The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football by Paul Zimmerman (Dr. Z)

[Jeff W]

I got this book for christmas. I'm about 3/4 of the way through it and I highly recommend it. It's out of print--If you order it make sure you get the New guide, not the old (pre-1978 rules changes) version. It was written by Paul Zimmerman aka Dr. Z in 1984, but it's still very relevant to football today(surprisingly so).

It is chock full of detailed analysis of every phase of the game from training camp to historical trends in play calling, formations, etc to overviews of every position group to steroid abuse.

It's also full of of hilarious and/or informative quotes.

Bob Kuechenberg(borderline HOF Guard) was told by Norm Van Brocklin to move his whole family to Chicago and he was gauranteed a roster spot. Van Brocklin then cut him before the season started and he sent a "turk" to tell him instead of saying it himself. Kuechenberg had this to say:

"But I'll tell you what was one of my great accomplishments in my professional football career. I helped get Van Brocklin fired. We beat them, 42-7, in 1974. I wanted to run a sweep to their bench so I could put my cleat marks on his neck. Anyway, he got fired the next day. It's one of the top 10 highlights of my career."

I highly recommended it for the studious NFL fan.