Gridiron Warriors

They fought in the Battle of the Bulge and landed at Guadalcanal; they bombed Germany and bull-rushed Iwo Jima. Yes, these men were soldiers, but they shared something else vital in common: They were college and pro football players. Some carried guns and fought; some carried the pigskin and played, donning the gear they were most familiar with--leather helmets and pads--to join either of the service academies or one of the many military, naval, or marine bases engaged in playing service football. A few were physically deferred, enabling them to still compete on college teams or in the NFL.

This work delivers a history of a vanishing time in a collection of oral histories, all told by the players themselves. Of the 35 storytelling players, 31 were selected All-America, named All-Pro or to the Pro Bowl, played on national champion teams, or became Hall of Famers. Little did these men know that the new wartime era of football would yield extraordinary changes on the fields of play--college, pro, and service football--within the larger fields of war.