The books I usually read on sports business and labor issues are on baseball, but this one on football labor strife in the 1970's was quite good. Written by the late Ed Garvey, this was an excellent look, from the union side, of the labor situation of the NFL at that time.
Title/Author:
“Never Ask ‘Why?”: Football Players’ Fight for Freedom in the NFL” by Ed Garvey with Chuck Cascio
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (excellent)
Review: In today’s sports world, players in nearly every team sport can pretty much pick whatever team they wish to play for after their contract expires. That has not always been the case for every sport, especially in the National Football League (NFL) where for many decades, rules existed to keep players from moving to different teams in order to keep salaries low.
One of the more restrictive rules was called the “Rozelle Rule”, named after the commissioner of the league at the time, Pete Rozelle. Briefly, if a player switched teams, the team that lost the player was entitled to compensation that would be determined by Rozelle. Usually, this was so cost-prohibitive that players very rarely would change teams. Because of this restriction, the players formed a union and it was led by attorney Ed Garvey. This book, written by Garvey before his death in 2017 and edited for publication by Chuck Cascio, tells of the struggle of NFL players to not only form that union but of their strikes in 1974 and 1975 to gain more freedom for players. The strike in 1974 lasted two weeks during the preseason and ended when many players decided to play instead of picket. In 1975, a few teams, led by the New England Patriots, went on strike for one game. This one was more to illustrate the poor treatment of players by management more than to gain leverage in negotiations.
While fans of a certain age may remember these strikes during pre-season games in those two years, readers of all ages will learn much about the labor climate of the NFL during that era. The title of book is a good indicator, as a player was to never ask “why” when it came to salaries or movement. Garvey also talks about the iron fist that Rozelle used with members on his staff and sending them out to have meetings with Garvey and other union representatives.
Even while keeping in mind that the book is written from the point of view of the leader of a union that was in contentious talks with the NFL, it was very shocking to see some of the lengths Rozelle and some NFL owners went to try to ignore the union or even destroy it. Some of the tactics are comical, some are aggravating and some, as it turned out, were illegal. The famous case of Mackey v. NFL is detailed well in the book and eventually led to the end of the “Rozelle Rule.” Reading this made me respect these players and the risks they took in order to benefit not only themselves, but future players.
I wish to thank Temple University Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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