland Raiders, led by colorful greats from another era.
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Good story, slightly obnoxious author and reader
- By Harry Seaward on 01-06-19
By: Peter Richmond
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Golden Days
- West's Lakers, Steph's Warriors, and the California Dreamers Who Reinvented Basketball
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Jack McCallum
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.
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Very interesting and fun to read
- By Joe on 06-12-18
By: Jack McCallum
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Play by Play
- Calling the Wildest Games in Sports - From SEC Football to College Basketball, the Masters and More
- By: Verne Lundquist
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner, Verne Lundquist
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Verne Lundquist's remarkable broadcasting career has placed him at the center of major sporting events in America for more than 50 years, from Jack Nicklaus' final victory at the 1986 Masters to Tonya Harding's attack on Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympics to the Auburn-Alabama shocker of 2013. In his first memoir, he replays highlights from his career, taking sports fans behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic moments in modern sports history.
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Decent Sorry, Bit Boring
- By Allena on 08-20-24
By: Verne Lundquist
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Dream Team
- How Michael, Magic, Larry, Charles, and the Greatest Team of All Time Changed the Game of Basketball Forever
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In Dream Team, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that captivated the world, kindled the hoop dreams of countless children around the planet, and remade the NBA into a global sensation. As a senior staff writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona.
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Great insight into the great basketball team ever.
- By James O'Brien on 09-04-12
By: Jack McCallum
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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Rising Tide
- Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie's Last Quarter
- By: Randy Roberts, Ed Krzemienski
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime. During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath - two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports - changed the game of college football forever.
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Love Alabama football? Read this!!
- By Miss Faulk on 07-16-15
By: Randy Roberts, and others
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Pistol
- The Life of Pete Maravich
- By: Mark Kriegel
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Pistol is more than the biography of a ballplayer. It's the stuff of classic novels: the story of a boy transformed by his father's dream and the cost of that dream. Even as Pete Maravich became Pistol Pete, a basketball icon for baby boomers, all the Maraviches paid a price. Now acclaimed author Mark Kriegel has brilliantly captured the saga of an American family: its rise, its apparent ruin, and, finally, its redemption.
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Extremely Good!
- By steve on 12-12-12
By: Mark Kriegel
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Snake
- The Legendary Life of Ken Stabler
- By: Mike Freeman
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Ken "The Snake" Stabler was the embodiment of the original Men in Black - the freewheeling, hard-hitting Oakland Raiders. The league's first swashbuckling pass thrower, the mythical southpaw Southerner famous for come-from-behind drives late in the game, Stabler led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship in 1977.
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Great story about a childhood legend!!!
- By David Warnock on 07-18-19
By: Mike Freeman
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What listeners say about Football for a Buck
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Thomas Johnson
- 01-01-19
I love the usfl
I love this book and the stories of the old league. Fun read thanks for the memories
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- jwj
- 04-14-22
Another winner by Pearlman
He's a great writer, and tells these stories well. I was amazed no one told the narrator a teams record being 7-11 is read aloud "seven and eleven," because he repeatedly would say "a record of seven TO eleven." Weak editing to miss that. Otherwise, he did fine and I enjoyed the listen.
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- Rockhound
- 03-29-24
Keep Politics Out
I'm a big USFL fan and a big fan of the Stars. Went to a few games. While I enjoyed this story, the constant Trump bashing became tiring. While he is certainly not blameless to imply he is solely responsible for the death of the league is ridiculous. The league failed because of poor management and a poor grip on reality. They expanded too many too soon and brought in owners who couldn't manage a lemonade stand. Poor ownership in places like Denver, Arizona/Chicago, San Antonio, L.A., Washington among others. The author's consternation is politically motivated. The last chapter of the book shows that as he bashes Trump's presidency which if he were honest he would admit that Trump didn't do badly and bringing up the Russian Collusion matter, something that the special council debunked, only shows the author's bias. Also, the narrator constantly mispronouncing players names was laughable at best. I mean calling Nick Mike-Meyer "Myke Meyer"(like the actor) instead of the correct "Mick-a-Meyer" was hilarious. If the author just kept to the story of this great league would have been fine but he chose to sling mud.
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- Mike Davis
- 11-13-18
Great book about The USFL
Great account of the USFL. The narrator could have done a better job knowing the pronunciation of certain player names, like Bobby Hebert and knowing wins and losses (13-3 record) are read 13 and 3, instead of 13 to 3. Otherwise, great historical account recommended for football fans and anyone that wants to get a glimpse of how Donald Trump conducts his affairs. He’s the same person now as he was in the 80s.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Reggie
- 02-21-19
You'll Never Guess the Villain
This is all you want from a sports book. It's funny and informative; witty and occasionally poignant; well-researched with a dash of conjecture and a pinch of speculation. Pearlman does slander our lord and savior, Donald Trump, by relaying the many blasphemies of his fellow USFL owners, while chronicling Trump's role in the league's demise (which is why I'll be giving this book 1-star, obviously) but otherwise it's pretty good.
A note for non-football fans: like a good, self-contained movie or book sequel, an encyclopedic knowledge of its antecedents (in this case, the sport of football) isn't necessary to enjoy the book. This isn't an esoteric, "X" and "O" football book, it's a story of ambition and entrepreneurship; of heroes and villains (you'll never guess who the villain is. Kidding. You'll totally guess.) and of eventual greed and idiocy and ultimate pathos. It's also really funny.
And I'd be remise not to put in a good word for Joel Richards. I thought the narration was fantastic. I thought he nailed Pearlman's tone and dry humor. There's a couple spots where Richards' delivery even coaxed a laugh from the text that may have otherwise passed under the radar of a reader.
I'm an audiobook junkie who has strong opinions about readers. I can understand not liking a narrator, but objectively, Joel Richards is not a 1-star narrator. At no point was I distracted by his pronunciation of names (of the the names I knew, Richards pronunciation was consistent with what I've heard) and speaking a team record like 10 - 2 as, "ten to two," rather than "ten and two," struck me as more novel than annoying.
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- Tom
- 11-04-18
great football history!
loved it, this story has been lost in football history and need to be revisited on a regular basis.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-26-19
Fond memories of USFL
Great stories within stories. It a shame Trump was involved. The USFL should have stayed in the spring.
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- steve finkelstein
- 10-22-18
Not Enough Pages
I wish there were more pages. I enjoyed it a great deal, and I am sorry it didn't last longer. I enjoyed the USFL when it was here in Arizona. At the time, we only had one professional team -- the Phoenix Suns. Having the Arizona Wranglers/Outlaws/Whatevers gave sports fans in the Valley something to cheer. I just enjoyed having spring football. This book is interesting, funny and sad, and just very, very interesting. It also accurately describes drumpf as a stupid businessman, and unfortunately, an even stupider leader of this country. G-d help us all!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Anonymous User
- 11-04-18
Funny and Fascinating
This is without a doubt the funniest and craziest sports story I have ever heard.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-16-22
Great Information
Loved the information Pearlman provides. Well done! However, reader - who has a great reading voice - mispronounced a handful of names, which was annoying. And the way the reader read a team’s record was different. For example if a team had 8 wins and 4 losses he would say “8 to 4”.
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