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)
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