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Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas | 
 enlarge | Author: Tom Callahan
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  69 reviews
Sales Rank: 201945
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 1400081408
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9781400081400
ASIN: 1400081408
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
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Product Description
In a time “when men played football for something less than a living and something more than money,” John Unitas was the ultimate quarterback. Rejected by Notre Dame, discarded by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he started on a Pennsylvania sandlot making six dollars a game and ended as the most commanding presence in the National Football League, calling the critical plays and completing the crucial passes at the moment his sport came of age.
Johnny U is the first authoritative biography of Unitas, based on hundreds of hours of interviews with teammates and opponents, coaches, family and friends. The depth of Tom Callahan’s research allows him to present something more than a biography, something approaching an oral history of a bygone sporting era. It was a time when players were paid a pittance and superstars painted houses and tiled floors in the off-season—when ex-soldiers and marines like Gino Marchetti, Art Donovan, and “Big Daddy” Lipscomb fell in behind a special field general in Baltimore. Few took more punishment than Unitas. His refusal to leave the field, even when savagely bloodied by opposing linemen, won his teammates’ respect. His insistence on taking the blame for others’ mistakes inspired their love. His encyclopedic football mind, in which he’d filed every play the Colts had ever run, was a wonder.
In the seminal championship game of 1958, when Unitas led the Colts over the Giants in the NFL’s first sudden-death overtime, Sundays changed. John didn’t. As one teammate said, “It was one of the best things about him.”
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 64 more reviews...
 Great Book October 3, 2008
If you are an fan of the old Baltimore Colts or the NFL in the 50's,60's,
this is a must read.
 Enjoyable look at the older days of the NFL August 27, 2008
I enjoyed reading about the NFL before it became a really big business. Johnny U played in the Colts-Giants that is generally credited with the beginning of the ascendancy of the NFL. But Johnny U played in the era when the players still had to have other jobs in the off-season. The book does a good job showing what a great leader Johnny U was on those Colts teams. It is a bit uneven in its coverage of his career with some years getting very short shrift. But overall a worthy read for anyone interested in NFL history.
Great story June 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This item arrived quickly and in good condition. This is more 'times' than 'life', but the combination works well and delivers a great book.
 "The Greatest" deserves better! May 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I read that Unitas was receiving a new biography I was very excited. After reading many great sports-related books in the past few years (Maraniss' "When Pride Still Mattered," Kriegel's "Namath," Barra's "The Last Coach," and everything by Halberstam), I just knew that Unitas had to be getting his just due. Sadly, this is not the case. I can't believe the favorable reviews for this book! There is nothing new that is not found in others concerning the Colts and Unitas. The '58 Championship and Super Bowl III make up the majority of this book--who hasn't heard, read, or seen everything there is to know about these games? The author had the opportunity to fill in the gaps between and after these events, but fails to do so.
More attention could have been paid to Unitas' other 2 MVP years--1964 & 1967. Also, a fuller account of the politics surrounding Unitas' demise in Baltimore would have been interesting. A frank post-career history should have been included--I'd like to know how he was screwed by his business partners as much as how his kids thought he was a great dad.
All-in-all just a major disappointemnt. I really thought the author kind of mailed it in on this one.
Too bad. Johnny Unitas was the greatest, and he deserved a better treatment.
Johnny U - Pure dynamite February 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's not often that a book can "transport" the reader back to the time and with the feeling that they experienced at the time the depicted events were happening but "Johnny U" does just that.
As a kid growing up in a town on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the Colts were our team and Johnny U was our man. In our neighborhood, every kid who took his turn at QB in a vacant lot game became "Johnny U" (or Berry or "the Horse").
As I read this book, the times, the excitement, the flavor of that era once again became real to me. If you were a Colts fan during the time of Johnny U, you can feel it. If you are a younger fan of football, you can get a real flavor of the game and the place of that time.
It was a time when the Quarterback was the field general, calling most if not all the plays. It was the time before the "spike" when a QB in the two minute drill called 2 plays in the huddle and executed them both for gains or a win. It was a time when the sideline was the 12th man on the field and it was a time when your QB (#19) put the ball where only his teammate could catch it and stop the clock at the same time. We never seemed to worry if the Colts were down by less than 14 points at the 2 minute warning. Johnny U and company could (and often did) still pull out a win.
If you are a football lover or sports fan who wants an excellent history book, it doesn't get any better than "Johnny U".
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