A year after Gary Andrew Poole's full-scale Red Grange biography (The Galloping Ghost
), Sports Illustrated
reporter Anderson (The All-Americans
) focuses on Grange's decision, at the height of his popularity as a college football star, to drop out of school and sign with the Chicago Bears in 1925—who, to capitalize on his fame, lined up 10 games in 18 days so fans in seven cities could see him in action (and that was just the first leg of their national tour). It's a great story, but Anderson has trouble staying out of its way; he continually oversells in an effort to persuade readers for whom Grange is an unfamiliar name that he was as big as Babe Ruth or Jack Dempsey. The effort is unnecessary: the significance of Grange's status as a wholesome star athlete entering the “unseemly” world of the fledgling NFL speaks for itself, as does the amazing success of his manager's efforts to cash in on Grange's fame. (Between the Bears and various endorsement deals, they made roughly $500,000 in two months—over $6 million in today's dollars.) At times, the account feels like a solid magazine piece that's been stretched thin, reducing a genuinely transformative moment in sports history to an episodic highlight reel. (Dec. 29)
