Neil Leifer. Guts & Glory. The Golden Age of American Football 1958-1978

Neil Leifer. Guts & Glory: The Golden Age of American Football 1958-1978

For this Collector’s Edition, master sports photographer Neil Leifer sifted through over 10,000 rolls of film, selecting his absolute best shots, including hundreds of previously unseen pictures, to trace pro football’s most memorable moments. From the Miami Dolphins’ perfect 1972 season to the Minnesota Vikings’ “Purple People Eaters”—it’s all here, complemented by Jim Murray’s top football columns of the era for complete guts and glory nostalgia.

In 1958, sports photographer Neil Leifer took the picture that remains one of his most famous to this day. The day he got the shot—Alan Ameche’s game-winning “Sudden Death” touchdown—was Leifer’s 16th birthday. This game, called “The Greatest Ever Played,” signaled football’s emergence as America’s new national pastime; formerly half-empty stadiums welcomed sold-out crowds seemingly overnight, while football surpassed pro baseball and college football in national television ratings. Starting then, on any given Sunday, Leifer was most likely shooting a football game somewhere in America. His 1961 photo of legendary Giants quarterback Y. A. Tittle dropping back to pass landed Leifer his first cover for Sports Illustrated and cemented his close connection to the sport.

While best known for his iconic photograph of Muhammad Ali towering over a fallen Sonny Liston, and for the enormous diversity of subjects he covered in and out of the sports world, it is his football pictures Leifer considers his best. This collection represents the best of his best, culled from over 10,000 rolls of film on the sport, including hundreds of previously unpublished pictures. 

Limited Collector’s Edition of 1,500 copies, numbered and signed by Neil Leifer.