NFL Heroes: The 100 Greatest Players of All Time

Journalists Johnson and Maki celebrate the NFL’s 100th anniversary in this impressive ranking of what the authors consider to be the best athletes ever to play professional football. After a preliminary alphabetical ranking of the top 10, (among them Jerry Rice, Deacon Jones, and Tom Brady), Johnson and Maki dive into a century’s worth of star players, and pay ample attention to the less-glamorous positions of centers and safeties. Their focus remains predominantly on stars of the past half century, with Ezekiel Elliott (though allegations of domestic violence against him receive only a scant paragraph) and DeShaun Watson making appearances. Johnson and Maki provide anecdotes about players’ lives, giving opportunities to evaluate the character of each individual beyond his impressive statistics (“37-year-old [Larry] Fitzgerald is a self-proclaimed ‘ student of life ’”). Complete with quality photographs and a thoughtful introduction that marks how the NFL has adapted to cultural changes over the years, Johnson and Maki’s book would be a welcome debate-starter for any NFL fan. (Oct.)