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BIG SCRUM Paperback – March 29, 2012

by John J Miller (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 113 ratings
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John J. Miller delivers the intriguing, never-before-told story of how Theodore Roosevelt saved American Football—a game that would become the nation’s most popular sport. Miller’s sweeping, novelistic retelling captures the violent, nearly lawless days of late 19th century football and the public outcry that would have ended the great game but for a crucial Presidential intervention. Teddy Roosevelt’s championing of football led to the creation of the NCAA, the innovation of the forward pass, a vital collaboration between Walter Camp, Charles W. Eliot, John Heisman and others, and, ultimately, the creation of a new American pastime. Perfect for readers of Douglas Brinkley’s Wilderness Warrior, Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side, and Conn and Hal Iggulden’s The Dangerous Book for Boys, Miller’s The Big Scrum reclaims from the shadows of obscurity a remarkable story of one defining moment in our nation’s history.

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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    March 29, 2012
  4. Dimensions
    0.61 x 5.31 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0061744522
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0061744525
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Football enthusiassts and Theodore Roosevelt admirers will both enjoy and learn from these little-known but important historic events that preserved from extinction one of America’s favorite sports.” — Tweed Roosevelt, president of the Theodore Roosevelt Association

“In Miller’s hands, the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s love for, and defense of, ‘the great game’ has as much vigor and passion as Roosevelt himself. It’s a fascinating and thoroughly American tale.” — Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt

“A worthy addendum to the story of football’s rise . . . [and] a good yarn.” — Kirkus Reviews

“[Miller] is on target with a necessarily selective biography highlighting Roosevelt’s lifelong affinity for sports and physical activity, thereby providing context for understanding why a president would devote valuable time to what was then a minor sport. [An] enjoyable history of a seldom-explored turning point in American sports history.” — Booklist

From the Back Cover

Football's first golden age was characterized by incredible violence and life-threatening danger, and the new sport's popularity grew even as the casualties rose. After dozens of players were killed in brutal incidents that rattled the national consciousness, a proto-progressive movement attempted to abolish the game.

At that critical moment, President Roosevelt, an outspoken advocate of "the strenuous life" and a longtime fan of the game, fought to preserve football's rugged essence. In 1905, Roosevelt summoned key football coaches to the White House for a historic meeting. The result was the establishment of the NCAA and a series of rule changes, including the advent of the forward pass, which not only saved the sport but transformed football into what it is today: the quintessential American game.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Perennial; Reprint edition (March 29, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061744522
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061744525
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.61 x 5.31 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 113 ratings

About the author

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John J. Miller

John J. Miller

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John J. Miller lives on a dirt road in rural Michigan. He is the author of "Reading Around: Journalism on Authors, Artists, and Ideas" as well as "The Polygamist King: A True Story of Murder, Lust, and Exotic Faith in America," a Kindle Single. He has also written "The First Assassin," a Civil War thriller. His nonfiction books include "The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football," "Our Oldest Enemy," "A Gift of Freedom," and "The Unmaking of Americans." He writes for National Review, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. The Chronicle of Higher Education has called him "one of the best literary journalists in the country." A native of Detroit, he is director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. To learn more about John J. Miller and his work, visit his website at www.HeyMiller.com.

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4.3 out of 5 stars
113 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a great read for football history fans, providing good insights into the early foundations of the sport. The writing style receives positive feedback, with customers describing it as well written.

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19 customers mention "History"19 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's historical content, particularly its coverage of the early foundations of football and great historical references, making it a great read for football history fans.

"...But I digress. Miller gives a year by year breakdown of the history of football which he describes as a slow evolution from its days as essentially..." Read more

"...etc., etc. The book was referred to as a yarn. That it was, but an interesting and informative yarn...." Read more

"This is an excellent book and I throughly enjoyed reading it. Very well researched. And, John Miller is a highly talented writer...." Read more

"This book not only offers insight into a crucial point in time in the development of the great game of football, it also offers a great insight into..." Read more

9 customers mention "Writing style"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, finding it well-crafted, with one customer noting its easy readability for football fans.

"...Very well researched. And, John Miller is a highly talented writer. I look forward to reading his other books...." Read more

"...This book is really well written, great flowing language and a great mix of urban legends and historical facts...." Read more

"...early days of college football and is written in a casual, yet professional style with interesting historical facts still prevalent in college..." Read more

"...Excellently, stylishly written too." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • James J
    5.0 out of 5 stars A nice and easy read for the football fan
    Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    I suck at book reviews but my roommate is an author and he loves reading reviews for his book, so I figured John Miller might like it too.
    There are so many books on the Progressive Era of the United States, but only a few on how it influenced America's #1 sport.

    On page 78 there's a typo that reads: "The Princeton-Yale game in 1778 drew four thousand spectators"

    Should read 1878 not 1778.

    But I digress. Miller gives a year by year breakdown of the history of football which he describes as a slow evolution from its days as essentially a game of soccer, to a hybrid of rugby and soccer, and its rules amendments that divorced it from Rugby. Goes heavily into detail about Roosevelt's influence with Walter Camp's football committee and his condemnation of progressives who wanted to legislate the sport out of existence. Their attempts would fail but Miller makes a connection to the pressure they put on the sport to either change its ways (read about the 1905 season) or else it will lose the support of the public.

    Would recommend this book to anyone.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jim Campbell - football historian
    5.0 out of 5 stars the big scrum
    Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    John J. Miller did a fine job of reporting the evolution of college football--all football, really. While even the most casual observer of the college game is familiar with how Teddy Roosevelt called the powers that be to the White House and essentially said, "Clean up the game or there won't be a game," what Mr. Miller did was shed light on "the rest of the story," to quote Paul Harvey. As much as a student of the game as I like to think I am, I never fully realized just how involved Teddy was way before the famous meeting. It was a matter of years, and Mr. Miller did an excellent job bringing that to light. He also took off on meaningful tangets--Teddy's youth, Harvard's Eliot's objection to the game, etc., etc., etc. The book was referred to as a yarn. That it was, but an interesting and informative yarn. Perhaps we need another Teddy Roosevelt to clean up the revenue-driven, non-academic game college football has become. If Teddy is looking down on college football (nearly all sports, really), he can't be pleased to see what he help do become so undone. If you care about college football, other than just attending (or watching on TV) game, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
    Jim Campbell
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Frank P. Maggio
    4.0 out of 5 stars Roosevelt helped, but he did not save football
    Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    This is an excellent book and I throughly enjoyed reading it. Very well researched. And, John Miller is a highly talented writer. I look forward to reading his other books. However, I respectfully take issue with the credit he gives to Roosevelt. Many men and institutions contributed to saving football during this sensitive period, with Roosevelt playing a rather minor role. If anyone deserves the lion's share of the credit I would say that Harvard University and their great coach Percy Haughton would be the ones. Why do I say this? I invite you to read chapter 3 of my book, "Notre Dame and the Game that Changed Football, How Jesse Harper made the Forward Pass a Weapon and Knute Rockne a Legend." Of course, I would like you to read the entire book, but my chapter 3 goes to the point I am advocating. Frank P. Maggio. I can be reached at maggioND@msn.com
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Carsten Friis Toft
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book with great historical references
    Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    This book not only offers insight into a crucial point in time in the development of the great game of football, it also offers a great insight into a crucial point in time in american history. This book is really well written, great flowing language and a great mix of urban legends and historical facts.
    I highly recommend this book, not only to those of you interested in football, but also those interested in american history, and even those of you interested in great historical literature in general.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Big D
    3.0 out of 5 stars Woody Hayes Would Love This Book
    Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012
    Woody Hayes, the late, great Ohio State coach, would love this thoroughly researched book about the early days and formative years of football. It reads like his offensive game plan: "three yards and cloud of dust."

    A detailed and at times slow read, but there are flashes of brilliance--like Archie Griffith's long spectacular runs in Hayes' slow deliberate offense--flashes of brilliance but not enough to change the style and personality of the offense. So it is with this book.

    An excellent study, exhaustively researched, but in the end, three yards and a cloud of dust. We--the reader--doesn't need to know everything there is to know about Eliot Howard, the president of Harvard, who was one of football's earliest and staunchest critics. We don't need to know every exhausting detail of every person's life mentioned in the book, even that of Walter Camp, considered the father of modern football. Too much personal minutia lows down the read--three yards and a cloud of dust.

    But, as with Woody Hayes' offenses, there are flashes of brilliance:

    --In the days of fast paced spread offenses, it is interesting to note that John Heisman, while scouting a Georgia-North Carolina game for Auburn, saw the first forward pass. Actually it was an illegal,almost trick play, but the official missed it and Heisman, forevermore, advocated its inclusion into the rules of college football.

    --Walter Camp's first All-America team was a publicity stunt designed to build readership of Camp's newspaper column.

    --Amos Alonzo Stagg, for many years, the winningest college football coach of alltime (until being bypassed by Bear Bryant in 1981 and later by Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden) played in James Naismith's first game of what was to become basketball.

    All kind of good stuff here, but it takes some work and effort to get to it. Three yards and a cloud of dust, but in the end an ultimately successful and effective read. Worth the effort, especially if you are one who appreciates and enjoys the game of football.

    And if you are a fan or admirer of Theodore Roosevelt, this is an especially enjoyable read.

    So, have at it...Hut One...Hut Two....Here we go, up the middle or off tackle...
    2 people found this helpful
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