Review of "The Blood and Guts"

I started this book on the Thanksgiving holiday, when football is on the mind of most sports fans who celebrate the holiday, and while it took a little time to complete, this was probably one of the more interesting and fun books I have read on the sport.  Here is my review of a book on tight ends, "The Blood and Guts"

Title/Author:

“The Blood and Guts: How Tight Ends Save Football” by Tyler Dunn

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

The position of tight end in football is one of the most challenging positions. For a player to excel in this position, he must have the strength to block defensive linemen who may weigh over 300 pounds, be smart enough to read pass coverage by linebackers and safeties, and also be quick enough to outrun 180-pound cornerbacks. But as any football fan knows, there are many who have not only played this position but have done so at a very high level.  Some of these exceptional tight ends are profiled in this entertaining book by Tyler Dunn.

It should be noted that this is not a ranking of the best players to play the position and it is not meant to be taken that just because a player is not profiled that he would not be considered one of the best to have suited up at tight end.  It starts with Mike Ditka, who began the change of strategy in the use of tight ends to be effective pass receivers as well as blockers.  Dunn interviews and shares the stories of 15 tight ends from Ditka to George Kittle and in between, there are so many interesting stories, on-field recaps and very personal memories.

Of the memories and stories, I felt the most emotional ones were for Dallas Clark (who lost his mother to a heart attack) and for Jimmy Graham, who was literally dropped off by his mother at a group home with his clothes in a garbage bag.  Those two stories both resulted in producing great tight ends who would stop at nothing to succeed.  The circumstances are very different and their paths were certainly not identical, but they both made for compelling reading.

That isn’t to say that every player profiled in this book had tragic or hard stories. Some were out of fear (hard to believe Tony Gonzalez didn’t want to play football because he was afraid of the hard contact), some were just from the “boys being boys” category (Jeremy Shockey’s battles with his siblings) and some were just fun (Rob Gronkowski is probably the most notable party animal). But they, along with all the other tight ends profiled, had in common an unquenchable appetite for success and an incredible work ethic to make sure he did his best to achieve that success.

It should also be noted that while the actual game text is not plentiful in this book, the plays and games that are covered are recapped in an excellent manner.  The most compelling of these is one of the most incredible individual performances in NFL history – Kellen Winslow’s performance in the 1982 playoffs for the San Diego Charges in their memorable win over the Miami Dolphins.  That is just one example of the in-game coverage that is very good when it is presented in the context of that player’s story.

Football fans who remember many of the great tight ends since the era of Ditka and John Mackey will love reading about these players, their stories and their performances.  For me, this book was much like Gronkowski’s early NFL career – just a lot of fun to read.

I wish to thank Twelve Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Guts-Tight-Ends-Football/dp/1538723743/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Review of "Gridiron Genius"

Not only does August mean football training camps, it also means that the new books on the game are hitting the shelves.  I had mentioned earlier that several good ones are coming out soon - this is one that is a very good dive into the world of NFL coaching.  Here is my review of "Gridiron Genius"

Title/Author:

“Gridiron Genius: A Master Class in Winning Championships and Building Dynasties in the NFL” by Michael Lombardi

Tags:

Football (American), professional, 49ers, Patriots, coaching

Publish date:

September 11, 2018

Length:

288 pages

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (Very Good)

Review:

One of the most demanding jobs in all of sports is the head coach of an NFL team. It takes meticulous planning, people skills sharp enough to handle scores of large egos, attention to detail on everything from offensive plays to the menu for the training table and of course, intelligence. This book by Michael Lombardi tells how two of the greatest coaches in the history of the league, Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick, were able to build the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots respectively into the best teams of their era.

Lombardi breaks down the duties of the head coach into each aspect of building a team. Whether it is the madness that is draft day in the NFL, the rigors of training camp, game preparation, or the nuances of each unit, Lombardi tells the philosophy of these legendary coaches in each of these parts of the job in an informative and easy reading style. There are enough passages that are story-driven so that the reader can easily relate to some part of the anecdote even if they have never played or watched football.  The best example of a passage like this was when Lombardi was describing his driving duties for Walsh. The travel time was far from quiet – indeed, Lombardi was comparing it to the popular Carpool Karaoke skits.  However instead of singing, the two would be talking football and what the 49ers needed in order to improve.

If instead of stories, the reader is interested in hardcore football talk including strategy, game planning and execution, there is plenty of that type of writing as well.  For a novice or casual fan, this can be slightly overwhelming, especially when Lombardi is discussing Belichick’s eleven main points for defense.  Fortunately, it is written in the same style that can be digested easily by any reader, but those with a passion for the game will especially enjoy those chapters.  The chapter on Belichick’s game preparation, which takes the entire week and is started even before a playoff opponent is known, made for some of the best football reading in the entire book.

This book comes highly recommended for football fans of all levels, especially those who are highly knowledgeable about the intricacies of coaching and running a team. Lombardi’s various duties – everything from Walsh’s driver to searching for a head coach for the then-St. Louis Rams – will give the reader an inside look at the sport away from the field and into the war rooms of coaches.  

I wish to thank Penguin Random House for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:

E-book (PDF)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Gridiron-Genius-Championships-Building-Dynasties/dp/052557381X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gridiron-genius-michael-lombardi/1127950403?ean=9780525573814#/

Review of "Tom Landry and Bill Walsh"

My favorite era of professional football was during the 1970's and 1980s, and I am very grateful for John Lawson III for providing me a book about two legendary coaches from that era.  Here is my review of "Tom Landry and Bill Walsh."  

Title/Author:

“Tom Landry and Bill Walsh: How two coaching legends took championship football from the Packer Sweep to Brady vs. Manning” by John Lawson III

Tags:

Football, professional, coach, Cowboys, 49ers

Published:

January 18, 2014

Length:

359 pages

Rating: 

4 1/2 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Professional football is a game that has undergone many changes in the last few decades and two legendary coaches, Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys and Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers, were responsible for several of those changes.  Fans of the game will know about the West Coast Offense, the 4-3 defense and the shotgun formation.  Landry and Walsh were ahead of their time bringing those innovations (or in the case of the shotgun, re-introducing) into their game plans.   John Lawson III takes a look at the two men by following through their successes and failures as football coaches and also gives a history of lesson by illustrating what the game was like during the 1970’s and 1980’s when Landry and then Walsh were the kings of the NFL.

This book doesn’t just focus on the two Hall of Fame coaches.  There are plenty of anecdotes about players from that era who helped shape the game as it was at that time.  Of course there are stories about great Dallas and San Francisco players, but other great players from that time are included as well, such as Franco Harris and other players from the Pittsburgh Steelers.   Lawson also does a terrific job of illustrating when there were shifts in the landscape of the league and one of Landry’s or Walsh’s innovations were given the ultimate compliment in the NFL – other teams copied them.

There are two games that Lawson used to do this which were excellent illustrations of this concept.  The first one was on December 28, 1975 when Dallas beat the Minnesota Vikings with a long pass that became known as the “Hail Mary” and is now commonly used for a last second pass.   On a personal note, as a lifetime Vikings fan, that game is a bad memory for me, but it was correct for Lawson to use this one on the journey Landry took to become an innovator to use his personnel to the best of their ability.

The second game is the NFC Championship game in January 1982 in which the 49ers defeated the Cowboys 28-27 with the play that will be forever known as “The Catch” when Dwight Clark leaped for a Joe Montana pass in the end zone in the last minute.   Something I really liked about this chapter is that Lawson debunked a myth that this game was when the torch of greatness was passed from Landry and the Cowboys to Walsh and the 49ers.  He explains this during this chapter and others as well with extensive research and well-written accounts of games, teams and seasons during this era.

I did feel that even though Lawson didn’t expressly write this, he seemed biased toward Walsh being a little better than Landry overall as a coach and an innovator.  This isn’t to say that he wrote a lot of critical items about Landry (if anything, he was more critical of the Cowboys organization as a whole) and he didn’t write about Walsh in overly glowing praise, but in the end, I felt that there was a bias toward Walsh shown.  Not that this is bad about the book – it just took me by surprise near the end as it was very balanced up to that point. 

Overall, I felt this was an excellent book that any football fan who enjoyed that era of the NFL will want to read.  The four-and-a-half star rating is moved to five for Amazon and Goodreads where half-stars are not counted.

I wish to thank Mr. Lawson for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Did I skim?

No. 

Pace of the book: 

Very good. The back and forth between the sagas of Landry and Walsh are well placed and keeps the reader moving through the book and therefore keeps both coaches fresh in his or her mind.

Do I recommend? 

Pro football fans will love this book, especially those who followed the game in the 1970’s and 1980s.

Book Format Read:

e-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

http://www.amazon.com/TOM-LANDRY-BILL-WALSH-championship-ebook/dp/B00HYOU9OW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1399319194&sr=1-1&keywords=tom+landry+and+bill+walsh