A football festival first will honor the best in the sport. Then the games themselves will offer action. These books can provide enjoyable pregame or postgame reading the entire season.

“Rozelle, Czar of the NFL,” by Jeff Davis (hardcover, McGraw Hill, 544 pages, 2008, $27.95). “For the National Football League to have become what it has become, one event was indispensable: Pete Rozelle had to be the commissioner,” Ernie Accorsi writes in his foreword. Then Chicago journalist Davis brings to life one of the most important sports personalities of the century.

“FOX Sports Tailgating Handbook: The Gear, The Food, The Stadiums,” by Stephen Linn (softcover, Globe Pequot Press, 2007, 254 pages, $16.95). The author and host of several tailgating books and TV shows, Linn has created “the most fun and comprehensive guide to tailgating there is,” says no less than the head of a tailgating association. It includes info pages for NFL and NCAA stadiums.

“Quiet Strength, A Memoir,” by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker (hardcover, Tyndale, 301 pages, 2007, $26.99). As the subtitle to this book promises, there are “principles, practices, and priorities of a winning life” — things that keep you on track when life throws out its obstacles, including, in the author’s case, the tragic loss of a child.

“Cleveland Browns History,” by Frank M. Henkel (softcover, Arcadia Publishing, 2005, 128 pages, $19.99). The author, creator of the online NFL History Network, also is a lifelong Browns fan. “Brown In, Brown Out.” “The Kardiac Kids.” “Marty Ball.” “Diminishing Skills.” “Starting Over.” Even the titles of this black-and-white text bring back memories.

“Payton,” by Connie, Jarrett, and Brittney Payton (hardcover, Rugged Land, 246 pages, 2005, $29.95). With a foreword written by Brett Favre, the family of HOFer Walter Payton has put together a book that captures the man Mike Ditka called “the best football player ever, period,” with plenty of pictures, insightful text, and the ESPN Films CD “Pure Payton.”