HOW TO PLAY BETTER FOOTBALL

Start with a mentally and physically healthy boy of nine to twelve. Assume complete ignorance of football fundamentals and terminology. Explain these in simple language from scrambling to tackling to the 6-2-2-1 versus the 4-3-2-2 to the spiral snapback to that essential Mr. Touchdown mentality. Do this for each position, each situation, each formation. Add the usual coachy pep talks on keeping your ""machine"" (your body) morally and materially well oiled -- never smoke, never-never drink, never-never-never take drugs. Pad with Leonard Kessler's bright diagrams and play-action illustrations. (If this sounds familiar, you're right: see the Jackson-Kessler combination's How to Play Better Baseball and How to Play Better Basketball.) Pick up the book, hand it off to that youngster, and let him run with it.