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Last Team Standing: How the Steelers and the Eagles, the Steagles, Saved Pro Football During World War II
Author(s): Matthew Algeo (Author)
- Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc
- Publication Date: 28 Aug. 2006
- Language: English
- Print length: 288 pages
- ISBN-10: 0306814722
- ISBN-13: 9780306814723
Book Description
This work offers a look at the American home front during World War II, through the eyes of a unique chapter in American Football history. During the Second World War, the American National Football League faced a crisis unimaginable today: a shortage of players. By 1943, so many players were in the armed forces that the league was forced to fold one team and merge two others: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. Thus were born the Steagles. The Steagles comprised military draft rejects, aging stars lured out of retirement and even a few active servicemen who managed to get leave for the games. The centre was deaf in one ear, the wide receiver was blind in one eye (and partially blind in another), and the halfback had bleeding ulcers. The team was jointly coached by two former NFL Hall of Famers who hated each others guts. Yet somehow, this motley and woebegone bunch managed to post a winning record – the first in the history of the Eagles and the second in the history of the Steelers, and beat two powerhouses (the Redskins and the Giants). They are perhaps the least remembered great team in sports history, and their fascinating story has never before been told in depth. But “Last Team Standing” isn’t just about football. It’s also about life in the United States during the Second World War, a time of fear and hope, of sacrifice and greed, of change – and violent resistance to it. It’s about rationing, recycling drives and racism. It’s about draft boards, bond drives, the A-bomb and movie stars. Above all, it’s about men and women who couldn’t fight, but helped win the war in humbler ways.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Matthew Algeo is a reporter for Marketplace, a radio news programme with a weekly audience of more than 8 million people. He’s won many awards for his reporting, and lives in Virginia, USA.
