The Real All Americans: The Team That Changed a Game, a People, a Nation

by Sally Jenkins

Book Overview

Sally Jenkins, bestselling co-author of It's Not About the Bike, revives a forgotten piece of history in The Real All Americans. In doing so, she has crafted a truly inspirational story about a Native... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385519877
• ISBN13: 9780385519878
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 343 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Book But Condition Wasn't "Very Good"

If you like collegiate football of yesteryear then this is the book for you. Well written and great description of all of the characters. The condition was supposed to have been "very good" condition but when I got it, there was large red marker letters spelling out 2 names. That and the condition of the dust jacket should have garnered no higher than a "good."

Carlisles forgotton past

This book does a great job about not only talking about the Carlisle football team with Jim Thorpe and their victories over major college football at the turn of the 1900's. It does a great job of tying in all of the cultural, historical, and contextual information about Native Americans in white society, and about how they succeeded or failed in their endeavors on their journey. The book also gives a great insight into Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe and how tiny Carlisle emerged into a football powerhouse.

Come for the football. Stay for the history.

As a guy rule of thumb, when your wife says "I think you should read this book about football", it's a good idea to listen to her. My wife started recommending this book after the first chapter, and I was happy when she finally turned it over to me. Sally Jenkins' "The Real All Americans" is by turns fascinating, entertaining, and moving. Anyone who has ever played football is likely to enjoy the description of the early stages of the game. It is amazing how brutal it could be, and how little regard there was for the "rules", such as they were, of the day. The phrase "if you're not cheating, you're not trying" comes to mind. Ever wonder why we have "Pop Warner" football? Well, here is Warner in all of his glory. He does not come off as a particularly nice person, but as an innovator and a competitor, he had few peers. He took control of the speedy-but-undersized Carlisle Indian School football team in an era when brute force was what won football games, and he created a winning program by emphasizing speed, passing, and misdirection. My favorite anecdote? In order to create confusion, prior to a Carlisle game against Harvard he had players sew football-shaped patches onto their uniforms. In response, the Harvard coach had the balls painted the same crimson color of his team's jerseys. In a compromise, the patches and colored balls were both removed. The book does more than just revisit football's roots. It is a fascinating history of the aftermath of the United States' western expansion. The director of Carlisle, LTC Richard Pratt, comes of as stern but fair, with the best interests (as he saw them) of his students at heart. He was a firm believer that the conquered tribes would fare best if assimilated into larger American society. The Carlisle Indian School was explicitly set up to remove children from their parents and their tribes, separate them from their heritage, and indoctrinate them into America. It was at best a mixed success, and it ultimately failed after Pratt left. For many, myself included, this chapter was missing from our history books. Jenkins' retelling is riveting and at times poignant. So, think of this as two books for the price of one. If you are a fan of sport, you'll think the chapters on football are a hoot. If you enjoy American history, even in one of its darker moments, the descriptions of the moral dilemma facing the country and the tribes will fascinate you. Either way this book will be well worth the read. 5 stars.

A long forgotten but important slice of American history comes alive in Sally Jennings new book.

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century the ongoing hostilities between the American government and Native Americans began to wind down. By this time it had become abundantly clear that the white man had indeed won the West and that most Native Americans would have to settle for whatever our government was willing to give them. Among those who was extremely disturbed by these developments was an officer in the U.S. Calvary named Richard Henry Pratt. Throughout his long and distinguished military career Pratt had witnessed first hand the injustices done to the Native Americans. He abhorred the ongoing treaty violations perpertrated by the American government and thoroughly understood and sympathized with many of the Indians grievances. Pratt was bound and determined to do something about it. In 1879, Pratt established the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA. It was Pratt's sincere desire to make Indian youths the equal of white youths and he firmly believed that the way to achieve this end was to teach Indian youngsters the white mans ways. Not everyone agreed with his tactics. Over the next four decades this unusual and highly controversial school would certainly make its mark on the American scene. "The Real All Americans" documents the 40 year history of Carlisle and introduces us all to the amazing cast of charactors who would teach, coach and go to school there. Before I read "The Real All Americans" I had absolutely no idea that Native Americans had played such a prominent role in the evolution of the game of football. Sally Jennings theorizes that as hostilities were winding down out West the game of football began to take hold back East. In those days football was an extremely violent game with very few rules. Football programs sprung up at elite colleges like Harvard, Yale and Princeton. In those days the game was pretty much dictated by power running. There was precious little innovation. Now while all this was happening back East young American Indians were developing an affinity for the game as well. However these young men were much smaller and lighter than their counterparts at the Eastern schools. So out of necessity they played a very different brand of football. In the early 1890's some of the students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School petitioned Richard Henry Pratt to start a football team. He reluctantly agreed to do so and within just a few short years Carlisle found itself playing games against some of the most talented college teams in the nation. Soon an innovative young coach by the name of Glenn "Pop" Warner would arrive on the scene. Warner drew up a number of new plays that put an emphasis on speed and quickness. Before long Carlisle would be considered one of the top football teams in the nation. And just a few years later a young Native American named Jim Thorpe would come to play at Carlisle. Before his career at Carlisle was through many would come to consider him as no

Great read even if you don't know football

This is a fascinating story of the evolution of football coupled with a bittersweet tale of the challenges facing several Native Americans youths as well-meaning people try to civilize them through an American education at a school specially designed for that purpose. The book is well written and holds your attention from beginning to end. While saddened at the misguided efforts to wipe out a civilization, I was heartened by the courage and spunk of the students featured and especially cheered by their successes on the football field. I enjoyed the book and recommend it highly. Also a wonderful portrait of Pop Warner and his creative football strategies.

The Team That Invented Modern Day Football

If you are a student of Indian culture and the game of football, you are in for the treat of your life. Sally Jenkins has given the reader an engrossing overlay of a school that attempted a social experiment of indoctrination and assimilation of displaced Western American Indians into a predominately white man's state of refinement. Though only partially successful in forcibly educating children of notable relocated tribes, Carlisle introduced students to life skills and to the newly emerging sport that would captivate the country in ensuing years. Under tutorlage of the legendary coach Pop Warner, the Carlisle Indians would revolutionize the game. Reverses, hidden ball tricks, the single wing, sweeps, audibles, hurry up offense and most innovatively, the forward pass became the stock in trade of the team that included celebrated olympian, Jim Thorpe. In 1912, with a record of 11-0-1, including a 27-6 victory over the much touted Army team that fielded a young cadet by the name of Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Carlisle Indians became the highest-scoring team in the country. Scandal, governmental mismanagement, lack of visionary leadership, and later gridiron failures would eventually bring down this once esteemed institution, but its legacy is resurrected through the author's informative, entertaining, thought-provoking handiwork. This written documentary has given myself, and hopefully all who indulge, a most enjoyable, rich, and rewarding read as we enter the summer season and anticipate the beginning of another collegiate football year.