It's a Numbers Game! Football

4.7

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Author(s)

Eric Zweig

Publisher

National Geographic Children's Books

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

July 26, 2022

ISBN

978-1426372896

Buy This Book

Do you know how to calculate a quarterback’s completion percentage? What was the score of the highest scoring Super Bowl game? Become a football fanatic and learn all about the numbers and math behind this popular sport.

With every throw, tackle, and kick, numbers are being calculated on the football field. Get ready to learn all the ways digits and math factor into the game, from the countless statistics used to measure an individual player’s performance to the numbers used in defensive formations. Read about the greatest players from football history and get fascinating facts, like the price of a Super Bowl commercial. Discover which NFL team defenses have allowed the fewest points and check out cool graphics that show the angles in different pass patterns.

Jam-packed with sports trivia, awesome photos, and fun activities at the end of every chapter, this number-focused look at the game is a definite touchdown.

Editor review

1 review

Math Touchdown!

October 12, 2022

Overall rating

4.7

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

5.0

Learning Value

5.0

I might be the most unqualified person in the world to write this review, since I have no interest in football and struggle with math, but as a teacher, I know that my students are DEFINITELY interested in football, and that even if they have trouble understanding long division, they have no trouble at all rattling off statistics for their favorite teams.

Like all National Geographic Kids books, this is jam packed with photoillustrations that alone make the book worth looking at. The historical photographs in the chapter on Football Through the Years might be a revelation to young readers who know who the author of the foreword is (Patrick Mahomes), but they will find the information on how the basics of football were worked out, especially when it comes to how games are scored.

Good Points

There are also chapters on the running game and passing game that include a lot of particular players, and talk about how they stack up numerically. There were some that I knew, like Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath, but a lot of other names that might lead young readers to further exploration of football players and their careers.

The chapter on the Super Bowl was fun, and had enough statistics to make the most ardent math nerd's heart dance like the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders. The end of the book explores 10 Crazt Number that outline amazing records by a variety of teams and players.

There is a series of these books that cover sports, so I will definitely have to investigate those, especially the football and baseball titles. This is sort of a mix between the The to WOW series and shorter books like Adamson's Baseball: The Math of the Game and would make an excellent gift for a statistics obsessed fan.