Landry: The Legend And The Legacy

Rating:
Summary: The best all-around portrayal of Landry
Review:

Tom Landry was the first, longest-tenured and most winning coach of the Dallas Cowboys, having guided them to 5 Super Bowls, 9 straight playoff appearances and 20 straight winning seasons -- pro football feats that were unprecedented at the time, and which may never be matched again by a single coach. His tactical innovations on offense and defense changed the strategies and techniques of football as no others have. Landry, arguably the greatest coach in NFL history, was also a great person -- beloved father and husband, decorated war combat veteran, powerhouse in charitable fundraising, unflappable in the face of pressure, and universally respected for his devotion to God and family (without being sanctimonious). In short, Landry was a rare man of rock-solid honor, class, self-discipline and dignity. Landry was also a human with human frailties over which he stumbled at times, a surprisingly sharp sense of humor, and a measure of professional stubbornness which may have undermined his final years with the Cowboys. St. John vividly depicts all these facets of America's Coach in a strong (but not fawning) style.

This is the best and most thorough Landry biography around, despite a few minor flaws. It reveals the many sides of Landry that the fans never saw, including an assortment of interesting personal milestones and events from childhood, college, and the years after his coaching career ended. St. John's presentation engenders a new level of respect and admiration of Landry, even for the fan already familiar with the coach's many accomplishments in football and in life. I finished this book in awe of Landry's personal character, inspired and determined through his example to be a better Christian, husband, father and worker. That is how powerful St. John's portrayal of Landry is.

The broken chronology seemed a little jarring at first -- with the final part of Landry's life depicted in reverse followed by a switch to childhood. In retrospect, though, it yielded a more sweeping perspective of his roots and life than would a strict chronology. The text is blemished slightly by poor editing: for example, a few incorrect scores, several typos and spelling mistakes (mainly with a few players' names). [Otherwise, this would be a solid 5-star assessment.] That aside, St. John's book is mandatory material for any Cowboys fan, and for any aficionado of sports biographies.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Disappointing Book I've Ever Read
Review: A MUST HAVE for all Cowboys fans! But more importantly, a good read for any one that has given their heart and devotion to an NFL team week after week.

For Cowboys fans, it's a little disappointing that the Boys aren't covered in more detail. But the parts that were written in are great stories.

Perhaps the best sections are the chapters covering Landry's playing and coaching days with the New York Giants. Many classic "old school" football stories are in that part that will keep you laughing for hours. The type of stories that remind you when guys played this game for about a buck-fifty.

The one problem I had with the book was it's emphasis on preaching. The author feels compelled to remind us that Landry was a -Good Christian- time and time again. Don't get me wrong, I doubt many people could be placed on a higher moral pedestal than Landry, but the book becomes "preachy" at times. (Although the funeral depiction puts a tear to your eyes.) I wish the author would have left out his many arguments trying to prove that Landry was a good Christian, man of integrity, etc. and concentrated more so on the football stories. We all know Landry had the best character in the game - it's a fact that was evident to any NFL fan.

A great read for any football fan. If you're not a football fan, I wouldn't bother with the book, but a MUST HAVE for all Cowboys and "old school" NFL fans.

Rating:
Summary: Landry: The Legend and the Legacy
Review: A MUST HAVE for all Cowboys fans! But more importantly, a good read for any one that has given their heart and devotion to an NFL team week after week.

For Cowboys fans, it's a little disappointing that the Boys aren't covered in more detail. But the parts that were written in are great stories.

Perhaps the best sections are the chapters covering Landry's playing and coaching days with the New York Giants. Many classic "old school" football stories are in that part that will keep you laughing for hours. The type of stories that remind you when guys played this game for about a buck-fifty.

The one problem I had with the book was it's emphasis on preaching. The author feels compelled to remind us that Landry was a -Good Christian- time and time again. Don't get me wrong, I doubt many people could be placed on a higher moral pedestal than Landry, but the book becomes "preachy" at times. (Although the funeral depiction puts a tear to your eyes.) I wish the author would have left out his many arguments trying to prove that Landry was a good Christian, man of integrity, etc. and concentrated more so on the football stories. We all know Landry had the best character in the game - it's a fact that was evident to any NFL fan.

A great read for any football fan. If you're not a football fan, I wouldn't bother with the book, but a MUST HAVE for all Cowboys and "old school" NFL fans.

Rating:
Summary: Changed my attitude
Review: After looking through this book it changed my attitude and outlook on a lot of items.

Very good read.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Tribute to The Man in The Funny Hat
Review: If you are a Dallas Cowboy fan, then you will truly enjoy what Mr. St. John did in this wonderful biography. Having received this book as a birthday present, I completed this touching tome in three days.

During this journey inside of Landry's fedora, anger raced through me as I pictured myself in the bowels of Texas Stadium at the time of Landry's dismissal. That someone who touched so many in spite of his stoicism would be uncerimoniously canned the way he was is one of the greatest travesties this sports world has ever known.

I went with Tom and Alicia Landry back in time, from his days as a a defensive with the New York Giants (can you actually Imagine Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi as assistant coaches? WOW!!! BTW- I'm currently reading my other birthday present - When Pride Still Mattered.) and marveled as his innovative genius. From the 4-3 system he implemented to the "Flex" defense he employed in Dallas, he was ahead of his time.

Reading about the Cowboys through his eyes brought back so many memories. Remember how the offensive line used to do their "Set" in unison after breaking the huddle? How about the Shotgun formation in the 70's? I was almost ten years old when watching the "Hail Mary" break the hearts of many Viking fans in Metropolitan Stadium, even younger on that Thanksgiving Day in 74 when Longley hit Drew Pearson for the winning touchdown. I won a bet with my brother over Super Bowl XII. Having watched all those Green Bay/Cleveland heartbreaks on NFL FILMS on numerous occasions, I found myself rooting for his eventual breakthrough as if I were transported back to the late 60's early seventies. That ICE BOWL loss was something. But as champions do, Landry steered his team through the mental anguish, further adding to his legacy. That he also stayed the course with his father-like image to so many of his players definitely impressed me, for he was cognizant that Professional Football is only a small portion of a man's like. (He later proved this is his last decade on earth after football.)

However the things that touched me the most about this tome is his Christianity and the love he shared with his wife Alicia. I felt his goodness burning through the pages, as his EVERYDAY Virtues inspire me to aspire for greatness when doing life's simple things.

Perhaps the best tribute of this man came in his passing. So many of his players came back; from Eddie Lebaron to Danny White, Don (MEREDITH), Craig (MORTON) and Roger (STAUBACH) mixed in between. When my day comes to shuffle off, I can only hope that I made a difference in lives as this man did. What a great man!!!! What a great Book!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Blinding Tribute to a Great Man
Review: It has always been easy to hate the Dallas Cowboys. One can point to their arrogance spawned by an extraordinary success spanning four decades. Perhaps the gruff, bull-like intensity of Tex Schramm was never endearing. The egotistical hillbilly antics of Jerry Jones is certainly a factor. And then there's Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Duane Thomas, Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson, Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Don Meredith, Dan Reeves and...my God.....the list never ends.

But it has never been easy to hate Tom Landry. A constant monument for 29 years as head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Landry in many ways became the leader of professional football and, more importantly, the community of Dallas. "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" author Bob St. John embraces this theme with his loving tribute to a man he covered for many years as sportswriter for The Dallas Morning News. Anyone who ever stood in the presence of Mr. Landry could sense his strong character and kind nobility. Bob St. John, undoubtedly, stood in his presence many times and he was certainly blinded by that aura.

I know Tom Landry had his faults, but you will be hard-pressed to find them in "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy." And that's why Bob St. John was the wrong man to author this biography. What a story this would be if a writer from outside of Texas could pen this multi-layered tome. In many ways, a great American is still waiting to be discovered.

But let's not get too negative here. "Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" is a terrific account of the life and times of the one and only Tom Landry - high school football star in Mission, Texas; University of Texas football player and assistant coach; New York Giants defensive back and punter; New York Giants defensive coach; friend and rival (and personal opposite) of Vince Lombardi; head coach of the Dallas Cowboys; loving family man; community volunteer; strong Christian; heartbreaking victim of modern-day business/sports.

Mr. Landry's story is never boring, though one of the most defining moments of his public life - his disturbingly insensitive firing at the hands of Jerry Jones - takes up a large portion of the first quarter of the biography. This is the highlight of the book. Bob St. John (and his editors) would have been better served to tell Landry's story in chronological order.

Certainly the most memorable and harrowing passages of the book are the retelling of those traumatic days leading up to his dismissal - termed the "Saturday Night Massacre" by Dallas sportswriters. These pages (and the long, overly-detailed chapter describing his funeral) should have closed this biography.

The greatness of Tom Landry was, if anything, strengthened by his own handling of his abrupt firing. This is properly detailed by Bob St. John, but once again, far too early in the book. What for many was a professional tragedy of mythic-like proportions, which to this day echoes in the minds of many long-time Dallas residents, should have been left for the closing and final chapters.

"Landry: The Legend and the Legacy" is a loving tribute to Coach Landry. If it was rushed to publication following his death in 2000 (it was), then perhaps after a few years of retrospection, a definitive account of this man's life can be written.

Rating:
Summary: Landry - A huge disappointment!
Review: It was with eager anticipation that i awaited receipt of what i thought would be a biography of a football legend. On its arrival i hurriedly opened the first page and started to read.
Landry starts with the great mans death and reads like a lengthy obituary column with eulogy after eulogy after eulogy.
There is NO balanced perspective, it is the sort of book that only a doting daughter/son or parent could write.
For all that, i suppose it is well written, just don't buy it if you are looking for an informative biography!

Rating:
Summary: The Most Disappointing Book I've Ever Read
Review: This is the most poorly written book I've ever come across. The number of factual errors is incredible. Nate Newton referred to as Nate Thurman . . . John Stallworth as James Stallworth . . . the score of the Cowboys Super Bowl win over Miami incorrectly stated as 26-3 (it was 24-3) . . . saying Lombardi told Bart Starr to run a sneak to win the Ice Bowl when in fact Starr called a wedge play for Chuck Mercein and decided on his own to run the sneak. The list goes on and the credibility of the author goes out the window.

I also found the chronological style bizarre. St. John starts with Landry's funeral and works backwards through his retirement and dismissal . . . and then suddenly shifts to his birth and childhood and works forward. Even more annoying was his insistence on quoting every available person who had a nice thing to say about Landry and doing so at the very start of the book. Please, tell me about the man and save the tributes for afterwards from a few well-known sources, such as Dan Reeves and Billy Graham. Instead, St. John quotes just about every obscure ex-player and fan who attended the Landry memorial and does so before telling any of the story of his life. I find Landry to be one of the most compelling public figures of the late 20th century and don't disagree with any of what was said about him. But nothing was added by hearing it over and over again from mostly anonymous sources.

Finally, there were a few occasions where St. John went off on tangents that had nothing to do with the story. For example, in the middle of one chapter there is a page-long diatribe on the Super Bowl and how it has turned into a monstrosity of an event. It reads as if St. John took one of his favorite newspaper columns and decided to insert into the middle of the book. Aside from being out of place, one would think that anyone interested in reading about Tom Landry already knows what Super Bowl week is like.

My recommendation: Save your money and hope that David Maraniss (whose book on Lombardi is a classic) or some other high quality biographer endeavors to take on the story of this complex and intriguing man.