Super! - by Jim Steeg (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

THE STORY OF THE SUPER BOWL TOLD BY THE MAN WHO BUILT IT

While many books have been written about Super Bowl games, never has one been written about how the Super Bowl itself became the greatest sporting event created in the twentieth century. Only one person can tell that story, truthfully, definitively, and in the utmost detail, and that is Jim Steeg.

Publicly known as "Mr. Super Bowl," Steeg spent almost four decades at the upper-most management levels in professional football, twenty-six of those years leading the NFL's Special Events Department. During that time, he transformed the Super Bowl from a simple singular championship football game into a multi-day entertainment, marketing, and media extravaganza, as well as a beloved "national holiday."

In Super! Steeg chronicles the history, growth, and behind-the-scenes making of the Super Bowl over his tenure, with many never-before-told stories, humorous anecdotes, and poignant moments. He takes readers behind the NFL's velvet rope on Super Bowl Sunday, as well as the days, months, and years leading up to kickoff. Steeg lets you in on the brainstorming, decision making, politics, issues, and problem solving that go along with being the one man in charge of the world's biggest one-day event. Sharing keen observations, revealing moments, and thought-provoking conversations with an impressive who's who of the NFL, sports, entertainment, television, government, and politics, Steeg pulls back the curtain for the first time.

So grab your "Super Bowl Official" all-access pass and learn all the intricacies from the maestro himself!

Review Quotes

"Jim Steeg is one of the unsung heroes of the Super Bowl's explosion in popularity. His fingerprints are all over the making of what is now America's preeminent sporting event. As you will see with the amazing behind-the-scenes stories in Super!, Jim was essential in making this championship event "super" in every possible way!" --Jim Nantz

"There is one person--and only one--on Planet Earth most fit to write a book about the explosion of the Super Bowl as a true modern American institution. Jim Steeg was the NFL's great and powerful Oz for twenty-six years. In Super!, Steeg tells the kinds of stories a Secret Service body man can tell about the president. The anecdotes are valuable enough, but the through-line from the end of the Steelers' dynasty to the beginning of New England's is truly the story of how the Super Bowl came to be the biggest entertainment vehicle in the country. I'm glad Steeg didn't just settle for making this book a telling of his greatest hits. Super! will entertain--but it will educate, too--and give you the kind of deep insight about the game no one else could." --Peter King

"My father's vision for Super Bowl events was to tastefully present a weekend of memorable football and exciting events that would be thoroughly enjoyed on TV and in person. With integrity, creativity, innovation and always some surprises. Jim Steeg achieved all that and more. But the behind the scenes of Super Bowl weekends were the most intriguing of all. Jim's book opens the curtain into how they came to be. --Anne Marie Rozelle Bratton, daughter of former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle

"Jim Steeg wrote the Magna Carta for Super Bowl week, and this book is to be treasured. It gives us Jim's scholarship, his insider access, and his madcap memories. Irreplaceable!" --Lesley Visser, first woman recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"More than anyone, Jim Steeg helped shape and redefine the Super Bowl, transforming into the greatest spectacle on the planet. I had the privilege of working with Jim at the NFL and witnessed first-hand his ability to embrace bold ideas while at the same time mastering the countless details required to pull off something of this magnitude. There is only one person who can truly take you behind the scenes of this remarkable journey . . . and it's Jim Steeg . . . and it's all here. Enjoy the ride." --Arlen Kantarian, former President and CEO of Radio City Music Hall/Radio City Entertainment, former CEO of Professional Tennis for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and the US Open

"Under Forrest Gregg, I lost Super Bowl XVI. Under Sam Wyche, I lost Super Bowl XXIII. Under Jim Steeg, I negotiated a truce between the Bloods and the Crips in Super Bowl XXVII and I finally won." --Reggie Williams, played fourteen years for the Cincinnati Bengals (including Super Bowls XVI and XXIII), 1986 NFL Man of the Year, and member of the College Football Hall of Fame

"The Super Bowl is a world-class event that has countless 'back room' stories tied to its full experience. I know it well having participated in five and been involved in many more. Those raw, hilarious, and revealing details have been locked in a memory bank, and only Jim Steeg has the key to unlock the vault that hides them. He did exactly that with his entertaining book that deals with what went on when the game wasn't being played." --Carmen Policy, former President and CEO of the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns (where he was a minority owner)

"Most people will remember Jim Steeg as 'Mr. Super Bowl, ' but I believe history should remember him for something even greater. Jim didn't simply organize the world's biggest sporting event--he designed the blueprint that transformed a championship game into one of the most recognizable annual events on the planet. Super! is more than a collection of fascinating stories; it is a master class in leadership, innovation, preparation, teamwork, and the relentless pursuit of excellence." --Leo Hart, former quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills, and hotel executive with Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont, and Hyatt

About the Author

Jim Steeg, referred to as "Mr. Super Bowl," spent more than four decades at the upper-most management levels in professional football, twenty-six of those years as the NFL's Senior Vice President of Special Events. During that time, Steeg built, molded, guided, and grew the Super Bowl from a singular championship football game into a four-day extravaganza and a beloved national holiday. As the NFL's major decision maker in charge of all aspects of the Super Bowl, he grew a game into one of the largest generators of annual revenues for the NFL. Currently a consultant across both collegiate and professional sports, Steeg resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.