June 6, 2004

Football Stars Of… 1964 to 1974

The library when I was a child fascinated me.  I especially liked reading all of the sports books that it had available.  When I finished reading all of the sports books in the children’s section, the librarian allowed me to go to the adult section to start taking out sports books from that section.  As I got older, I established my own football library.  Hard cover and paperbacks decorate the walls of my study.  I can usually find football books at tag sales and at used bookstores at a reasonable price and continue to build up my library.

There was a set of books that I started collecting at an early age and about five years ago, I finished the set of them.  The paperback, “Football Stars of” series captured my attention at a young age.  I purchased when they were first printed the 1969,70,71 and 72 copies of this football paperback.  At that time these books were $.50 to $.75 cents each and that was for me very reasonable and very affordable.  I kept those four books and over the years was able to finish the set.

The,  “Football Stars of” series was published by Pyramid Books of New York.  Noted football writer Barry Gottehrer wrote the 1964 edition.  From 1965 to 1968, the well-known sports writer Barry Stainback handled the writing duties.  Larry Bortstein wrote the 1969 to 1971 issues. Completing the run from 1972 to 1974, the writing team of football writers Hal Bock and Ben Olan wrote these editions.

The beauty of these books to me was the conciseness of the writing.  There was a certain crispness to the book, which I personally do not see in today’s football writing.  Each year’s book contained player biographies, several coach’s favorite plays and game statistics.  In the early editions there was exceptional early American Football League biographies that helped solidify the history of the league.

Another reason that I enjoyed these books was that there were several biographies of legendary Green Bay Packers players such as Jim Taylor and my all time favorite Hall of Fame Quarterback Bart Starr.  Also you were reading about two distinct times in football history, 1964-1969 when two leagues were in existence and the post merger infancy of 1970-1974. 

Here is a listing of the series and a range of pricing for them.  Remember pricing is subjective, you as a collector may willing to pay a higher price to obtain a certain issue for your collection or to finish the run.

Beginning in 1975 a similar book was written but it was geared towards a school age audience and was published by Scholastic Book Services.  I do not consider those books as part of this series.

I have read these books many times over and I still enjoy this series of true football history.  This would make a great addition to your football library.

Until next time good luck with your collections.

Past Articles of "The Football Collector"

1965 Coke Football Caps
Clearing Off My Desk

Bob Swick has been collecting football cards since 1965.  He also collects programs, yearbooks, media guides, ticket stubs, pocket schedules, and team photos of the Green Bay Packers, of which he is a shareholder.  He is a contributing writer to “Gridiron Greats” magazine.  He is also a member of The Professional Football Researchers Association