Namath: A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Broadway Joe:The Athlete, The Swinger, The Family Man
Review:

Joe Namath, just the name resonates with many images. Mark Kriegel, in his unauthorized biography "Namath" brings to life all of those images, and we get to know "up close and personal" the real man. "It brings me Goosebumps" is what Joe always said when he was asked about something wonderful or new in his life. This is a Goosebumps book.

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania is my birthplace. I never knew Joe Namath, but I knew and heard about the legend of the man. Joe Namath's grandfather, Andras Nemet immigrated to the United States from Hungary. He wanted to give his children the chance to grow up in freedom. He settled in Beaver Falls, Pa. and worked the steel mills as did most everyone. Joe grew up in the culture of old world values: hard work, family, education and alcohol. Joe also grew up with a talent for sports. He could throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the basket and run the field. He had brothers, who made life difficult, but they loved him and they made him practice. They understood that to make a life, to get away from the steel plants, Joe needed to make something of himself. Make something of himself, he did. He went to the University of Alabama, where the great coach, "Bear" Bryant helped mold Joe into a super football star. He and his team went to the Orange Bowl And, life was wonderful. Joe had what he wanted; wine, women and football. He didn't have enough credits to get that degree, but he got a contract with the Jets in New York and a bag load of money.

The Jets brought him fame. Joe Namath lit up the streets and became known as "Broadway Joe'. Women, and many of them were his forte and the light of broadway kept him going. His team went to the Super bowl in 1963, and in the stands was President John Kennedy. Fame also brought pain- I lost count after five with the number of surgeries Joe Namath has had on his knees. His time with the Jets and then with other football teams was not an easy one. He had to prove himself. Part of this approval was to maintain his image of the sports elite, and he could do this best with the help of alcohol. He threw three touchdowns against the Boston Patriots while still drunk. This habit didn't cause many problems while he played football, but later on his life it brought him down.

Joe Namath retired and at the age of 40 was ready to settle down. He met Deborah, a 21 year old actress and fell in love. They married and had two daughters, who became the light of his life. His image became immersed in their lives. Deborah, a strong woman lost herself in his image, and left him for another man. Joe moved on by himself, but with the love of his daughters. He embarrassed himself on public television and went into alcohol rehab. He lives in Florida with his daughters, painful knees and his memories.

Mark Kriegel has written a book that gives us much insight into the man, Joe Namath, warts and all. No punches are pulled and all is told. This is a life, laid bare. Not enough description of the game of football is a critique, but this is about a man with many elements. All of the football games can be found elsewhere. Broadway Joe gives me Goosebumps. Highly recommended. prisrob


Rating:
Summary: Cheers for # 12
Review: I enjoy biographies, not just sports but any lively individual. Joe Namath was a gifted athlete and an American phenomonon. The author has captured Mr. Namaths glory days and then some. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Chances are you would too.

Rating:
Summary: Light On Broadway Joe
Review: Former Daily News sports columnist Mark Kriegel has fashioned one of the better biographies on a sports legend in the past few years with Namath: A Biography. The book takes a look at the life of Broadway Joe from his days in the Lower End of Beaver Falls, PA to his greatest heights as the quarterback of the New York Jets. Mr. Kriegel describes how a generation of boys grew up idolizing Mr. Namath and he is clearly one of them. But Mr. Kriegel does a great job of walking that precarious line between being a fan and a reporter. The book provides you with all the highs and lows from Mr. Namath's life. From his dealings with purported mobsters to his problems with alcohol to his saving the AFL and forcing the AFL-NFL merger to his greatest triumph of winning Super Bowl III, Mr. Kriegel offers up it all up with sharp writing style. Like the hustler himself, he plays all the right angles to create a must read for fans of Joe Namath, the Jets and sports itself.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant melding of psychology, family, culture
Review: I couldn't put this book down until I finished it. The author brilliantly weaves together Joe Namath's family background, socioeconomic circumstances, culture and football to clearly and movingly explain this complex hero and possibly unwitting revolutionary. I am thrilled that there is a biography that does justice to the great Joe Namath.

Rating:
Summary: Long but worth it for this Namath fan
Review: I really enjoyed listening to this book on CD. I'm not sure I could have done as well with the written version. The author provides way more details than I normally like, but in the end I'm glad to have the information. I found myself doing what all Joe's other fans do - rooting for him to do well - both professionally and personally. It's a good read.


Rating:
Summary: Good Story Needing a 100 Page Edit
Review: Joe Namath is clearly a Baby Boomer icon. As this book rightly shows he revolutionized the game of football not only by his fabulous arm but his persona. Now some may say he was the beginning of the "me" generation in team sports and all the bad that has come from that. But I think that's a tad unfair. Basically this is a story that needs to be told.

But this book is not without flaws. I was glad to read in one place the complete Joe Namath story which contained many stories of which I was not familiar. But the mistake made by the author after spending so many hours of exhaustive research was to try and include it all. This book is clearly 50-100 pages too long. So while I enjoyed this, be prepared for a time commitment to read about a 60-70s icon. I enjoy learning but did I really want to learn everything about Joe that any source interviewed by the author found?


Rating:
Summary: Brought back time and place.
Review: Mark Kriegel has given the sports world a wonderful biography of a very interesting subject. He has also replayed an interesting time in our pop-culture history that made me a little nostolgic and at the same time, reminded me that the late sixties and early seventies were a little more complex than some of us care to remember.
I mean to say that he shows Namath paying the price for every moment of hedonism and that Joe's easy swagger had a lot to do with intense over medication of all sorts. I always sensed that there was more to Joe than natural talent and charm and we see that in these pages. He was incredibly competitive and seen as a winner throughout his career. Yet the Jets he quarterbacked had only three winning seasons in twelve years.
Some of the most telling passages come toward the end of the book, when Kriegel lists the number of times Joe was simply not there for his friends and when he, in effect, abandonned his Jet teamates. I truly felt compassion for a guy who wanted so badly to be a good family man and when Joe confesses to having embarrassed his daughters and the rest of his family, it seems heartfelt and you have to hurt for him a little.
This is no fluff piece and Joe comes across at times as being the grown up example of every kid who has ever been told that being talented in sports is good enough and nothing else is required. Joe's high school coach takes a lot of credit for everything good that ever happened to him, but I wonder if he would be willing to accept a little responsibility for the pain that the guy has experienced in his life.

Rating:
Summary: Bittersweet
Review: My idol..meet him once (1972, yes bachelor's III)...I actually lived near Beaver Falls in the seventies and through my limited research, an excellant insight to my 'HERO'...have bought copies for friends

Rating:
Summary: If you are a pro football fan you must read this book
Review: Short and sweet this is one of the finest sports biographies of all time. Kudos to Mark Kriegel who absolutely nails it -portraying Broadway Joe as the flawed hero of a generation. A moving portrayal of a tumultuous era.

Rating:
Summary: Kinda funny, kinda nice...
Review: This "bio" is not simply the story of Joe Namath--his life is inextricably entwined with football itself, from the legend of Bear Bryant to the coming of age of modern professional football, and the culture (and counter-culture) of the 60's. This story not only sheds light on Namath but is also a fascinating lesson on some not-so-ancient history.

As for the man himself, Kriegel presents a sympathetic and yet unflinching view of Joe Namath. Despite his larger-than-life persona, Namath is truly revealed in this book in all his (yes, sometimes self-contradictory) facets. You feel the excitement of the games and the rush of stardom, but you also can't escape the feeling that you're on a bullet train, going full tilt to its doom.

The pictures are of a character with the prose... showing many different parts of Namath and his life, and including some of the most astounding sports photos I've ever seen--both the pain on the boy's face after the Orange Bowl loss and the amazing clearance he was able to achieve, lifting off to throw a pass.

Overall, a fascinating story, well-written and alternately poignant, funny, sad, exhilerating... you name it, it's probably in there.