Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the Nfl

Professional football is, without question, the most popular sport in America, and by a substantial margin.

Yet few scholars who look at the role of race and sports in America focus on the NFL.

Historically, racial relations in other sports -- particularly baseball, boxing, and basketball -- have attracted more attention from writers and scholars, who have tended to regard football as declasse.

Ironically, however, professional football has been a trendsetter in racial relations despite its brutalism and its associations with political conservatism and militarism.