Book Review: American Kings by Seth Wickersham

I first found out this book was coming out by reading an excerpt online - I think it was from The Ringer - months ago. I immediately went to the Barnes & Noble site to pre-order the book, as I was so excited to read one of my favorite sports writers put out another book about football.

I waited months for the book to be published, which it finally was at the beginning of this month. Shortly after it came out, and shortly before I picked it up, I made a startling discovery.

Seth Wickersham is not Michael Weinreb.

Michael Weinreb, whose Season of Saturdays is the best book about college football that I've ever read, did NOT in fact write American Kings. Weinreb has written a couple of books, and seems to pop in and out of websites and magazines - he wrote a fascinating history of college football by decade for The Athletic a few years ago, and even wrote a Mr Olympia article for a bodybuilding magazine a few years ago - but doesn't seem to have a foot set in any of them (I'm sure I could follow him on Facebook to find out what he's doing. I should probably do that.).

(Also note: I finally found Rodger Sherman, another great college football writer - he's got a Substack now called Read Rodge)

But Weinreb didn't write this book Wickersham did. I recognize the name "Seth Wickersham", and I'm sure I've read articles of his on ESPN, but I can't really recall any of note. So I was suddenly feeling just the tiniest bit of buyer's remorse.

But it was all for naught! American Kings is a gripping, fascinating, and very well-written examination of quarterbacks at every level of football, and I loved every part of it!

The basis of the story is Wickersham himself. When he was in high school he was a pretty good JV quarterback, and even went to camps before that was a big thing. When he got to varsity he got a tryout...then the coach moved him to the defensive secondary. Now, decades later, after countless interviews with countless football players, Wickersham takes a look into what makes a quarterback a quarterback.

The structure of the book is very creative. Wickersham dives into the stories of several notable quarterbacks, such as John Elway, YA Tittle, Warren Moon, Arch Manning, Caleb Williams, Bob Waterfield, and Colin Hurley (note: if you don't recognize that last name and intend to read this book, do NOT Google him - let the story unfold in the book). What's so creative about it is that Wickersham weaves in and out of each story, making it feel like they're all playing and competing at the same time, despite their lives being separated by decades. For many of them, their stories include their post-playing years, some of which are upbeat (Warren Moon finally receiving recognition by the Hall of Fame as well as his hometown, YA Tittle receiving a thunderous ovation from the LSU crowd just a few years before passing away) and some of which are depressing (John Elway left without any close friends and family, Johnny Unitas's children unable to auction off their dad's possessions for a fair price).

While the whole book was absorbing, there were a few moments that stood out more than others. The first was the look at the dictionary definition of "quarterback" over the years and how it related to the position, starting 100 years ago when it was two words and meant "the person not as far back as the halfback in football", then by the 40s when it was hyphenated and meant "someone carrying out an authority's instructions", and finally by the 70s it was one word that described the person running the show.

The other moment that really stuck with me was the discussion about why so many great college quarterbacks flame out in the NFL. While nobody can fully put their finger on it (although Sean Payton has an algorithm!), Wickersham points out how vastly different the rules are between the two levels. Notably, in college the coaching staff usually communicates to the full offense all at once through signs and hand movements - even now that the QBs have helmet communication - while in the NFL the quarterback needs to let the rest of the offense know the play, determine if he needs to change it based on the defense, etc. Also, the huge difference between the has marks (12 feet apart in the NFL, forty feet apart in college) has a huge impact - in college, when the ball is set on one hashmark, two thirds of the field is open, which makes it easier for receivers to get open and harder for defenses to disguise blitzes.

This was a really fund book and would truly recommend it for all football fans. Nine out of ten hot dogs!