Three-Week Professionals : Inside the 1987 NFL Players' Strike

In 1987 NFL players went on strike, demanding better pay and the right to seek free agency. Determined to keep the league going, teams pulled replacements from wherever they could be found, from the semi-pros to bar stools, in order to create makeshift teams. For three weeks, “regular” men—truck drivers, school teachers, stockbrokers—were able to put on NFL helmets and jerseys, play in professional stadiums, and live their dreams. The replacements had to dodge thrown food and endure catcalls while they played in nearly empty stadiums, but for three weeks they were NFL players. Ultimately, their days as professional athletes registered nary a blip on NFL radar. Three-Week Professionals: Inside the 1987 NFL Players’ Strike finally tells their stories. Ted Kluck explores the strike experiences of NFL veterans like Hall-of-Famer Jim Kelly and cultural oddities living a dream, like running back Joe Dudek and wide receiver Larry Linne. The innocence and joy experienced by the replacements stand in stark contrast to the high-stakes negotiations being waged by striking NFL players, negotiations that would spike the pay scale and change the face of the NFL. Including original interviews with both the replacement players and the professionals who went on strike, Three-Week Professionals brings to life these three unusual weeks in the NFL.