Sports

Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League

Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League

  • Downloads：3417
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-11-04 06:19:11
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Britni de la Cretaz
  • ISBN：1645036626
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Allison ，

Hail Mary welcomes readers to 1970s-80s women's football in the NWFL。 We find ourselves in an era fresh with Title IX when many women hadn't experienced organized， athletic opportunities in school， and if they did， it certainly wasn't football， that hypermasculine ideal of tackling， getting down in the dirt， and sometimes bleeding for the game。 The book tells the story of fiercely passionate athletes who loved their game despite the many pitfalls and structural disadvantages facing their teams a Hail Mary welcomes readers to 1970s-80s women's football in the NWFL。 We find ourselves in an era fresh with Title IX when many women hadn't experienced organized， athletic opportunities in school， and if they did， it certainly wasn't football， that hypermasculine ideal of tackling， getting down in the dirt， and sometimes bleeding for the game。 The book tells the story of fiercely passionate athletes who loved their game despite the many pitfalls and structural disadvantages facing their teams and league at large。The reporting here features commentary on society: gender roles， race， queerness， and class。 The athletes were largely working-class women from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and with a large contingent of queer women （on the Dallas team， some teammates decided to try out while at a lesbian bar together）。 The book is also a celebration of these women as professional football players。 Their colorful personalities come through in their personal accounts as well as their pride in their on-field accomplishments。The authors strike a good balance between descriptive content and analysis。 They cover how contemporary journalists treated the women and how the team owners tried to entice the public。 The players' stories have often been told through the male lens， focused on entertainment value or as a heart-warming story rather than a sporting event worth discussing on its athletic merits。 There was a lot of focus on the women's looks， whether it was to hypersexualize and demean， make fatphobic remarks， or to lob broad homophobic comments at women who didn't fit the feminine ideal （arguably all the players， since they dared to play professional football）。 Other hurdles were the gendered disparities in equipment available， venues for practice & play， and the complete lack of salary （the standard rate was only $25 a game to begin with） for some players as well as owners who wouldn't always pay medical insurance。 The authors also delve into the many reasons the league fell apart， including finances and the nature of sports fandom-- the NWFL didn't get enough time to establish fan support and to see financial dividends。I recommend this for football fans specifically: positions and plays are described that added to my enjoyment but could be frustrating for someone who isn't already familiar with the game or who wouldn't appreciate that degree of detail。 For me， it brought some exciting games to life and highlighted the physicality and achievements of these teams。 。。。more

Kristine ，

Hail Mary by Britni de la Cretaz & Lyndsey D'Arcangelo is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late October。This book is split into six chronological parts that detail events before the league was created in 1974 and after it disbanded in 1988， and covers teams that were initially created as an attention-getting， risque farce before drawing in serious， tough， and hard-working women。 The authors write of and conducts interviews with a generally good recall of games， players， crowd sizes， ongoing Hail Mary by Britni de la Cretaz & Lyndsey D'Arcangelo is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late October。This book is split into six chronological parts that detail events before the league was created in 1974 and after it disbanded in 1988， and covers teams that were initially created as an attention-getting， risque farce before drawing in serious， tough， and hard-working women。 The authors write of and conducts interviews with a generally good recall of games， players， crowd sizes， ongoing events within the teams and league， and the early stereotypes of women needing to be protected and not engaging in strenuous physical activities。 However， they wander around topics pretty actively， maybe even with high knees between tires that represent concepts， interviews， newspaper articles and other archive materials。 。。。more

Margaret Roberts ，

Calling all football and sports fans， this non fiction is for you！ Hail Mary was well researched with so many stories and information about the women who played football in the 1970s/80s。 I thought it was so interesting the different standards the author brought up about men's vs。 women's sports that still continue to exist today。 The media portrayal of the women's football teams described in the book was both disheartening and eye opening to read。 But despite the lack of funding and many times Calling all football and sports fans， this non fiction is for you！ Hail Mary was well researched with so many stories and information about the women who played football in the 1970s/80s。 I thought it was so interesting the different standards the author brought up about men's vs。 women's sports that still continue to exist today。 The media portrayal of the women's football teams described in the book was both disheartening and eye opening to read。 But despite the lack of funding and many times media/local support， the women who played on these teams really were out there for the love of the sport。 This book made me want to watch and support more local women's sport teams。 I enjoyed Hail Mary， however this book felt long to me。 Although it was about different women and different teams at times it was hard to differentiate and they all started to run together in my mind。 I wish the book would have focused on a couple of the teams and gone really in depth with them。 。。。more

Robin ，

I hadn’t known that there was a National Women’s Football Team before reading this book。 I found the book to be well researched and interesting to read。 I voluntarily reviewed an ARC received via NetGalley。

Olive Fellows （abookolive） ，

Review forthcoming in the Christian Science Monitor。

Heather F ，

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book。 I loved learning about a piece of feminist/lgbt/sports history I did not know about。 My one criticism is that de la Cretaz comes from the online confession/article world， and her writing reflects that。

Lance ，

When Sid Friedman， a talent agent from Cleveland， thought about creating a women's football team to do barnstorming tours and make a few bucks in the process， little did he realize that he found women who not only wanted to play the game， but play hard and compete – to do the same things that make the men's version of the sport so popular。 This led to the creation of the National Women's Football League （NWFL） that had a brief life in the 1970s but impacted many women。 This book by Britni de la When Sid Friedman， a talent agent from Cleveland， thought about creating a women's football team to do barnstorming tours and make a few bucks in the process， little did he realize that he found women who not only wanted to play the game， but play hard and compete – to do the same things that make the men's version of the sport so popular。 This led to the creation of the National Women's Football League （NWFL） that had a brief life in the 1970s but impacted many women。 This book by Britni de la Cretaz tells about not only the league， but the stories of the players and their teams。Some of the teams featured in the book are the Detroit Demons， the Houston Herricanes and the Los Angeles Dandilions。 But far and away the most successful NWFL team， both before and during the time of the league， was the Toledo Troopers。 Their stories make for some of the best reading in the book， along with those about the best player on the team Linda Jefferson。 Jefferson's story is first told early in the book and that sets the tone for what every woman wanted – to be recognized as legitimate players of a sport they loved。 As for organizing these teams into the NWFL， that wasn't done by Friedman （who attempted to form a league with teams from the Ohio and Pennsylvania areas） but instead by several businessmen left mainly by Bob Mathews。 Mathews had more foresight than Friedman in that he knew that he needed more than hype to sell the game – he needed organization， a schedule， fans， marketing， media coverage， financial backing and much more。 Sadly， he and the other owners never really obtained that to what was needed and the league was out of business soon after the 1979 season。 Reading about the teams， the structure of the league and what eventually led to its demise was very good and it is clear that de la Cretaz did excellent research on this aspect which makes up the bulk of the book。 The only downfall to this reviewer is that when she adds in some of her opinions， it appears that she only uses facts that would support her viewpoint without the entire picture。 The example I use is near the end when she opines that the NWFL and other women's leagues would succeed if the financial backers would not bail on them so soon after realizing that they will not be profitable immediately。 That is not incorrect， but the example that she uses that this isn't the same case for men's team with the Pittsburgh Steelers is not completely accurate。 Yes， the Steelers struggled for decades both on the field and in the front office， but it should be noted that Art Rooney did not build up his fortune elsewhere – he allegedly used money won betting on horses to buy the Steelers and they became his business。 Including that information， depending on how she would use it， could make her case stronger。There are other aspects that may make some readers uncomfortable， such as the section on the stereotypes placed on female athletes （and her section on the background of some players in lesbian bars may make some readers buy into the stereotype even further） but these are necessary for a complete picture and story of these women who risked a lot to play a sport they loved for very little money。 Any reader wishing to learn more about women's football must pick up a copy of this book。 Football fans， including this reviewer， who have never heard of the NWFL will enjoy learning about this short-lived but fondly remembered league。 I wish to thank Perseus Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more