Title/Author:
“Still Running” by Nathaniel
Northington
Tags:
Football (American), College,
Kentucky, autobiography, memoir
Publish date:
September 30, 2014
Length:
258 pages
Rating:
3 1/2 of 5 stars (good)
Review:
Many African-American
players who broke color barriers for their particular sport or team are well
known to many sports fans. Nate
Northington was one of these pioneers, becoming the first African-American football
player in the Southeast Conference. He
and his friend Greg Page were recruited by Kentucky at the same time and on
September 30, 1967, Northington became the first African-American player to
appear in a Southeast Conference game.
It was very bittersweet for him, however, because Page died the previous
night due to complications from a neck injury suffered 36 days earlier in
practice.
Northington writes about
his friend with a lot of compassion. It is readily apparent to the reader that
he has never fully gotten over this tragedy in his life. He never forgets his friend – taking it to
the extent that when he is honored by Kentucky for this achievement, he would
not accept the accolades unless Page was recognized as well. He doesn’t go into details about Page’s
injury or death because he did not witness the accident in practice.
Despite this tragedy and
his subsequent departure from Kentucky because he felt the school wasn’t doing
enough to continue integrating the program, Northington tells his story in a
refreshing upbeat manner. He never holds
grudges or complains about his treatment as an African-American in the 1950’s
and 1960’s. He instead concentrates on
the good fortune he had in that the integrated teams and neighborhood in which
he played and lived were harmonious.
That, along with his faith, is the continual theme of Norhington as he takes the reader through his athletic career in high school, where he was a three sport star (football, basketball, baseball) as well as Kentucky and Western Kentucky. He doesn’t talk much about his personal life after college, but enough to see that he lived a fulfilling life after football. While the book is very typical of most sports autobiographies in format and content, it is an interesting one that readers who want to learn about this pioneer of integration in college football will want to pick up.
Did I skim?
No
Pace of the book:
It moves along quite well,
with Northington not spending too much time on any one topic. That was good for me while reading the book
as I was able to follow his story quite well.
The only topic in which he spent a great deal of time was understandably
the death of Greg Page.
Do I recommend?
I believe that readers
will enjoy this book as I found it different than other books, whether biographical
or historical, on the integration of a sport or team. Norhthington’s positive outlook made it a
good read.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Nook)
Buying links:
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