Made a board game sale list for Prime Day, figured I'd share. Bolded prices indicate all-time low on CCC:

• 7 Wonders | $28.99 | 3-7 players | ~30-45 Minutes | 7.8 on BGG - This is a fantastic game to introduce people to "tableau building" and "card drafting." If you're not familiar, a tableau is the cards in front of you that are part of your "engine" going forward, usually you will add cards to it that add synergy to your strategy. Card drafting is when players have a hand of cards, choose one, and then pass to the person next to them. This game can fit up to 7 and it doesn't really bog the game down. I'm not in love with this game, but at this price I think it's a very fair offering for a game that once taught and played once, flows really nicely and makes for a great game to drink and talk while playing rather than being buried in thought about what to do.
  
  
• 7 Wonders: Duel | $17.81 | 2 Players | 20-30 Minutes | 8.1 on BGG - This is a 2 player adaptation of 7 Wonders and it's quite a great version. Instead of card drafting by passing hands, there is a "market" that opens up further as more cards are chosen in which players take turns choosing from. It offers an intense 2 player back and forth of "chicken" in a way that flows nicely and culminates in a satisfying, even if sometimes mean, ending. Often credited as one of the best 2 player games out there, especially with expansions.
  
  
  
• Agricola | $32.89 | 1-4 Players | 30-150 Minutes | 8.0 on BGG - I have never played this but you can find lots of excellent discussion about this on BGG and /r/boardgames. Ultimately it's a beefier board game about managing your farm to take care of your family. Sounds thrilling right? Well apparently it really is. It's currently rated the 25th bestboard game of all-time, and is often mentioned among some of the great games out there. This is an excellent price for this game new, so if there's any interest, go watch a review of two.
  
  
• Carcassonne | $19.99 | 2-4 Players | ~30 Minutes | 7.4 on BGG - This is an excellent tile laying game for gamers and non-gamers alike. It's simple to teach, takes almost no time to set-up, and can easily be expanded to fit 5 players. If you end up loving this, there are many expansions for it to add depth, or silliness, whichever you prefer. This has become a staple in my circle of friends who don't really play board games because it's so approachable.
  
  
• Isle of Skye | $24.35 | 2-5 Players | 30-50 Minutes | 7.5 on BGG - I've never played this, but it's been on my list for a while as a tile laying game with more complexity than Carcassonne. I don't know much about it, but this is a great price and those with Irish heritage might love the theme. Edit: Well this is embarrassing, Isle of Skye is in Scotland, sorry for that.
  
  
• Pandemic: Fall of Rome | $27.99 | 1-5 Players | 30-60 Minutes | 7.8 on BGG - This is a variation of the much beloved game Pandemic. In this variation, you and up to 4 other players are taking control of Roman armies to defend against the oncoming tribes attempting to take over a weakened Rome. You will use your unique powers and randomly drawn cards to work together with the other players in this cooperative game. If you've played base Pandemic you will know what to expect, but this version has some cool thematic changes that have many reviewers calling it the second best iteration of the Pandemic series.
  
  
• Patchwork | $17.84 | 2 Players | ~20 Minutes | 7.7 on BGG - This is an excellent 2 player game using spacial skills to build out your quilt in a sort of "Tetris" way. You need to manage buttons (currency) and time to efficiently build your quilt with as little empty spots as possible. It's a darling of the community and designed by the great Uwe Rosenberg. People meme about it because it's often recommended, but there's a reason why it is.
  
  
• Photosynthesis | $21.11 | 2-4 Players | 30-60 Minutes | 7.2 on BGG - I've never played this, but it's quite a nice looking game on the table. It's about growing trees while using a limited amount of sunlight - or that's how it's been described to me anyway. I've heard that this game can get pretty cutthroat, especially at higher player counts, because of how limited the board space gets.
  
  
• The Castles of Burgundy | $19.20 | 2-4 Players | 45-90 Minutes | 8.1 on BGG - One of the finest board games I've ever played in spite of the ugly art and theme of it. Visually, I find nothing about this appealing, but the gameplay is so fantastic that I fell in love with it immediately. You have 25 turns in which you are using two dice each turn which are used to make decisions on how to build out your board to gain victory points. The actions are mostly easy to understand, and you're never screwed over by a bad roll because bad rolls can be mitigated via worker resources. There is a good amount of strategic depth to it, minor "meanness" in "screwing over" opponents, and I mostly feel happy with every round - it's a rare game of satisfaction each turn. My only complaint is that the yellow tiles are all unique which turns into a lot of, "What does that one do?" which is mitigated with player aides you can find on BGG. Warning, new print coming out this year that may or may not make the art look better, but the new print will have all expansions. With that said, for $19.20 this is a no-brainer if you want something more complex than something like Catan.
  
  
• The Quest for El Dorado | $19.99 | 2-4 Players | ~45 Minutes| 7.6 on BGG - This is a great deck-building racing game to get to El Dorado first. It's simple to learn and honestly my only complaint is that the game takes up a lot of space. The map is completely variable and there are some official variants in the book, as well as many others on BGG on the files section. If you enjoy the concept of building a deck to race through the treacherous lands to get to El Dorado, this is a great game. Warning, there is a new edition coming out with new artwork, so you may want to hold off.

Draft

|Round|Number|Player|Position|School
|--|--|--|--|--|
|1|29|Robert Nkemdiche|DL|Mississippi
|3|92|Brandon Williams|CB|Texas A&M
|4|128|Evan Boehm|C|Missouri
|5|167|Marqui Christian|S|Midwestern State
|5|170|Cole Toner|OT|Harvard
|6|205|Harlan Miller|CB|Southeastern Louisiana

Robert Nkemdiche DL - Grade: A

As a Broncos fan I watched a lot of tape on Nkemdiche and he looks phenomenal, I would argue a reincarnation of former Cardinal Darnell Dockett. First and foremost his character concerns are unnerving but if there wasn't a better place for him to land than with Bruce Arians and the mentorship from Peterson and Campbell. At least this season Nkemdiche should see at least rotational time as a pass rusher, in multiple spots along the defensive line, until he refines his skill set to an NFL level. He also needs to work on his motor since at times he tends to disappear however with the depth in Arizona the hope is the motivation is right in front of him. Without the character concerns he would moved up at least 10 spots in the draft and could turn out to be a real steal for Bruce Arians and James Bettcher.

Brandon Williams CB - Grade: C

Brandon Williams is a tough prospect to evaluate. He does fill a need the Cardinals desperately need to fill at corner but he is raw. So raw he has only played one year in college at the position playing running back beforehand. His physical talent is there though with 4.37 speed, the 7th fastest this year, he may develop nicely however I don't see him as seeing many defensive snaps until his 3rd year in the league. He should be an immediate contributor on special teams as a gunner on the punt team. He seems to have the right attitude and could be a high reward pick for Steve Keim.


Evan Boehm C - Grade: B+

Center was a big position of need to fill after the loss of Sendlein. Boehm is not as mobile as you'd like to see in a zone blocking scheme however he should compete for the starting job and is studious enough to start wrapping his mind around Arias' intricate offense. His strength will be an asset pushing around defenders and his toughness speaks for itself having only missed one game in the last 8 years.

Marqui Christian S - Grade: B-

Played a lot of strong safety in college especially down in the box and won the Cliff Harris award, the nation’s best small-school defensive player. He makes plays in the run game and can read the quarterback well but doesn't have the closing quickness to disrupt receivers in man coverage. Bettcher and co will attempt to utilize him in both safety roles but with his limited range I think he may make the transition into Deone Bucannon's back up as a hybrid linebacker/safety, especially if he continues to keep laying down the wood. Christian however seems to be the one most likely to not earn a spot on the final 53. Fills an area of need and provides depth may see some special teams time this season.

Cole Toner OT - Grade: B

Not needing to play immediately will benefit Toner greatly. Putting on some weight and facing high level pass rushers are the two major areas of concern for him. Should be able to come out and run block with nice footwork. The mental equipment is all there and should be backup as a swing tackle.

Harlan Miller CB - Grade: B

Miller is another small school athlete the Cardinals took a chance on. He is more pro ready than Williams and will probably outrank him on the depth chart going into the season. Although he has experience as a top corner he won't be asked to perform that highly. He is underweight but has good height for a corner. He excels at press coverage but only ran a 4.65 so don't be surprised to see him get burnt by the speedier receivers in the league.

Overall the Cardinals draft class will be difficult to judge based off his year but in the future could be a force to contend with depending on how players develop. Bruce Arians seems to get the most of his players so I have full faith this should be a solid draft class.

---

Other Offseason News

TRADE

| New England Patriots Send| Arizona Cardinals Send
|--|--
|DE/OLB Chandler Jones|OG Jonathon Cooper
||2016 2nd round pick(61st overall)

On March 15th the Cardinals completed a trade with the New England Patriots. The Cardinals shipped out, the 7th overall pick from 2013 NFL draft, Guard Jonathon Cooper and their 2016 2nd round selection for, the 21st overall selection from the 2012 NFL draft, pass rusher Chandler Jones. The 2nd round selection would end up becoming Ohio State safety Vonn Bell after the Patriots traded it to the New Orleans Saints. After breaking his leg in the preseason of his rookie year Cooper has not lived up to his high expectations. Chandler Jones has racked up 36 sacks in his 4 year career, and is coming a career best 12.5 this past season. He will fill a much needed role on the defense helping the pass rush and setting the edge to improve an already stout rush defense. Both teams benefit from this trade adding in areas of conern, and the patriot avoid what is assumed to be a major payday from Chandler Jones which will loom on the Cardinals next offseason.

All or Nothing

The Arizona Cardinals had the privilege to be the first team to have their season recorded and delivered by Amazon. The first episode can be seen right here all other episodes will require a prime membership to watch. It gives an in depth look through the season and troubles these players and the team go through. I would highly recommend checking it out as a football fan. It this takes off there is potential we will see more digital distribution for sports.

---

Projected Starting Lineup

New Members of the Arizona Cardinals

OFFENSE

|Position|Starter|Backup
|--|--|--
|QB|Carson Palmer|Drew Stanton
|RB|Chris Johnson|David Johnson|
|WR X|Michael Floyd|JJ Nelson
|WR Z|John Brown|Jaron Brown
|WR Y|Larry Fitzgerald|Brittan Golden
|TE|Darren Fells|Jermaine Gresham|
|LT|Jared Veldheer|
|LG|Mike Iupati|
|C|Evan Boehm|AQ Shipley
|RG|Evan Mathis| Earl Watford
|RT|DJ Humphries| Cole Toner


DEFENSE

|Position|Starter|Backup
|--|--|--|--
DE|Calias Campbell|Robert Nkemdiche
NT|Corey Peters|Rodney Gunter
DE|Frostee Rucker|Red Bryant
SLB|Markus Golden|Shaquille Riddick
MLB|Deone Bucannon|Gabe Martin
MLB|Kevin Minter| Alani Fua
WLB|Chandler Jones|Alex Okafor|
CB1|Patrick Peterson|Cariel Brooks|Brandon Williams
CB2|Justin Bethel|Harlan Miller
SS|Tony Jefferson|DJ Swearinger
FS|Tyrann Mathieu|Tyvon Branch


SPECIAL TEAMS

|Position|Starter|Backup
|--|--|--|--
K|Chandler Catanzaro
P|Drew Butler
LS|Daniel Dillon|Kameron Canaday
KR|JJ Nelson|Kerwynn Williams
PR| Patrick Peterson

First of all, there's nothing that can replace watching games. Watch football! I recommend NFL GameRewind so you can watch the games with no commercials, get the All-22 tape, and get basic access to DVR features. GamePass is expensive and unnecessary at first, and I watched my local team for years with no cable -- plain old over-the-air TV plus a local affiliate that broadcasts every Ravens game was enough. So watch football! I also recommend these sources:

=Books=

I watched two or three seasons of football before I read the following books, and I really wish I'd had the foresight to begin reading as soon as I became a fan. I recommend reading Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwan first, because it teaches you how to watch the games you'll be seeing this season, especially how to "read" a defense like a QB would. You'll begin to be able to see when a defense is "showing blitz" or an offense is "showing run". You might also want to get a fast-forward introduction to the history of the game so you understand where the current traditions come from. Scores of books and blogs dig into the history of the game but I think Jaworski et al's Seven Games that Changed the Game and Chris Brown's The Essential Smart Football are both great reads. The latter you can effectively preview by reading his work at www.SmartFootball.com .

=Blogs=

Nobody writes about football as well as the guys at Grantland; the article I've linked there is one of my favorites. It goes into the history of the game and helps you place the current game in context. Brian Burke's Advanced NFL Stats is a more analytics-focused look at the game; his greatest contribution to the game (in my opinion) is his evidence-based chart for 4th down decisions. A lot of other sites focus on Fantasy Football because that's where you can make a ton of money -- hundreds of thousands of hungry gamers every Sunday and Monday. Honestly, Fantasy Football scores have almost no relevance to the strategy of the real game, and I'll say no more about that hobby.

=Other References=

If you're trying to figure out whether a particular performance was mediocre, good, great, or execrable, you want to look it up at Pro Football Reference. If you're trying to understand a piece of football jargon, check out Wikipedia's American Football Strategy, which is a good read on its own and contains sub-articles on the differences between a 4-3 and 3-4. Pro Football Focus had a great piece on defensive personnel prototypes that will help you sort out what people mean by things like "He's a great 0-technique NT for a team that does hybrid 3-4." Ordinarily I'd say you want to know the rules before any of that, but honestly I watched the game for years before I ever needed to consult the rulebook.

Board Game Sale

7 Wonders | 3-7 Players | 30-60 Minutes | BGG Score: 7.8, 48th highest ranked game | Rules Complexity: 2/5, Strategic Depth: 2/5 | $27

I like 7 Wonders because it's a game that can get a lot of people to the table, without any added length per player. It's a card drafting/tableau building game where players take simultaneous turns playing cards in order to make their "empire" stronger. It's a great entry point for new board gamers as it will likely be one of the first tableau building games you play, which is a common game mechanic in the board gaming world.

• Card Drafting - By card drafting I mean this, players will start with a hand of cards, take one to play, and then pass to your left or right depending on the round. This offers a tough decision of what to take to make your standing better, while also offering the tough decision of trying to keep key cards away from your opponent that you're passing to.
  
  
• Tableau Building - A tableau is the area in front of you where you've played cards that give you permanent bonuses. In this game a card played into your tableau may give you permanent resources, ability to build buildings for free, or other valuable benefits. These are openly shown which will add to strategic decisions when you're drafting.
  
  ____
  
  Other Sales or Notable Buys
  
  Ticket to Ride
  
  Love Letter - ZMan Edition | 2-6 Players | ~20 Minutes | BGG Score: 7.7 | Rules Complexity: 0.5/5, Strategic Depth: 1/5 | $12
  
  This is a new implementation of the classic card game Love Letter. The game can be taught in 5 minutes or less, and is played until someone scores 4 points. This version adds new roles and allows for 6 players, up from 4 with the original. Every player starts with 1 card, at the start of their turn they will draw a card and play a card face up. The cards all have unique abilities that will help, or hurt your chances to trying to secure your delivery of the love letter to the princess. If you're the last person standing, you gain the favor. Each round plays in about 2-3 minutes. There's some luck involved, and it's a fun "bar game." Tons of fun in a cheap package that comes in a nice looking bag.

The Raiders.

They're just so cool. The uniforms, logo, and name are badass. I don't know what it is, but the fact their colours are silver and black just really sticks with me. I remember watching one of the NFL Super Bowl champ rundown and they mentioned Al Davis always checking the uniforms to make sure they were silver, not grey.

On the topic, Al Davis was such a badass.

> He remains the only executive in NFL history to be an assistant coach, head coach, general manager, commissioner and owner.

• He was also active in civil rights:
  
  > refusing to allow the Raiders to play in any city where black and white players had to stay in separate hotels. He was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach and a female chief executive. He was also the second NFL owner to hire a Latino head coach.
  
  
• His motto, 'Just win, baby'.
  
  
• John Madden coached them and reading his book was really fun.
  
  
• Raider nation.
  
  
• The Black Hole. Talk about intimidating.
  
  
• Howie Long is one of my favourite ever players. Started after I read Maddens book.
  
  
• Bo Jackson. I'm 21 and didn't grow up in the States much, and I had vaguely heard of Bo. Watching his 30 for 30 was beautiful.
  
  
• Seen as working class team with an aggressive play style (historically).
  
  ---
  
  ^^I ^^also ^^think ^^the ^^ ^^49ers ^^are ^^cool.
  
  ---
  
  EDIT: For those interested, John Maddens book is called 'One Knee Equals Two Feet'. Here's a link for it on Amazon. It's quite old, but still a stonking great read.
  
  Also that word reminded me of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Buy it as well.
  
  EDIT 2: "If you're buying any of the books mentioned in these comments, Amazon has a physical book sale today. 30% off, use promo code HOLIDAY30" - thanks to /u/Mandarinez.
  
  EDIT 3: If you're interested in some Raider history check out Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders by Peter Richmond. - thanks to /u/Imaygetyelledat.

Got a PM asking about books, might as well share what I've read/enjoyed:

Most people recommend Pat Kirwan's Take Your Eye Off the Ball. Some bits of it can be simplistic, but based off what you told me it should be a good read. It basically breaks down each position group chapter by chapter, and has some extra details about coaching, front offices, scouting, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472878540&sr=8-1&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball

Next I'd put SI's Blood, Sweat, and Chalk. It's a great balance between storytelling and technical detail. It basically chronicles significant advances in tactics on offense and defense over the decades. For example, offensive chapters start with the single wing, then goes on to the wing T, wishbone/flexbone, Air Croyell, west coast offense, spread, etc. (and many more)

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Chalk-Ultimate-Football/dp/1603200614/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472878672&sr=8-1&keywords=blood%2C+sweat+and+chalk

Lastly I'd recommend Chris B Browns two books (and his blog) - The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football. These are similar to Blood, Sweat, and Chalk but more detailed and less about story. Still great reads.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=chris+b+brown

For web reading, I loved Matt Bowen's Football 101 series on BleacherReport.com. Unfortunately he works for ESPN now, but he has two years worth of excellent beginner articles on B-R.com He breaks down tons of big picture concepts which can really help fill in details.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2024638-nfl-101-introducing-the-basic-route-combinations

this will give you a good idea of where you want to start learning about the game. Be warned, the more you learn the more you're going to want to learn. All of these posts are about a specific scenario but I've been coaching for 6 years now and every scenario is different. You might not want to run screen against the blitz if you have the perfect run play for this team, this front, this time of the game. No two plays will ever be the same in the game of football and your script walking into the game is lucky to make it to it's 15 plays. You want to understand the system you've built and the one you're up against. This book will lay out some of the systems in football and the rest is up to you.

Nothing would make me happier than a sub reddit where we would all argue strategy instead of fantasy value or who's better than who. I hope you enjoy this book, it's a great read!

You have to be careful with some analysis you find online, but two that I've seen that are usually spot on are:

http://smartfootball.com/#sthash.iqhVs74b.dpbs
This guy also wrote a book that can walk you through a ton of football jargon. http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404821713&sr=1-1&keywords=smart+football

http://fishduck.com/

There are several magazines we get including American Football Monthly and American Football Coaches Association.

If you're really looking to dive into some things, go on Amazon or even to the local library and check out books on specific topics you find interesting. Even reading "outdated" books you'll notice the pillars and fundamentals of football today.

Defenses have been changing pretty drastically the past two years, but this book was a great introduction to how many NFL teams were playing their defensive fronts.

Lastly, I have a great benefit of attending coaching clinics and networking events, however, go to your local college and watch a practice. Many of the practices are open to the public and the coaches, usually, are a very open bunch. Spring is usually the best time since that's when all the other coaches are trying to tweak routines and see what everyone else is doing.

The Genius: How Bill Walsh Reinvented Football and Created an NFL Dynasty
https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Reinvented-Football-Created-Dynasty/dp/0345499123/ref=sr_1_74?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475238145&sr=1-74&keywords=nfl+book

Jaws might be loudmouthed idiot on tv, but he co-authored a pretty darn good book
The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays
https://www.amazon.com/Games-That-Changed-Game-Evolution/dp/0345517962/ref=sr_1_67?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475238131&sr=1-67&keywords=nfl+book

And all hail Belichick
War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
https://www.amazon.com/War-Room-Belichick-Building-Perfect/dp/006208240X/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475238058&sr=1-11&keywords=nfl+book

The Education of a Coach
https://www.amazon.com/Education-Coach-David-Halberstam/dp/1401308791/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475238301&sr=1-1&keywords=david+halberstam+belichick

Pretty funny insight into players perspective:

The Rookie Handbook: How to Survive the First Season in the NFL
https://www.amazon.com/Rookie-Handbook-Survive-First-Season/dp/1682450341/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1475237975&sr=8-4&keywords=nfl+book

Also Pete Carrolls book Win Forever is an excellent read.
It has more to do with his Trojan days, but is a very clear telling of his coaching philosophy and why he has succeeded in Seattle. That man knows how to connect with people.

I'll love my Jets until they inevitably kill me from a combination of high blood pressure and other stress related illnesses.

But the reasons I like those two teams are pretty simple:

I LOVED the Dallas teams of the 90's, if only because they drove my Giants fan relatives crazy. But Jay Novacek was also my favorite player, and I played TE in school. Plus I saw them beat the Giants in overtime at the Meadowlands, and Emmitt absolutely dominated despite hurting his shoulder in the first half. If you ever get the chance you should check out Boys will be Boys by Jeff Pearlman, it's a great read.

I loved the Saints ever since I visited NO when I was 10. Fell in love with the entire city really. Those teams in the early 90's Dome Patrol years with Swilling, Walsh, Hilliard, Heyward, Wilks, Martin, Fenerty, Johnson, and all the rest were awesome. I loved using them in Tecmo Super Bowl. Plus they have the coolest unis in the NFL...

First, look on YouTube for basic info. You can find videos about positions and plays and even schemes like the spread pretty easily.

Second, I recommend looking up some film breakdowns. Bill Belichick does them weekly (I think it's weekly) on a local Boston channel, but you can find some of them on YouTube by searching for Belichick Breakdown.

Third, try to find some guides for how to watch football and how to breakdown a game. Articles like this can provide you with a greater understanding of what everyone is doing during a play.

Fourth, do some reading.

I highly recommend Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look to help you while watching the game, but be sure to get the paperback version so you get all the diagrams. It will teach you the progression of the reads, the route running, the blocking and everything that happens on defense as well.

To help you cut through some of the jargon announcers use, I recomment Blood, Sweat and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook.

If you want to learn more about strategies, try The Essential Smart Football.

To learn more about evaluating players, Football Scouting Methods is a must read. It will take you to the football of another era, but with the foundation from all the other info I've provided you will be able to start putting the pyramid together and learn how the game became what it was today.

>Do you know how the NFL and the NFL draft works? This is kinda the crux of it.

You should read my post better. Because that's exactly what I was pointing out. In order to help shitty teams get better, the worst teams get the best draft picks.

>Browns were not exactly given a full deck to play with when they came back

That was 20 years ago. Every single player from back then has long since retired, and the Browns have had enough top draft picks in the ensuing 20 years to have fielded like four SB teams since then.

>Yeah, that is an absolutely terrible analogy. It almost makes me think you don't know how analogies are supposed to work.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you. Let's dive in:

"Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning."

The "bad teams go first" reverse draft order is structured to offer a "handicap" to the bad teams, to give them a better chance of winning. Likewise, giving someone a head start in a race is a way to offer a "handicap" to slower runners, to give them a better chance of winning. And in the same way it would be pretty weak game to talk shit about winning when you only won because you were given a 70 yard head start, it's also pretty weak game to talk shit about how great your team is when it's only good because you were given a "handicap" of top 5 (if not 1st overall) draft picks over and over and over for years and years to help you unshit your team.

You see? That's how analogies work. You should try to get them sometime.

The bottom line is: The Browns didn't repair their shit-hole team themselves, they were helped out by the NFL's draft "welfare" system that gives increased advantage to shit teams. And while other teams may take a year or two of bad records to get themselves right with the draft, the Browns needed two decades of near-constant help. Not sure that's a real brag-worthy thing for Brown's fans to get real cocky about. But I also understand they're... pent up. So here we go.

Smart Football is pretty good for small bite-sized articles on topics- even comes in book form too, though I'm guessing that the book is just a compilation of the blog posts.


Some other books that I liked were mainly ones on Belichick- so War Room was pretty good, easy to read, albeit more about drafting, less technical game-time discussion.



Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods is pretty good too, but written in the 50's / 60's and more leaning towards scouting.


Grantland does occasionally have some good articles.


Football Outsiders is also similarly great at smaller analysis articles.

/r/footballstrategy has a few good links, but it's a quiet(er) subreddit and doesn't get much traffic. Some of the articles that I liked from there came from x and o labs.

Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat, and Chalk does a fantastic job of marrying scheme innovations with the stories behind them.

Same goes for Chris Brown's The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football. I really like his writing.

If you're into the college game, Mark Schofield's 17 Drives does a great job recounting pivotal drives from the last season. He does a great job describing the plays and you can basically imagine it playing out in your head.

I've also read Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods. It's pretty straightforward and dry but there's a lot of good information in there if you're looking to scout opponents. It's pretty amazing how much of the process from 60 years ago translates to today.

Exactly what I came to say. In one of the early sections of the book you're taught to chart a game; quick notes on formations and results that you can do in short hand between snaps. It's like keeping a score sheet at a baseball game and one of the things coaches do on the sidelines. If you do it yourself you'll very quickly learn to recognize whats about to happen on both sides of the ball and then start to learn where you need to watch to see what is really determining the outcome of the play.

It can get pretty dry and since it's almost entirely focused on the modern game it doesn't give a lot of context to go with it's technicality. If you're stalling out on some parts this might help, it's a more friendly initiation into the technical aspects. It's more a history of the major innovations (reinventions?) on each side of the ball and how each built on the last. It's a pretty good road map for what a scheme is all about and how each individual position has turned into what it is today. It will give you a pretty solid grasp on what be going on on the field so that Take Your Eye off the Ball makes more sense when it tries to tell you how to actually see it in the moment

If you're a new fan (like me) then this one I would say is definitely worth it to get a better understanding of the nitty gritty that goes on during games.

Apart from that, I have seen numerous recommendations for Fan Notes (That I haven't read yet) as a good intro to football culture at large. This is currently on my reading list (About 3rd at the moment).

Here is a list of books by NFL's Chris Weaselling that you might find useful. I hope that is a useful enough introduction, and happy reading.

For a good look at the history of the NFL I recommend America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. It's main focus is on the NFL/AFL merger and the business side of how Pro Football became so popular.

The other book I enjoyed was Leatherheads of the North by Chuck Frederick. It's a book about the early days of the NFL, mainly about the Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos, and how the league almost died a few times during those rough and tumble days of the roaring 20's. It's pretty short but it's a lot of fun to peer back to a time before the NFL had the strength and popularity it enjoys now.

That's one of the contributing factors of Football IQ, and the very basics. Other than that, you have to know what defender is going to do what in which system.
There are QBs who also determine blocking schemes for their line. They say which blocking scheme to apply for which play, and switch them up if need be.
Very, very basically, a spread offense spreads out the defense across the width of the field, instead of bunching everything together around the ball. If you spread the defense out, there are bound to be more holes. That could mean putting 4 or even 5 WRs out away from the Oline (hence, wide), for instance.
A lot of the times, they add in the read option in that play. If a certain defender goes into coverage or for the HB, the QB keeps the ball and runs through the gaps of the defense. If the defender stands pat, the QB hands it off to the HB (or throws).
There are some great books that explain a lot of these things. A few I would definitely recommend are (in order of how deep they go into stuff):

• Take Your Eye Off the Ball
  
• The Essential Smart Football
  
• Blood, Sweat and Chalk, which is slightly more advanced but the best out of the three. It dives into the history of the game. Absolutely fascinating!
  
  And Arians' book, The Quarterback Whisperer goes into the practicallities of making the jump from college to the pro's. It's a marvellous read!
  
  Edit: formatting
  

War Room is a great book that gives insight to how teams are built, prepare for the draft, and gives background on the 1995 Browns Staff that ended up having like 3 GMs and 7 head coaches

I'm at work right now, but will add some more as I think of them.

Edit: There's also "The GM" which gives insight about being a GM, the decisions made, and again building a team. It's centered around Ernie Accorsi who was the GM of the Giants, and one of the more respected GMs in football history.

And of course, everything you are looking for can be found in The Winning Edge by Bill Walsh. Literally covers everything from top to bottom on how to run/build a football team. But it is super expensive. If you can find the means, I highly suggest it.

The "All or Nothing" series on Amazon was really good. Also, the official NFL channel on Youtube has a lot of full games, including Super Bowls. As a Saints fan, I recommend watching Super Bowl XLIV. And definitely check out the "America's Game" episodes on all the Super Bowl winners.

Spoken like someone who doesn't know their history.

> It's like you've all forgotten that the only reason you (might) be relevant this year is because of the absurd amount of top 5 (if not #1 overall) draft picks

Trust me, no one has forgotten how shit the Browns have been since coming back in '99.

>you've been given year after year after year thanks to your constant sucking, until half you team is made of top 5 players.

Do you know how the NFL and the NFL draft works? This is kinda the crux of it. The worst teams get the highest draft picks so they have an opportunity to draft the best players. Seems like you might've been unaware of how that works.

Besides, the Browns were not exactly given a full deck to play with when they came back, so it's not like there was a chance of any kind of stability to help maintain a winning culture.

> It's like losing the 100 yard dash so badly that eventually the competitors give you a 70 yard head start, and then when you come in 5th place you start talking shit like you did it yourself.

Yeah, that is an absolutely terrible analogy. It almost makes me think you don't know how analogies are supposed to work.

If the Browns were being spotted a 2.5 touchdown lead in every game and still finished with the record they had in 2018, then yeah, your analogy would be apt because distance is to a race as points are to a game of football.

As it stands though, your version is terrible because the Browns did not get that head start in all their games, and in fact played with something of a handicap for half of the season with Hue & Haley at the helm, as well as rookies and second year players all over the field.

But it's all good! I'm definitely not going to make fun of a certain horse-faced GM who works for a certain horse-based team that can't evaluate QB talent for shit. That would be rude of me.

I don't know. One one had, he's kind of young (only 42), but he's won a superbowl ring and there are only so many NFL HC jobs available.

On the other hand, most coordinators have gone on have little success outside of NE (weiss, crennel, mangini, mcdaniels). Bill O'brien is the only guy who really has gone to any sort of success (penn state and texans).

People think they're hiring Belichick jr. But Belichick has been coaching in the NFL for as long as long as Patricia has been alive (ok, technically, belichick started in 1975 and patricia was born in 1974, but the point stands). That, and Belichick started breaking down film when he was 10 and his dad literally wrote the book on scouting.

That said, NFL coaches typically make $4-5 million/year and get 3-5 year contracts. It'd be tough to turn down that kind of fully guaranteed money.

Amazon link.

Great book! Despite being a football official and a longtime fan, this book was a great and educational read. He does a great job of making it easy to read for knowledgeable fans as well as new ones.

If you ask the Patriots who their gunner is, they will tell you that it's Matthew Slater.

If you ask the Patriots who their General Manager is, they will tell you that the position doesn't exist.

This is not semantics, either. The position has never existed under Robert Kraft's ownership. Most of the people on this subreddit were not alive the last time the Patriots had a General Manager.

When Kraft assumed ownership of the New England Patriots, he inherited Bill Parcells as his head coach. Parcells had been hired by the previous owner, James B. Orthwein, and had essentially been given full control over player personnel.

Over time, Kraft did not feel like Parcells accepted enough of his input in player personnel decisions. This came to a head in the 1996 NFL Draft, when Parcells wanted to draft defensive end Tony Brackens with the 7th overall pick, but Kraft overruled him and selected WR Terry Glenn instead. Parcells resigned from the Patriots after the 1996 season, and took over as HC of the NYJ.

His experience with Parcells led Kraft to believe that coaching and personnel should be separated, and as a result, his next head coach, Pete Carroll, was given no authority over personnel decisions. When this arrangement failed spectacularly, Kraft had to revise his thoughts about separating coaching and personnel, and agreed to give new head coach Bill Belichick broad authority over personnel decisions, provided that Kraft himself would be included in discussions.

Thus, the duties traditionally carried out by a General Manager are handled by a group of individuals working together, which include Kraft, Belichick, and some lesser-known people like Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort. Kraft believes that this is the best way to run the front office, and that's how Belichick wants it to be run anyway. The reason why Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli have been successful in their GM jobs in Atlanta and Kansas City is due, I think, in no small part to their expanded duties as part of the Patriots front office.

Source: War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team by Michael S. Holley

Mike Tanier (formerly of Football Outsiders, the Fifth Down Blog, and elsewhere, soon to be of Sports On Earth) is far and away the best wordsmith. He's one of the best analyzers, too.

Chris Brown is also great. Here is his "essentials" book. A great place to start if you don't know his work.

This book was pretty helpful. It isn’t too long and it’s not a bad read. It breaks down the basics of formations and play types. It helps you understand and figure out a teams game plan while you’re watching the game. I haven’t read it in a while so I don’t remember everything it gets into but you see the game differently after you read it. Definitely doesn’t get into everything but it’s a pretty good start.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=nodl_

There's actually a fantastic book that covers this exact question, along with charting the rise of the NFL from its roots to present day.

America's Game: The epic story of how Pro Football captured a nation.

I highly suggest anyone who hasn't read it before check it out. Not only is it well written, it's full of fantastic behind-the-scenes information on the sport. I read it first as a casual NFL follower and it gave me an unbelievable amount of history and understanding of the game. I re-read it this summer now as a die-hard and knowledgeable fan, and it's just as good.

But again, to the OP's question, this book traces the history of the NFL from a drowning, practically broke league 70+ years ago to our nation's favorite sport.

Can we not turn this subreddit into /r/TIL. TIL post don't really add much in the way of discussion (especially when it's just linking to Wikipedia articles).

For anyone interested in more NFL history I would highly recommend reading America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. I read it back in high school and it did an excellent job of giving a good overview of the NFL's history (going back to the 1930s I think).

Collision Low Crossers - A reporter is embedded with Rex Ryan's NYJ during their most recent championship runs. Really good inside look written by a football layman. He really breaks things down and gives some awesome glimpses into what the in's and out's of an entire year of football.

False Start: How the New Browns Were Set Up to Fail - A book that looks specifically looks into why the Browns have been complete shit for so long. Delving into the expansion draft process, how a new owner acquires a team, finding GMs, what GMs do, etc. It honestly does a fair job, and IMO paints a better emotional picture for someone unexposed to Cleveland sports than 30 for 30: Believeland episode did. It ends on a horribly depressing note as it's from 2004 and he says things are finally looking up...

Fumble : The Browns, Modell, & the Move - An interesting look from Art Modell's accountant. But it is written by an accountant, so it gets incredibly dry at times. Fascinating (if somewhat painful) inside look at the life of an owner, how a team makes money, what exactly happened with Modell and why he had "No options left".

If you're interested in the history of the NFL (and just professional football in general,) I highly recommend America's Game by Michael MacCambridge. While being pretty comprehensive, it is never dry. It's very cool learning about how football went from a sport that no one cared about outside of college to the behemoth that it is today.

If you like reading, this is a great book for people like you and still good for any NFL fan. I enjoyed it even though I read it at 30 years old and I've been watching football since I was 3.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Where to start....

You're OK It's Just a Bruise - A Doctor's Sideline Secrets About Pro Football's Most Outrageous Team by Rob Huizenga. As a team doctor for the Raiders during the 80s, Huizenga has access to Al Davis, Howie Long, Lyle Alzado, and others. Another in a long line of books that shows player medical treatment is poor.

Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football by Dan Moldea. Eye opening stuff about the connections between the owners and the mafia. It raises suspicions on rigged games in the history of the NFL and also goes into the gambling connections.

Bringing the Heat by Mark Bowden. A great book about the Eagles of the early 90s. It goes into the lack of injury treatment, follows Reggie White and Buddy Ryan, and touches on Jerome Brown's death and it's impact to the team.

Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty by Jeff Pearlman. I grew up hating the 90s Cowboys, but it was nice to read about the inside of that team. The book goes into the personalities, the Jones-Johnson clash, the Irvin - McIver stabbing, and the cocaine houses.

The Dark Side of the Game by Tim Green. Another great book that goes into detail about drug tests, injuries, treatment, and everything that goes on in an NFL locker room. One of my favorites.

Happy to Be Alive by Darryl Stingley. This is an autobiography of receiver Darryl Stingley chronicling his life before and after the paralyzing hit by Jack Tatum.

Meat on a Hoof by Gary Shaw. It talks about college football at UT in the 70s. The treatment of the players was pretty shocking to read. This is one you can find cheaper in a used bookstore.

Here's a good book called "Keep Your Eye Off The Ball." It's always raved about here on /r/nfl, and it pretty much teaches you how to watch football properly.

It's definitely not for beginners. I've given up on the book in several parts as I'm still a relatively new fan, but what I have got from it is great.

I loved Blood, Sweat, and Chalk. It goes into the history of things like the Air Raid, the 46 defense, Single Wing, etc.

It is a great read in one sitting or as a coffee table/bathroom book.

I haven't been involved with coaching at a high level, but I will recommend a book that goes over this, to route concepts, to some popular play-calling verbiage. For example Zebra is sometimes referred to as 11 personnel, or 1 RB and 1 TE. This book is a book I think every football fan should have on the shelf.

It's called Take your eye off the ball

Written by Pat Kirwan, with forewords by Pete Carroll and Bill Cowher

It's only $5.08 on Amazon right now. I wouldn't pass that up.

Anker makes some a lot cheaper that work pretty well.

These are pretty similar and I plan on getting them but I have these for the gym which I love

This book, although old, is full of awesome anecdotes, strategy and technique analysis. Can't recommend it enough.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0671602764
I would honestly shy away from madden unless you know literally nothing. While you learn what plays are and that kind of thing it really doesn't teach you strategy. It's just nice to know when you play.

Anker has some great ones too around 25. I love mine. They go around your ears too and have a wire in the back which I like more than the completely wireless ones.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0721MP41Q/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Well that's my point, he's not really adding value by making sweeping generalizations after a Week 1 loss. To those points, (1) Is age really an issue? Fitz looked great out there and he's definitely leading the way in age. Carson looked bad, but I'd argue that's because he's bad.
(2) The Cards have played very well, probably their best offense, without DJ in the mix. In fact, BA is all about, "next man up." (3) There is nothing to indicate that is even a concern. That is straight speculation he bases off nothing more than his opinion. OP should watch All or Nothing becuase that arguement is BS.

I'm not implying that OP needs to break down individual plays, but he needs something more to backup his statements. Even if OP is looking at them, "from a macro level," OP needs more than broad generalizations that can be applied to any team. For example "the Cards are screwed moving forward because they ran the ball this many times against the Lions so they clearly rely on the run," or, "age is an issue for the Cardinals because X DB is Y old and clearly couldn't keep up with Z in man coverage."

With all that said, I do agree with OP's premise. I have serious concerns about both BA and Keim at this point. For both to be so blindly confident in both Palmer and Stanton is straight absurd. I can't and won't defend that move.

best football book of all time written by this guy: "The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football".

I had to find an old beaten up copy second hand years ago, I don't know if it's easier to find now.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Mans-Guide-Professional-Football/dp/0671602764 Looks pretty expensive on here

The more you watch the more you'll be able to see things out of your peripheral vision. Like when playing a video game you're shooting at someone while also looking at the radar at the same time.

Also if you're interested this book is really good: http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/

For the most basic and easy to understand introduction, I highly suggest the book Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look by Pat Kirwan.

Youtube channels -

Samuel Gold

Brett Kollmann like /u/browntown6969 pointed out as well

Blog -

Smart Football (also his books) along with the other blogs linked to on that website

All of those are really great and helped me when I first starting learning about football on a deeper level.

Plus it's George Plimpton, who is a legitimately good writer.

Another good one is The Education of a Coach, by Pulitzer winner David Halberstam.

I read the Blind Side too which was a strong read but my personal favorite was the one that Pat Kirwin (you can listen to him on Sirius NFL radio) put out last year. It's called Take Your Eye Off the Ball . It doesn't have as much history as it does strategies and coach/GM speak. A very good read though.

These are some books I bought a few months back as a recommendation from someone on this sub and they're fantastic.

[Take Your Eye off the Ball 2.0] (http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-4&keywords=smart+football)

[The Art of Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+football)

[The Essential Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-2&keywords=smart+football)

About older times:

Slingin' Sam

Instant Replay

Boys Will Be Boys

Newer Releases

Driven: From Homeless to Hero, My Journeys On and Off Lambeau Field

The New Orleans Saints Story: The 43-Year Road to the Super Bowl XLIV Championship

I don't know too much about this myself, but I found "The Art of Smart Football" by Chris B. Brown (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/258-9038664-6346904?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4YW2R5VT4YR69EQDD7Y4) very enlightening.

I really liked "The Real All-Americans" about the Carlisle Indian School. Although it has nothing to do with the NFL. Except that Jim Thorpe played for them and he played in the very very early NFL.

I also really liked "The Education of a Coach". A biography of Bill Belichick. Obviously this would have limited appeal outside of NE.

When the NFL first started broadcasting games on TV, circa 1949-1950 in Los Angeles for the Rams, they immediately saw a HUGE decrease in attendance. Back then, attendance and ticket sales were (by a very wide margin) their largest source of revenue. If it hadn't been for a sneaky deal that Dan Reeves had signed with the TV conglomerate that was doing the broadcasting (which saw him compensated for attendance drops greater than about 10%, IIRC), the Rams would have seen insurmountable monetary losses that first TV season.

Nowadays, the revenue model is based on TV contracts, so the rules are a bit outdated.

EDIT: this book has a pretty good couple of sections about the early TV experiments the NFL did. The wikipedia page on the blackout rules also has some info.

Piggybacking to provide Amazon links:

• The Essential Smart Football by Chris B. Brown
  
  
• Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look by Pat Kirwan
  
  
• Football Scouting Methods by Steve Belichick
  
  
• The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski
  
  ...and also to add a couple of homer suggestions of my own:
  
  
• Brady vs Manning: The Untold Story of the Rivalry That Transformed the NFL by Gary Myers
  
  
• Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time by Ian O'Connor

Passage from the War Room where Bill Belichick discusses with Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff about trading up to get Julio Jones:

>"Thomas, I'm just telling you as a friend," Belichick says, "I wouldn't do it."
>When Belichick began studying the 2011 draft, he saw great depth at the receiver position. Why go all-out for someone like Jones when you can have a Jonathan Baldwin, who as far as, Belichick can see, is just as good if not better than Jones?

https://www.amazon.com/False-Start-Browns-Were-Fail/dp/1886228884/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=false+start+browns&qid=1572028645&sr=8-1

If you can find a free copy it's a quick and good read and a very thorough explanation as to how the NFL screwed us over as an "expansion team". The NFL didn't want an expansion team to come out and dominate year 1 so they hamstringed the Browns hardcore by changing expansion draft rules and only giving the Browns less than like half the time the Titans Jags had to put together a front office and coaching staff for the draft. We have been churning over head coaches and GMs who want their own people ever since.

I haven't read the book in about 5 years so I can't provide a very good synopsis, maybe someone else remembers better.

Edit: Knew there was a summary somewhere out there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Browns/comments/33v830/the_story_of_how_your_cleveland_browns_were_set/

A good intro to understanding the game of football is Pat Kirwan's book, Take Your Eye Off The Ball.

Take his notes on the origins of zone blocking with a grain of salt, though.

NFL Game Rewind is also a fantastic resource, giving fans the ability to watch the same kind of film coaches do.

I picked up this book myself and found it super interesting:

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look

Definitely helped me understand not just the game on the field but also things around it, like drafts and contracts.

Take Your Eye Off The Ball 2.0 by Patrick Kirwan is respected by players, coaches, and football executives as one of the best books to learn everything you need to know about football.

Comes with experience. It's probably the most complex team sport there is, with games being more chess matches than anything.

You can accelerate your learning by reading books like Take Your Eye off the Ball if you're really invested in learning more, but even something like getting into the Madden games can help a lot. Plenty of online resources as well for concepts and formations and whatnot.

While you'll learn plenty just by watching, without a bit of background on the fundamentals, a lot of stuff is gonna be lost on the average viewer.

Sure I mean there is a whole book written on it. And I should really say it wasn't just the draft, but the entire set of circumstances surrounding their return to the league.

The tl;dr is that the confirmation of Al Lerner's purchase of the team was heavily delayed in an attempt to drive up the price of the franchise. The NFL was hoping more bidders would come in last minute with better offers. That didn't happen and the final paperwork was signed less than a year before the first game of the season. To contrast, the Panthers and Jaguars had about 2 years to build their team. The Texans had over 3 years.

This doesn't just mean players, though that's a big part of it. It means front office. It means coaching. It means facilities. All of that was delayed. It was an impossible task. A lot of coaches saw this and didn't want to come to Cleveland. Before the roster had even been built! They just knew it would be the shit show that it was. So let's just call Chris Palmer's (first new HC) tenure a complete wash. It's not like he left things any better than they were when he get there though. How could he? Butch Davis inherited the same mess, and so on and so forth until present day.

The draft was fucked up because the rules in place for the Browns were far more strict than the rules put in place for the Jags and Panthers. The Browns were allowed to select fewer players from each individual team. Players on IR the year before were not excluded from the players made available to them. The Browns were given the scraps of the scraps to work with and it was compounded by the fact that the team was only started a few months before the fucking expansion draft even took place! Try putting together a competent scouting department and then actually scouting players in that amount of time.

I'm not saying the team hasn't been massively incompetent at the same time. Lots of bad draft picks. Trouble attracting free agents. A poor track record of treating injuries. Lots of things. But there are other incompetent organizations out there and they seem to figure it out every once in a while. I mean after 20 years you think would accidentally do a couple of things right! But the Browns have been trying to flip heads and have come up with tails for almost 20 years now. Like I can barely believe it's possible sometimes. They were certainly done no favors from the onset though.

This book is awesome:

https://www.amazon.com/Games-That-Changed-Game-Evolution/dp/0345517962

Has a whole chapter dedicated to Belichick

If you can, buy and read a book called "Take You Eye off the Ball 2.0" by Pat Kirwin. I've watched football my whole life, but never really "got" all of it until I read his book. It's really great, and I think a must-read.



http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465224346&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Take+your+eye+offthe+bal

He was a scout and teacher at Navy from 1956 to 1989. He wrote a great book Football Scouting Methods

It's a good read, even if the formation stuff is a bit outdated.

Most of these are analytical:

Take your eyes of the ball by Pat Kirwan.


The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski

War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team by Michael Holley


The Art of Smart Football by Chris B. Brown

Boys will be boys. Such a great look back on what being a football superstar was like before the age of social media and before when everyone had a phone.

I kinda even hate the cowboys but I still really enjoyed it and think back on it from time to time. Some of the stories stay with you.

Main factor, I guess, is time. There's some fantastic reading material on it, but I think the basis was that the Panthers and Jags had around 640 days to get ready for expansion; the Browns? They got 370. Think about how long this LA thing is taking, if, tomorrow, they just said "YEAH, FUCK IT; NEW TEAM IN LA NEXT YEAR, EXPANSION DRAFT, GET STARTED NOW, NEW OWNER WILL BE WHO THE FUCK CARES, GO GET IT." Like that.

False Start by Terry Pluto goes into it more in depth.

Here's also a great explanation from /u/Brokewood.

For how to appreciate the game more, Take Your Eye Off The Ball.

For a great narrative from a player's perspective, Slow Getting Up.

This book by the late Dr. Z is one of the best football books I've read. I also like Take Your Eye Off the Ball.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Nothing-Arizona-Cardinals-Unrated/dp/B01GF3WPU8

Just click the Play button symbol next an episode and you're good. No prime needed. Completely free.

It's dated now, but still one of the great books about NFL football: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football by Paul Zimmerman

Also http://www.smartfootball.com/ by Chris Brown from Grantland.
He also wrote a book http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595, which is on the short side but talks a lot about not only different strategies/formations but also the history behind them. Great deal for the kindle ($3).

Not OP but here's a great resource if you're looking for a deeper understanding.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Chris Brown's Smart Football blog is pretty good. I also got a lot of mileage out of Take Your Eye Off The Ball and Blood, Sweat, and Chalk.

What I don't understand, is why they haven't been able to computerize Madden's voice for the video game. They should have been able to pull all the audio they have of him (which should be thousands of hours) and piece it together to allow them to use it in the current games.

It would be great. I miss him in the game and in real life.

If you get a chance, check out his book"One Knee equals two feet".

Take your Eye Off the Ball is an excellent read that can help explain some of the more subtle things about football.

The New Thinking Man's Guide to Professional Football. While this is an out of print book from 1985, it's brilliant, still relevant, and very well written.

Read 'Take Your Eye off the Ball' by Pat Kirwan. Its AWESOME!

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406482909&sr=1-1&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball

Teaches you a lot.

This is a very good book. Also, Blood, Sweat, and Chalk by Tim Layden gives a good history and explanation of football innovations through the years.

reddit.com/r/footballstrategy/wiki

The Games that Changed the Game

Take your eyes off the ball

Blood Sweat and Chalk

are all great if you want to get into detail

Take Your Eye Off the Ball by Pat Kirwin is one of the best football books money can buy

Used copy on Amazon can be had for a few bucks

Here is an excellent book to learn all the basics and some advanced stuff about football.

Take Your Eye Off the Ball

Pat Kirwan's Take your eye off the ball is amazing.

Worth every penny.

America's Game by Michael MacCambridge is a tremendously detailed chronology of the NFL. I believe it starts with the 1958 championship game and continues to present day. I highly recommend it.

I picked this up during the offseason and it helped level up my understanding quickly. Maybe a Xmas gift to yourself candidate:

The Art of Smart Football

A book called 'take your eye off the ball' is suppose to be good for learning the x's and o's. It's suppose to help get a grasp of formations and the chess match of the game.
Edit: link to Amazon and words.

Pretty sure his dad wrote a scouting book.

EDIT - http://www.amazon.com/Football-Scouting-Methods-Steve-Belichick/dp/0978588150

Take Your Eye Off The Ball is a great place to start!

Well then, you're in luck!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Arizona_Cardinals_season

https://www.amazon.com/All-Nothing-Arizona-Cardinals-Unrated/dp/B01GF3WPU8

The Education of a Coach - David Halberstam. Great book about Bill Belichick

a great book by Pat Kirwin: ["Keep Your Eye off the Ball"]
(http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347921117&sr=8-1&keywords=keep+your+eye+off)

This book is a great resource. The dude knows the game.

Check out Matt Bowen's Football 101 stuff from when he was with Bleacher Report:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2007958-nfl-101-the-basics-of-the-3-4-defensive-front

He's really good at explaining everything.

There are also some books that have been recommended quite a few times on this sub, like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Came here to recommend Take Your Eye Off The Ball which is ridiculously thorough.

This version even includes a DVD.

It's $10. Definitely worth it.

> You don't see conspiracies growing around the Jags, Browns, or even my Fins and there's a reason for that.

How about the basis of this book?

Basically when the Jags and Panthers joined the NFL and were immediately successful the other NFL owners were annoyed/frustrated that these newly formed teams could just come in and beat their established teams so quickly. When the Browns were re-forming in 99 the NFL owners then postponed the votes on who would be the new owner multiple times pushing the vote back over and over again even though it was almost a given that Lerner was going to be the guy. When the ownership was finally approved, the Browns ended up having the shortest amount of time to prepare a team out of any expansion in the history of the NFL by a pretty wide margin. There was also more about the teams making the expansion draft even harder on the Browns. Terry Pluto makes a pretty damn good case based on interviews and observations from people involved in the process that the '99 Browns were set up to struggle from the start. Everything after that has been the organization's fault of course but those first couple seasons were really hamstrung by the rest of the NFL ownership.

One knee equals two feet by John Madden is probably incredibly outdated but useful breakdown of the rules for the casual fan. He gets a lot of shit (deservedlyish) for being a buffoon in his later years but the man knows and incredible amount about the game and how to pass that along to the uninitiated so to speak.

I'm making plenty of changes to how I'm living my life; some small, some larger. One thing is I've wanted to get back into reading; I'm slowly working through it, but I have so much I want to go through. Should I stick to one book at a time, or can I juggle back and forth between multiple?

For those who are curious, this is what I'm working on right now, and I'm about 1/5 of my way through the first read (because I know I'll come back to reference it all the time).

[America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation ] (https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Game-Football-Captured-Nation/dp/0375725067) by Michael MacCambridge is a really good starting point. It basically covers everything from the first draft to the early 2000.

I'd recommend checking out Take Your Eye Off The Ball. It's a solid introduction to some of the more subtle aspects of football that don't usually come across in the broadcast.

Go get this book. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0375725067?pc_redir=1409147524&robot_redir=1

One of the best football history books I've ever read - and it'll give you a new appreciation for your team. Basically, the NFC north wouldn't exist without the Browns.

I recommend reading this if you really want to understand the game. It puts perspective on a whole 'nother level.

Paul Zimmerman's Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football is a must read for serious fans. He does a step by step breakdown of the adjustments defenses and offenses have made from the start of the game to the 80s. It's a great basic starting point.

>do you have any recommendations how to get in the sport?

John Madden's book from the 80's called "One Knee Equals Two Feet and Everything Else You Need to Know About Football" is a good resource for beginners.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Knee-Equals-Two-Feet/dp/0394553284

Take Your Eye Off the Ball is a good book to check out.

For football history from an X's and O's perspective one of my favorites is Blood, Sweat and Chalk.

You will probably like this.

This book will lay it all out for you quite well

Dude, do yourself a favor and read [Boys Will be Boys] (http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Will-Be-Cowboys-Dynasty/dp/0061256811), your team was delightfully fucked up in the 90's!

Football is really really complicated, you're never going to learn the technique related stuff (how to release from press as a WR, how to chain moves together as a pass rusher) without playing yourself

Learning general knowledge stuff like formations and pre-snap reads for an offense/defense read "Take your eyes off the ball"

The Real Football Network, Pat Kirwan's site, is offering the updated version on his [site] (https://realfootballnetwork.com/product/take-your-eye-off-the-ball-2-0-value-pack-3-printed-ebook-and-audio-book/)

They're running a sale on the bundle packs as well.

[Amazon lists it for $13.] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629371696/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_.UdLwbWX59N0V)

Football Scouting Methods, by Steven Belichick

His father, not him, but still considered the book on scouting by many. A large part of Bill's knowledge comes from growing up in a football environment.

"Take Your Eye Off the Ball"

Worth the price.

This wasn't written by Belichick, but is an excellent read: Education of a Coach by Dave Halberstam. I read this 5 or so years ago and it made me completely re-think how I viewed coaches in the NFL. I highly recommend it.

Hell, I'm going to go home after work and start re-reading it now that I'm reminded of it.

I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but Boys Will be Boys is an entertaining read. It's about the cowboys in the '90's and their crazy shenanigans.

http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Will-Be-Cowboys-Dynasty/dp/0061256811/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426266643&sr=1-1&keywords=boys+will+be+boys

Playing MAdden is okay, but I find it hard to believe nobody has suggested actually reading a book other than the rule book.
Check these out:
Take your Eye off the Ball

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk

Football almost died in the beginning of the 1900's when 11 college kids died in one season. However, Roosevelt (I believe it was him, I'm Canadian so forgive me) really loved football and didn't want the nation to be "soft" and thought that football was great for toughness. He legislated tons of shit and basically started the changes necessary to make football safer. In came the helmet.

Source: America's Game, the book.
http://www.amazon.ca/Americas-Game-Michael-MacCambridge/dp/0375725067

Not to spam: but War Room

Read the book Blood, Sweat and Chalk. This is a must read for any fan no or old

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Sweat-Chalk-Ultimate-Football/dp/1603200614

Here's the book from Pearlman

He wrote them years ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Hey-Wait-Minute-Wrote-Book/dp/0345325079/ref=la_B000APKRD0_1_3_twi_cas_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449813948&sr=1-3

http://www.amazon.com/One-Knee-Equals-Two-Feet/dp/0394553284/ref=la_B000APKRD0_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449813948&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/One-Size-Doesnt-Fit-All/dp/0394563131/ref=la_B000APKRD0_1_4_twi_tex_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449813948&sr=1-4

Steve Belichick: Football Scouting Methods

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595/ref=pd_cp_b_0

This should get you started.

https://www.amazon.ca/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

LOL

Get a book by Pat Kirwan called take your eyes off the ball:

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look

Take Your Eye off the ball: How to watch football by knowing where to look

Pat Kirwan's "Take Your Eye Off the Ball"

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2WF70MTV1EPJN&keywords=take+your+eye+off+the+ball&qid=1571011683&sprefix=take+your+eye+of%2Caps%2C208&sr=8-2

Great book that explains this (and a lot more) in detail for the layperson. Go to the "Look Inside" deal and see page 31, he breaks down/diagrams out a call and shows how the pattern works.

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910

This book helped me a lot

[Take your eye off the ball] (http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910) by Pat Kirwan is exactly what you're looking for

Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1600783910/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Ese5Cb4H8GXDW

Take your eye off the ball

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.ca/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910&ved=0ahUKEwjv-NjDrYzVAhUU12MKHdsHBWYQFghkMAo&usg=AFQjCNHaxkn39qoocGE1lxW3XHIpPF5k6Q

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c

This book. Take Your Eye Off the Ball, by Pat Kirwin.

https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503432953&sr=8-1&keywords=pat+kirwan