The Rise and Rise of the National Football League
Matthew Andrews teaches American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His courses use the history of sports to explore race relations, gender ideals, political protest, and American identity. Professor Andrews was asked by the UNC student body to give the honorific “Last Lecture” to the graduating class of 2015. His students have voted him their university’s “Best Professor” three times since 2016.
Overview
In 1969, more Americans watched Joe Namath lead the New York Jets to a win in Super Bowl III than watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. And professional football has only become more popular since. In this talk we will explore how a minor and disreputable sport–that was organized into league form in an automobile showroom and was played by (as one early player described his colleagues) “oversized coal miners and West Texas psychopaths”–evolved into the most popular sport in America. Along the way we will visit with Richard Nixon, Hunter S. Thompson, George W. Bush, Whitney Houston and “Wham-O’s Super Ball,” and ask the question: “Is there anything that can damage the popularity of ‘America’s game?’ ”