"As eighteen-year-old Sid Luckman made headlines across New York City for his football exploits at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, his father, Meyer Luckman, was making headlines in the same papers for a very different reason: the gangland murder of his own brother-in-law. Amazingly, after Sid became a star at Columbia and then led the Chicago Bears to multiple NFL championships, all while Meyer wasted away in Sing Sing, the connection between sports celebrity son and mobster father was ignored by the press and then overlooked for eight decades. "Tough Luck" traces two historic developments connected by a single immigrant family in Depression-era New York: the rise of the National Football League through the dynastic Chicago Bears, whose famed owner George Halas convinced Sid Luckman to help him turn the sluggish game of pro football into America's favorite pastime; and the demise-triggered by Meyer Luckman's crime-of the Brooklyn labor rackets and of Louis Lepke's infamous organization Murder Inc."--Provided by publisher.
year: 2019
call number/section: 796.33
subjects: luckman, sid, football players, chicago, biography, organized crime, united states, history, immigrant families, sports, corrupt practices, national football league, history, chicago bears (football team)