Pitched as a “pro football strategy book for the fan”, The Pro Style aimed to reveal how the NFL game was really played. It absolutely delivers on its promise.
The NFL did a great job of publishing its own books during the 1970s, particularly coffee table books. The Pro Style, pitched as a “pro football strategy book for the fan”, it aimed to reveal how the NFL game was really played. It absolutely delivers on its promise. The first section is a fairly standard history of the development of the NFL, covering some of the great teams and star players, and that’s followed by a chapter profiling twelve of the greatest coaches – including the often overlooked Clark Shaughnessy.
There are some interesting stories along the way, such as the profile of referee Norm Schachter, who officiated in ‘The Ice Bowl’ in 1967 and in Super Bowl X, among other notable games. Schachter literally wrote the NFL rulebook and compiled questions to test officials every year.
Bennett also considers the increasing influence of technology on the NFL, such as how photocopying makes it easier to duplicate playbooks for every player and how computers are gradually becoming the norm for scouting prospective players and future opponents. “No teams own computers; they’re too expensive,” Bennett writes. Adding: “The Dallas Cowboys, however, are the majority owner of a computer operated by the Quadra scouting combine in Palo Alto, California.”
Title: The Pro Style
Author: Tom Bennett
First Published: Prentice Hall, 1976
Buy: Available secondhand – check Abebooks
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But it’s the final section that sets the book apart. At a time when fans would never have seen all-22 film, Bennett uses photos taken from high up to illustrate everything from basic formations to pass protection and points of attack. Concepts like ‘scraping’ linebackers are demonstrated, along with various kinds of pass coverage.
In addition to the images that illustrate concepts, there are plenty of excellent photos, as one would expect from the NFL’s books of the period. The book has plenty of great action photos and, fitting the overall concept, a good selection of behind-the-scenes photos, too, such as shots from the coaches’ booth and the training room.
THE AUTHOR
According to the book, Tom Bennett was Managing Editor of the NFL’s Creative Services Division in Los Angeles. As far as I’m aware, this was the only book for which he was credited as author, though the NFL’s Creative Services Division produced a lot of fine work during the 1970s. Bennett is credited throughout the Great Teams, Great Years series, for example.
REVIEWS
The Pro Style is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and one that deserves more recognition for what it accomplished. In 1976, few football books were breaking down the strategy of the game in such detail. The ‘Diagram History of Football’ in the appendix is the best five-minute primer I’ve ever seen on the evolution of football strategy. Entire books have been written about this but few have provided such a clear visual guide. Among other things it shows how, as Bennett writes, “the history of defense is the step-by-step decline in the number of players on the line”. It’s not hard to find strategy primers for football fans these days. Film breakdowns are all over social media every day, after all. But The Pro Style still delivers its lessons with clarity and visual flair that makes it a worthwhile addition to any fan’s bookshelf.
Shane Richmond, Pigskin Books
“The best one-stop Xs and Os overview, smartly integrating text and illustrations.”
Michael MacCambridge in America’s Game (2004)
BUY THE BOOK
Available secondhand – check Abebooks
Photo: eileenploh
