Celebrated sports columnist Sally Jenkins delivers a powerful and poignant narrative in “The Real All Americans,” a book that chronicles the incredible story of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team.1 Published in 2007, Jenkins’s work transcends the sports genre to tell a profound story about race, identity, and resilience at the turn of the 20th century.2 This book rescues one of the most important and inspiring teams from the mists of time, cementing their critical place in college football history.
Jenkins builds her story around the two towering figures of Carlisle football: the brilliant, innovative coach Pop Warner and the transcendent athlete Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest the world has ever seen. However, Jenkins masterfully places their on-field triumphs within the complex and often tragic context of the Carlisle school itself. She explores the deep irony of an institution designed to erase Native American identity producing a football team that became a national symbol of Native American pride and greatness.
The book vividly recounts how the undersized but clever Carlisle team revolutionized the sport. Jenkins details how Warner used his players’ speed and intelligence to pioneer a new style of football built on deception, misdirection, and an early adoption of the forward pass. She expertly describes their legendary games, including the shocking 1911 upset of a powerhouse Harvard team and their dominant run to the 1912 national championship. Jenkins captures the excitement of these contests, where Carlisle’s innovative tactics consistently baffled the era’s brutish, power-focused teams. More than just a football book, “The Real All Americans” is an essential work of American history. 🏈
