Gridiron Tales

The NFL's storied past has been the subject of thousands of books since the league's founding in 1920. Any new historical account could struggle out of the gate without a framing that has not long since become clichéd. Greatest teams? Greatest plays? Both are well-covered turf.

Matthew Shepatin takes on the topic from an angle both familiar and unique. In his new book, Then Madden Said to Summerall: The Best NFL Stories Ever Told, Shepatin, a New York-based author and journalist, sets his narrative stage from the comfortable booth of the league's greatest TV broadcast combo, John Madden and Pat Summerall. As America enters its first post-Madden NFL season (Summerall and Madden earlier parted as a broadcast team after the 2002 Super Bowl), it's a timely approach, as well.