On a visit to Brandeis a decade ago -- years before he’d even decided to make a career change and swap his legal pad for an author’s pen -- Murray Greenberg ’77 stumbled upon a subject worthy of his literary debut.

From his days as a baseball and soccer standout at Brandeis, Greenberg had some idea about Benny Friedman and his connection to the University, but he didn’t learn the full story of the football pioneer until he attended a Friedman tribute presented by some former players and a team manager that was held in conjunction with Brandeis’s 50th anniversary in 1998.

“Being an athlete myself and being fairly knowledgeable about sports history, I was flabbergasted at what I heard that night,” Greenberg said. “I remember leaving there overwhelmed and so proud of my Brandeis heritage. I was amazed that this great figure in sports had been at my school and, ultimately, my amazement manifested itself in this book.”

Greenberg’s first book, "Passing Game: Benny Friedman and the Transformation of Football," which was released on Nov. 2 by PublicAffairs (founded by Peter Osnos ’64), tells the story of the man credited with saving professional football in the 1920 and ’30s by popularizing the forward pass. After his days as a pro quarterback ended, Friedman came to Brandeis as the school’s first athletic director and only football coach (Brandeis dropped football after the 1959 season). He died in 1982.

“He’s been terribly overlooked through the years,” Greenberg said. “Somehow he had gotten lost and fallen through the cracks. When I learned about him in ’98, I thought that this was a guy who deserved to be in the sporting consciousness of America.”

That Greenberg came to help restore Friedman to his rightful place in the sports pantheon is a story in itself. After leaving his career as a litigator, Greenberg decided to scratch his long-time writing itch and enroll at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. For an assignment for a book-writing seminar, he developed the outline for a book -- and "Passing Game" was born.

“It stuck with me over the years that Benny Friedman would be a great subject for a book,” Greenberg said.

As part of his reporting, which included both archival research and personal interviews with Friedman family members, friends, and former players, Greenberg spoke with a number of “Benny’s Boys” -- as his ex-Brandeis players affectionately call themselves. In 2005, he accompanied some of Friedman’s former players to Canton, Ohio, for his long-awaited induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Those interviews were educational and provided important material for the book, but more than that, it was very rewarding to help Benny’s players relive some of the more pleasant days of their lives,” Greenberg said.

Through his extensive research, Greenberg came to know Friedman as few ever did. Could Greenberg the athlete have played for Friedman the coach?

“Not only could I have, it would have been an honor,” Greenberg said. “He was an extremely knowledgeable coach and, from all accounts, he had a great coaching demeanor. He was stern when he needed to be and comforting when he needed to be. It would have been an absolute pleasure to play for him.”

Reviews: Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, and the Forward.