If you’re a fan of football at any level in the state of Minnesota, then Ross Bernstein has written another book you must have in your collection.

Saturday, November 25, 2000

If you’re a fan of football at any level in the state of Minnesota, then Ross Bernstein has written another book you must have in your collection.

On the heels of "Frozen Memories: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Hockey" and "Fifty Years – Fifty Heroes: A Celebration of Minnesota Sports," comes "Pigskin Pride: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Football."

The 192-page hard cover book from Nodin Press traces football in Minnesota from the days of the Duluth Eskimos – the first-ever professional franchise in the state – through today’s Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Bernstein, born and raised in the state, spent several years of his own college career as "Goldy," the Gopher mascot that fired up the U of M crowds and antagonized fans of the opposing team.

In his latest effort, Bernstein not only traces the 40-year history of the Vikings and the storied past of the Gophers, he also dedicates space to every Division II and III college program, as well as NAIA programs, in the state.

"Pigskin Pride" also devotes ample space to the history of the Prep Bowl – the season-ending day-long high school football championship event held at hte Metrodome each November.

The Prep Bowl began in 1982, but high school football was a mainstay on fall Friday nights in Minnesota long before the Metrodome was thought of. The book tells of how the sport got its Minnesota roots in the late 1800s in Faribault at the Shattuck preparatory school and has flourished since.

Bernstein does an outstanding job of letting the history of high school football develop before the reader’s eyes. The book also includes nearly 500 photos of players, teams, stadiums from the late 1800s until today.

The foreward is written by Paul Giel, known simply as "Mr. Everything" at the University of Minnesota in the mid-1950s. Giel was a two-time Big Ten MVP as a running back for the Gophers and was drafted by the Chicago Bears, but instead opted for a two-year stint in the military.

Giel is just one of hundreds of individuals you will learn about who have helped shape the face of Minnesota football and helped make it what it is today. Another is a name familiar to all present-day football fans, John Randle. The Vikings’ defensive lineman wrote the afterword to the book, a fitting way to cap more than a century of football in the state.