Point of Attack: The Defense Strikes Back

An All-Pro linebacker recreates the 1985 football year from the training camp to the playoffs and exposes the strategies, fears, and frustrations encountered on the road to the Super Bowl

The N.Y. Giants, once the dominant force in the pro gridiron sport, have had little to cheer about for 20 years. So it is perhaps not surprising that there should be a book about the 1985 season, when the team won more games than it lost and even made the playoffs. In this account of that year, inside linebacker and defensive captain Carson and Newsday reporter Smith cover each of the 18 games in that not-so-memorable campaign, and the result is a less than memorable book. Carson is a forthright man and an exceptional playeran inspiration to his teammates. But neither his life story nor his career in 1985 proves rousing. Still, Giant fans, a long-frustrated breed, can be expected to delight in the book. Photos not seen by PW. 50,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; first serial to Newsday.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Carson, all-pro linebacker for the Giants, offers his impressions of the 1985 season. Not exactly a household name, he is a strong, dependable player, one of the reasons the Giants' defense is so exceptional. Carson is proud of the fact that he is a "dull guy" who doesn't drink or take drugs, and he might have had some good stories to tell, but he never explores the topics of racism on the Giants and in the NFL, women reporters in locker rooms, and his unhappiness during the team's losing years, all of which he mentions and quickly drops. Since most of the book chronicles the Giants' road to the playoffs, their fans will still be pleased with this. Libraries in New York will want to purchase, but Ken Stabler and Berry Stainback's Snake (LJ 9/15/86) and Jim McMahon and Bob Verdi's McMahon (Warner, 1986) both make more exciting reading. Jo DeLapo, Queens Borough P.L, New York
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.