Tough luck : Sid Luckman, Murder, Inc., and the rise of the modern NFL / R. D. Rosen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rosen, Richard Dean, 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Luckman, Sid.

National Football League--History.

National Football League.

Chicago Bears (Football team)--History.

Chicago Bears (Football team).

Football players--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Football players.

Organized crime--United States--History.

Organized crime.

Immigrant families.

History.

United States.

Immigrant families--Illinois--Chicago.

Sports--Corrupt practices--United States.

Sports.

Sports--Corrupt practices.

Illinois--Chicago.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 306 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, [2019]

Summary:

"In the long annals of sports and crime, no story compares to the one that engulfed the Luckman family in 1935. As eighteen-year-old Sid Luckman made headlines across New York City for his football exploits at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, his father, Meyer Luckman, was making headlines in the same papers for a very different reason: the gangland murder of his own brother-in-law. Amazingly, after Sid became a star at Columbia and then led the Chicago Bears to multiple NFL championships, all while Meyer wasted away in Sing Sing, the connection between sports celebrity son and mobster father was ignored by the press and then overlooked for eight decades. Tough Luck traces two historic developments connected by a single immigrant family in Depression-era New York: the rise of the National Football League through the dynastic Chicago Bears, whose famed owner George Halas convinced Sid Luckman to help him turn the sluggish game of pro football into America's favorite pastime; and the demise-triggered by Meyer Luckman's crime-of the Brooklyn labor rackets and of Louis Lepke's infamous organization Murder Inc. Filled with colorful characters-from ambitious district attorney turned governor Thomas Dewey and legendary columnist Walter Winchell, to Sid Luckman's rival quarterback "Slingin'" Sammy Baugh; from hit men like "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum, to Sid's powerful post-career friends Frank Sinatra and Joe DiMaggio-Tough Luck unforgettably evokes an era of vicious Brooklyn mobsters and undefeated Monsters of the Midway, a time when the media kept their mouths shut and the soft-spoken son of a murderer could become a beloved Hall of Fame legend with a hidden past"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Hog-Tied and Trussed p. 11

2 The Erasmus Terror p. 18

3 One Heartless Tangle p. 28

4 A Worrisome Gent p. 43

5 Specialized Persuasions p. 50

6 A Good Future in Trucking p. 61

7 Up the River p. 83

8 Captive City p. 89

9 A Fast Passing Game p. 99

10 Runaround p. 113

11 Rookie p. 121

12 They All Laughed p. 129

13 Whiners, Crybabies, and Quitters p. 139

14 Barrage p. 150

15 Temptations p. 159

16 High-Priced Help p. 168

17 Another Botched Job p. 173

18 Almost to a T p. 180

19 With a Thud p. 190

20 Casualties p. 197

21 A Surprising Comment p. 206

22 Last Dance p. 213

23 Bingo Keep It p. 223

24 A Congestion of Quarterbacks p. 232

25 Gifts p. 242

26 Secrets p. 255

27 Who Do You Think You Are, Sid Luckman? p. 262.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780802129444

0802129447

OCLC:

1090486155