We Are the Troopers: The Women of the Winningest Team in Pro Football History

An obscure but significant chapter in American women’s professional sports comes to dazzling life in essayist Guinan’s debut. Drawing from interviews with players, coaches, and referees from the National Women’s Football League, Guinan recounts the extraordinary rise of the Toledo Troopers, deemed the “winningest team in professional football history” by the Pro Football Hall of Fame for their seven consecutive championships from 1971 to 1977. But as Guinan meticulously relates, that success was hard-won, not least because the team grew out of the sexist vision of National Women’s Football League founder Sid Friedman, who “courted investors with a question: ‘What’s better than watching some beautiful women play football?’ ” Despite being underestimated, the National Women’s Football League had some serious athletes, many of whom Guinan skillfully profiles, including Troopers star running back Linda Jefferson, womenSports magazine’s first Female Athlete of the Year, and quarterback Lee Hollar, who’d worked in a glass manufacturing plant before finding stardom. While Lyndsey D’Arcangelo and Britni de la Cretaz’s Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League gave this overlooked moment in history its due, Guinan’s account burns brighter in its intimate rendering of the players behind the league. Feminists and football fans alike will find much to appreciate. (Aug.)