Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Review of "All the Way"

Upon learning that Joe Namath had published a memoir, I was interested to see what he wrote about his life off the football field - everything from his famous playboy lifestyle to the infamous interview with Suzy Kolber.  There was some, but not a lot - much like the rest of the book will read for those who want to know more about his football.  Here is my review of "All the Way"



Title/Author:

“All The Way: My Life in Four Quarters” by Joe Namath

Tags:
Football (American), Professional, memoir, Jets

Publish date:
May 21, 2019

Length:
240 pages

Rating: 
3 1/2 of 5 stars (good)

Review: 
When one adds up other books written about Joe Namath, whether about his football career, his famous off-the-field lifestyle or maybe even hearing about these from television, there isn’t a lot about him that hasn’t already been revealed. Nevertheless, Namath decided to tell his story in this memoir.

However, “memoir” might not be the best way to categorize this book as it really has no category. The book’s setting is Namath’s living room in which he is watching a replay of the game that made him famous to many Americans, Super Bowl III. Namath weaves tales of his childhood in western Pennsylvania and his college days at Alabama playing for coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.  (I particularly liked his story about his admission to having a drink to Bryant and his subsequent suspension off the team.  It was good to illustrate both Namath’s honesty – a trait he often mentions throughout the book – and Bryant’s consistency in enforcing rules.  There are other stories about his teammates and football career as well as other stories about his life in between memories of the game. 

There really is no structure or order to these stories – they are simply written as Namath thinks of them. Some of them are pretty obscure and some of them are famous, such as when he guaranteed that the Jets would win the Super Bowl even though they were eighteen point underdogs. Another moment discussed is one for which he apologizes and states that was when he realized that he had a drinking problem. That was the infamous interview with ESPN football reporter Suzy Kolbert in which Namath wanted to kiss her when he was intoxicated. 

While these anecdotes seem to have no structure, they are certainly entertaining and enjoyable to read.  Fans who are old enough to remember Super Bowl III will particularly enjoy the snippets of the game shared by Namath. I say “snippets” because like Namath’s life stories, not every play is remembered by Namath, even when he is “watching” the game with the reader.

This is a book that fans of Namath will certainly enjoy, but in no way is it a comprehensive look at his life or even Super Bowl III.  Mark Kreigle’s book on Namath is that complete picture and this one is a nice conversation Namath has with the reader over a day of watching football – even if that football game is 50 years old.

I wish to thank Little, Brown and Company for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
                                                                 
Book Format Read:
E-book(Kindle)                                                                                                                                

Buying Links:



https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-the-way-joe-namath/1128997677?ean=9780316421096#/

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