Items related to Whole Ten Yards
Synopsis
"Eloquent testimony not only to the fragility of the human body but to its durability as well." The Washington Post Book World.
He was the handsome golden boy out of USC, the star running back for the New York Giants, and -- for the last twenty-two years -- the stalwart voice of ABC's "Monday Night Football." But for Frank Gifford, the road to success did not come easy -- whether on or off the field.
Now, for the first time, this intensely private man tells his inspirational story, providing an insider's look at the NFL replete with shocking and humorous anecdotes. A classic memoir of a true American gridiron hero.
From the Paperback edition.
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From Kirkus Reviews
Like the man himself, this long-awaited memoir by football Hall-of-Famer and broadcaster Gifford is a measured, straightforward, good-natured piece of work. With the help of Newsweek's Waters, Gifford (12 years in the NFL, All-Pro at three positions) looks back on 40 years of football and celebrity with ``awe and gratitude.'' He opens characteristically, with a humbling experience: the New York Giants' loss in the 1958 title game to Baltimore, when he fumbled twice, both fumbles leading to Colts touchdowns. Despite his NFL achievements, short-lived acting career, and longtime marriage to TV-star Kathie Lee Gifford, the author's 23 years on Monday Night Football are of greatest interest here, and he devotes ample space to them. Gifford writes compassionately of Howard Cosell despite the elder sportscaster having ``bad-mouthed me'' and ``carved me up in his books,'' and he calls his good friend Don Meredith ``one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet'' in spite of Meredith's TV-cultivated image as a good ol' boy. Gifford names current partner Al Michaels as ``the best play-by-play man in the business,'' and Dan Dierdorf as ``the only former lineman I've ever met who knows the entire game'' of football. Looking back on his playing days, the author cites as highlights his 1956 MVP season, when the Giants won it all, and the championship teams of the early 1960's. He also provides an amusing recounting of the famous hit laid on him in 1960 by Philadelphia linebacker Chuck Bednarik, which resulted in ``a deep brain concussion.'' Profiles of Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown, and former teammates Sam Huff, Y.A. Tittle, Charlie Conerly, and Kyle Rote paint a vivid picture of the era, as do Gifford's reminiscences of late 1950's New York nightlife. Charming and appealing...nicely done, with barely a touch of vitriol. (Photographs) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Publishers Weekly
Much like the Gifford we know from Monday Night Football , this autobiography, written with Newsweek journalist Waters, is easygoing, informative and anecdotal. Gifford's father, an itinerant oil field worker, led the family on an existence which was right out of The Grapes of Wrath (Gifford estimates that he lived in 47 towns before he started high school). Finally settling in Bakersfield, Calif., Gifford's life was turned around by his high school football coach, Homer Beatty. Beatty made Gifford into a star tailback and got him into the University of Southern California. Drafted by the New York Giants of the NFL, he was a member of the 1956 world champion Giants; was a participant in "the greatest game every played"--the Colts-Giants championship game of 1958; and he played with, or was coached by, some of the heroic names of pro football: Charlie Conerly, Y. A. Tittle, Kyle Rote, Sam Huff, Tom Landry and the legendary Vince Lombardi. He relives the nights with Toots Shor and Jackie Gleason ("a great talent but a tragic man") and provides funny and insightful profiles of his teammates in the booth: Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Roone Arledge. Inevitably, there is his wife, the infatigably upbeat Kathie Lee (of Live with Regis & Kathie Lee fame). A good, solid sports autobiography that will be enjoyed by football fans--maybe even fans of Kathie Lee. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherRandom House Value Publishing
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 0517164280
- ISBN 13 9780517164280
- BindingHardcover
- Rating
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