Review of "Great Linebackers of the NFL," by Richard Kaplan

 Review of

Great Linebackers of the NFL, by Richard Kaplan

Four out of five stars

Contribution to the major debate on excellence

 The 1960’s could be considered the decade of the debate over NFL linebackers. Followers of the NFL regularly argued over who was the best linebacker, specifically middle, in the game. Dick Butkis, Ray Nitschke, Mike Curtis and Tommy Nobis were the primary names featured in those conversations. This book contains brief biographies of those players as well as some who played outside linebacker.

 One of the most positive features of the book is that some of the earlier stars are included. All-time great linebackers such as Mel Hein and Bulldog Turner are also featured. They were both two-way players that excelled on both sides of the ball and are not well known.

 This is very much a YA sports history book written in the form of books published in the 1960’s. The content is laudatory and there is none of the dirt on players that now seems obligatory in books about stars in any sport. It is a simple, fun read.