Kevin Young, “Sport, Violence and Society” (Routledge, 2012)

New Books in Sociology · Jun 29, 2012 · 57m

The one play of my football career that my father remembers most fondly came in my very first game, when I was eleven years old. Younger and smaller than the other players, I was positioned out of harm’s way at outside linebacker. But on one play, the opposing running back caught a pitch to my side and turned to run up-field, seeing only me blocking his path to the end zone. Fearlessly, I charged across the line of scrimmage into the offensive backfield. The tackle was textbook perfect: I lowered my shoulder pads into his thighs, wrapped my arms around his legs, and stopped the bigger player…