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What: GQ Special Issue: Why We Love Football

Price: $3.50. Available at most newsstands.

GQ usually has a sports-related profile each month, but this fall the magazine’s editors took things a step further and created a football-themed issue. Most of the usual departments and other monthly features offer a football twist along with half a dozen intriguing profiles that go beyond the usual preseason analysis.

One caveat: The word “pro” should be inserted between “love” and “football” because 90% of the stories are NFL-related. One exception is an unflattering profile of former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, as told through his stepson and written by a former Wolverine player.

Included among the NFL stories are features on the trendy story lines: the rebirth of the Cleveland Browns, the return of instant replay.

Like many other media outlets, the magazine offers its list of the greatest NFL players. There was no accompanying explanation, so it’s a mystery why Dan Marino was ranked No. 4, ahead of other quarterbacks such as Joe Montana, Sammy Baugh, John Unitas and John Elway.

More unique was a look at the influx of Samoan talent into the league--including a trip to American Samoa--and a story behind the scenes of Oliver Stone’s upcoming football movie “Any Given Sunday.”

GQ is known for its fashion tips, and the magazine features New York Giant defensive back Jason Sehorn in a photo spread and several members of the rookie quarterback class, among them Cade McNown, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper and Akili Smith, as models. One guarantee: Nowhere else will you find Philadelphia Eagle quarterback McNabb in a $6,500 green leather fur-lined coat.