The Best Game Ever: Giants Vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL:

If you are looking for an early Christmas present for the football fan on your list, author  of Blackhawk Down and Killing Pablo fame, Mark Bowden's look at the most famous game in history is a great buy. Its title is The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL.

It's not just aimed at the fans of a certain age that actually remember the game; Bowden show's it relevancy towards the development of the modern game of football. The NFL was not near the media, money monster it has morphed into. By showcasing the 1958 battle Bowden provides a glimpse at how this game planted the seed from which the modern NFL sprung.

Its filled with legendary Hall of Famers like Johnny Unitas, Frank Gifford, Art Donovan, Sam Huff, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Lenny Moore, Gino Marchetti, and many more Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. Raymond Berry is mentioned more then most.

Bowden made his bones as a Philadelphia sports writer so he knows his football and keeps the action moving. If you enjoy this book and are a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, or just a football fan check out his older book about the end of the Buddy Ryan Era in Philadelphia called Bringing The Heat. It is an even better read then the enjoyable, but brief, look at the 1958 Championship Game.

Just think after reading about the first Sudden Death Game in NFL history you will know more about NFL rules and lore then Donovan McNabb.

As a companion to the Bowden book check out this article by the author in The Atlantic in which Andy Reid breaks down the 1958 game and its players. The author has an accompanying Atlantic piece where he discusses the the founding of the NFL in greater detail

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200810/nfl-eagles

Bet Reid wishes he had given McNabb a copy of his article because then his quarterback might have better grasped the idea of Sudden Death when battling the Bengals.