Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

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Hi Guys,

 

I've spent the last two years researching and writing an exhaustive 100+ year history of football in Jacksonville. Everything from the first college game held in Jacksonville in 1902, through the Chicago Bears exhibition game at Fairfield Stadium in 1926, to Florida-Georgia, to the birth of the Gator Bowl, to the Hotel Roosevelt Fire, through the WFL, USFL, AFA, SPFL, Jaguars, Sharks, and even our Lingerie team is covered in more detail (400+ pages, over 2,000 sources) than anything else that has ever been put together on the subject. I've got sections on our Negro League Bears, the Jacksonville Robins, the Dixie Blues, the Florida Sun (a proposed NFL expansion team in the 1970s that would be shared between Jacksonville and Orlando), Colts Fever Night, Jacksonville's relocation discussions with Atlanta, New Orleans, Arizona, New England, the Super Bowl, Bobby Bowden's Last Game, and so, so much more. I've even got a section written by Woody Paige about his "rivalry" with Jacksonville.

 

The project started at UNF in March of 2012. I was finishing up a degree in Economics, and for one of my class projects I put together a regression analysis study of Jaguars' attendance from 2006 onward. As part of the study, I wanted to included a brief history of football in Jacksonville. When I was researching this section, I was surprised by the scarcity of information on the topic. Chuck Day wrote the fantastic Jacksonville Football History, but it really only covered the time period from the 1970s to Jacksonville's Super Bowl. Besides Day's book, and a few Times-Union books focused on the acquisition and early seasons of the Jaguars, nothing comprehensive really exists. This saddened me, so I decided to undertake the effort myself.

 

This project has been a total labor of love, researched and written in what spare time I have found between my full-time job in engineering, completing that degree from UNF, and raising my new baby girl. Realistically, it will never be a profitable venture, but I really love it here, and if the book helps even a few people embrace this city's overlooked yet important and often-great history, I'll feel like I was able to give a little something back.

 

Anyway, as I round the final bend, the one thing that I'm really lacking are photos from the 1970s onward. As a self-published project with a small print run, I just don't have the photo budget or resources to purchase photos from the Times-Union. If anyone has any good pictures from their personal collections (Jags games, Super Bowl game or weekend festivities, Gator Bowl, Florida-Georgia, Colts Fever Night, NFL exhibition games, or anything else from this time period) I would be immensely appreciative. Photo credit would be given, and though I can't pay you cash, I could offer a copy of the book in exchange if I use any of your pictures.

 

Thanks for the consideration and keep fighting the good fight

• Ken
  

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P.S. Mods, feel free to move if this is the wrong section for this.

Great.  Thanks for making us unaccomplished slackers look bad, Ken.  

 

That's quite a project and I'm sure it will generate more interest than you think.  Hopefully you've come to the right place for help.  A lot of these people know a person, who knows a person... I would ask for more photos of the lingerie league, but my daughter just made the local team.  (sigh) I'm getting old.  

 

Congratulations on your pending book.   I'm sure many of us will be looking forward to it.

I'll buy this book.  As far as photos I dont have the quality you are probably looking for.

 

I'm sure there are some amateur photographers here that could help out.