• Football for a Buck

  • The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL
  • By: Jeff Pearlman
  • Narrated by: Joel Richards
  • Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (476 ratings)

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Football for a Buck  By  cover art

Football for a Buck

By: Jeff Pearlman
Narrated by: Joel Richards
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Publisher's summary

The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump.

In Football for a Buck, Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports listeners back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost and how, 30 years ago, Trump was a scoundrel and a spoiler. This is sports as high entertainment - and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.

©2018 Jeff Pearlman (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

What listeners say about Football for a Buck

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ahhh the USFL

Recently. My sixth grade teacher sent me a picture of an art project I did in her class that was centered around my obsession with the LA Express and the USFL. I was 12 when the USFL started and loved the idea that I could watch football in the spring, so when this book came out I was so excited to give it a listen. And Mr.Perlman did not let me down. He covered every aspect of the league and I’m sure he has enough material to write a second book.
This book is thorough and really well written. I enjoyed reading it and loved when he made it personal to him and his family. The cast of characters that made the USFL was thoroughly captured. You will find yourself pulling for odd ball players and finding connections to your own NFL team. As a die hard LA Rams fan, I can’t believe I ever cheered for Steve Young but the 13 year old in me reminded that I totally loved the guy! Who wouldn’t when he’s on your team! Thanks for reminding me of all the amazing memories I had as a kid, and making me think that Leigh Steinberg really served Steve Young wrong by having him sign an annuity with a upstart league like the USFL!
This is a great read for any football junkie!

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wildly Entertaining, But Informs the Present Day

I have read all of Pearlman's books, and this was perhaps the most enjoyable. First, the passion and enthusiasm of the USLF players, coaches, and executives come through the narrative as revealed by the hundreds of interviews he conducted. But his work also reveals the true destroyer of the league: Donald Trump. Naysayers will attack him as being anti-Trump but there is ample evidence provided by Pearlman that any analysis of the downfall of the USFL has to come to the conclusion that Trump's insistence on moving to a fall schedule, with the intent of suing the NFL for antitrust, ruined the league. His account aligns with scholarly studies of Trump in his formative years.
Politics aside, readers can see this book as sports in its purest form: playing a game for sake of playing a game. There was little reason for most of the players to put themselves on the field but for pure joy of competing and the comradery of the huddle. This book also illuminates the culture of the 1980s, similar to his previous book, Showtime. Pearlman is a sportswriter of the old school; a diligent researcher and interviewer. But he writes with humor and empathy, and does justice to a an idea that could have worked but for hubris and greed. Sports is a lens onto society, and one does not have to be a sports fan to enjoy and learn from this book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

You have to hear it to believe it. Incredible!

I heard an NPR interview about this book and it was incredibly interesting. I knew nothing of this league but was pulled in immediately. I was surprised how many of the coaches and players I had heard of before and continued to be surprised as the outlandish stories kept coming in. Such a great voice performance and story, I listened to the whole thing in a few days straight. If you like football in any capacity I think you will enjoy this book.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lotta fun but another sports audiobook marred

Seriously can we get a tutorial for sports book narrators on when to say “and” vs. “to” and other terminology basics!? This guy’s voice isn’t bad but teams are always winning games “21 and 14” or have a record of “10 to 8” and the dozens of mistakes like this temporarily drive me nuts by taking me out of the book. The book itself is a lot of fun. At times bits could have been edited better, and you’d like to have a bit more reporting on HOW Trump took the league down and the parallels to today but those are nitpicks. A great project that gives the history of the league with a ton of great colour interviews to flesh out the feel. An entertaining and informative read. Would definitely read another Pearlman book in the future!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome content ruined a bit by the narrator

If I could give 6 or 7 starts to the story and content of this I would, love the behind the scenes stories and operations of the USFL, of which i was too young to have grasped when it was happening at the time. The *ONLY* thing about the book that knocks down the rating is the narrator. And by that I mean only a couple minor things. His voice and mannerisms were great. BUT, my god, how can he not know the basic way of saying a team's record. Everyone knows 14-4 is '14 and 4' , not '14 to 4'. It was so so annoying I almost contemplated turning it off. Slightly less annoying was the pronunciation of a prominent player of the early times, Bobby Hebert. It's pronounced 'A-bear' , not 'hee-bert'. :)

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

2nd rate circus killed by 1st rate clown

There's very little new in this book (horribly titled in my opinion, referring to an anti-trust court judgement) that people familiar with the USFL don't already know. But while the stories are perhaps not as wild and crazy as other upstart or minor leagues, it still has quite a bit to recommend it. The documentary "Battered Bastards of Baseball" comes to mind as an example, not to the level of notoriety as this league, but at least as much off the rails. This book has a few anecdotes of teams and marginal players, but focuses primarily on the above referenced clown. The ESPN documentary Small Potatoes lets you see him in all his bombast and insecurity. Hopefully, the country has been spared the same fate as the league, in his second go round.

I found it to be mostly interesting, but oddly overstated in some parts, and lacking in others. First of all, Craig James was never compared favorably in DC to John Riggins. It never happened. Marv Levy and Jim Kelly went on to 'Super Bowl glory'? More like AFC championship glory, and Super Bowl appearances. And even though Doug Williams features prominently, and the likes of Gary Clark, Clarence Verdin, Ricky Sanders and Kelvin Bryant appear, the 1987/88 NFL season is only vaguely referenced and the Washington Redskins team of that season not at all. Seems like it would have been one of the more significant after-stories.

As a previous reviewer mentioned, it does become tedious listening to the narrator consistently mis-report how scores and standings are conveyed. Strangely, it seems as if he must have been informed how to do it in each case, but must have misremembered, as he reports them in exactly the opposite fashion, a score of 27 and 24, a record of 12 to 6. Only for short period in the middle of the book is it corrected, but then goes back to form. It's not fatal to the book, but it is a distraction.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Wonderful History Lesson

Let's get the elephant out of the room immediately. Trump ruined this league and its stunning that more people didn't bring this up in 2016, especially after his appearance in the 30 for 30 of the USFL.

I had only heard about the USFL through old VHS's and some old tickets of a game my father went to at RFK Stadium between the Washington Federals and Arizona Wranglers, then there was the aforementioned 30 for 30 which I loved and wanted more information on what this league was and how it disintegrated as fast as it arrived. Pearlman left no stone unturned in this tell all and the work speaks for itself. Compelling, amusing and stunning throughout the entire story, from the successful teams like the Philadelphia Stars, Houston Gamblers and Tampa Bay Bandits, to the dumpster fires of the Washington Federals, San Antonio Gunslingers and LA Express. Anyone who fancies themselves a student of football history should read or listen to the lessons in this book...and I hope its lessons are not lost on Mr. Dwayne Johnson when he relaunches the new XFL in 2022.

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A story that needs to be heard.

The USFL story is an amazing one on so many levels. A revolutionary business model that was having real success competing with the NFL. That is, until Donald trump came along and destroyed it all. Quite the businessman he. How he has always managed to enlist people to follow him to this day is just beyond comprehension.

But the real story is the people who made this league happen. It’s legacy. The wild times. And so on. Great writer. Great performance. Great story. It’s a shame so many times great people and great things are torn down by lesser, self centered, folks with money and not much else.

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great football book

I remember the usfl. This brought back alot of good memories.A must read for football fans.o

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Biased Author.

This isn't the story of the USFL, it's the story of how much the author hates Donald Trump. He even makes it a point to bring up the wall being built at the border of Mexico and the US. Really, we need to bring up modern politics in telling the story of the USFL?????? Everyone knows Trump played a major role in the downfall of the league, but the author spends 2/3rds the book blaming him entirely and only briefly glosses over other catastrophic errors made by other owners and league officials. It's a shame the author decided to bring his own political views into spotlight in this book, because it could've been a great story.

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