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Rating: 
Summary: For Packer Fans
Review: Die-hard Packer fans who followed the team through the 70s and 80s (when the Packers were so routinely awful that only the most fanatical of fans could follow them) will probably enjoy this book. Young fans, unless they're Packer history scholars, won't recognize most of the players in the book. The book confirmed for me how ineptly the Packers were run in the 1970s and 1980s after enjoying so much glory during the Lombardi years. Being a publically owned team, the board of directors took back for themselves the power that they had ceded to Lombardi and since they were guaranteed sell-outs at home regardless of how bad the team was and they were guaranteed profits due to revenue-sharing, they had little incentive to field a decent team. So years were wasted while the Packers struggled under Packer hero Bart Starr who had almost zero coaching experience, only to see Bart get fired just as he was finally becoming a decent coach. Forrest Gregg is brought in and the destruction of the team is completed. Big surprise that the Packers in the 1990s didn't start turning around until the inept directors finally started giving real authority to football professionals like Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren. The book itself is just where-are-they-now stories but they do provide a realistic look at pro football. Dan Devine, the coach before Starr, takes a beating in the book by many of his former players as does Gregg. The person I felt most sorry for in the book was John Brockington. Brockington was the first RB to gain 1000 yds each of his first three seasons and was All-Pro. Most people considered him the best RB in the game at that time after OJ Simpson. Then, inexplicably, Brockington's production fell off to almost nothing and the team dumped him. "Downfield!" describes how the Packer executives decided to put Brock in his place, so to speak, and how there was practically a concerted effort by management and the coaching staff to ruin Brockington's career. Outside of Packer fans, almost no one even knows about John Brockington now and the man, had he been treated right, probably would've gone to the Hall of Fame. Brock, if you're reading this, you deserved much better! If "Downfield!" does anything else, it exonerates John Brockington for his fans. Be sure to read QB Jim Del Gaizo's scathing comments on Dan Devine, too.
Rating:
Summary: For Packer Fans
Review: Die-hard Packer fans who followed the team through the 70s and 80s (when the Packers were so routinely awful that only the most fanatical of fans could follow them) will probably enjoy this book. Young fans, unless they're Packer history scholars, won't recognize most of the players in the book. The book confirmed for me how ineptly the Packers were run in the 1970s and 1980s after enjoying so much glory during the Lombardi years. Being a publically owned team, the board of directors took back for themselves the power that they had ceded to Lombardi and since they were guaranteed sell-outs at home regardless of how bad the team was and they were guaranteed profits due to revenue-sharing, they had little incentive to field a decent team. So years were wasted while the Packers struggled under Packer hero Bart Starr who had almost zero coaching experience, only to see Bart get fired just as he was finally becoming a decent coach. Forrest Gregg is brought in and the destruction of the team is completed. Big surprise that the Packers in the 1990s didn't start turning around until the inept directors finally started giving real authority to football professionals like Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren. The book itself is just where-are-they-now stories but they do provide a realistic look at pro football. Dan Devine, the coach before Starr, takes a beating in the book by many of his former players as does Gregg. The person I felt most sorry for in the book was John Brockington. Brockington was the first RB to gain 1000 yds each of his first three seasons and was All-Pro. Most people considered him the best RB in the game at that time after OJ Simpson. Then, inexplicably, Brockington's production fell off to almost nothing and the team dumped him. "Downfield!" describes how the Packer executives decided to put Brock in his place, so to speak, and how there was practically a concerted effort by management and the coaching staff to ruin Brockington's career. Outside of Packer fans, almost no one even knows about John Brockington now and the man, had he been treated right, probably would've gone to the Hall of Fame. Brock, if you're reading this, you deserved much better! If "Downfield!" does anything else, it exonerates John Brockington for his fans. Be sure to read QB Jim Del Gaizo's scathing comments on Dan Devine, too.
Rating:
Summary: Some substance, but not a lot of style
Review: So that's what happened to Chester Marcol. And that's John Brockington's view on why his career never really took off. And can someone as famous as Willie Wood really have turned his back on football altogether? For those who remember the Packers as either part of the Lombardi legacy or enduring an almost unbroken 30-year string of under-achievement after his departure, Polling's interviews with players from that era (which pretty much make up the book) can't help but be interesting. Obviously some stories are more interesting than others, and there are some curious omissions (the fate of the late Travis Williams is surely worth revealing - and what, no Donny Anderson or Jim Grabowski?). My only real criticism, though, concerns Polling's writing style; presumably a newspaper journalist by trade, his chapters are devoid of any style, often simple recitations of facts combined with quotes from the ex-players. The whole thing has the feel of a small-town newspaper article. I would have preferred Polling interject a bit more of his own self into the book. That said, all but the most narrow-minded Packer fans should find it an interesting stroll down memory lane.
Rating: 
Summary: stories too short , "were are they now"
Review: this isnt much of "untold stories" , but more of "where are they now" it has little information about their packer days , and alot mnore on what theyre doing now , and how they hated forrest gregg , nearly everyone in the book mentions forrest gregg as a bad coach . the stories itself are at times , quiet boring . when i purchased this book , i expected a short autobiography of former players , but it turned out different . overall , its a good book , but alittle boring . i recommend this book to packer fans , not people who never heard of the players , becuase they wont understand it . 4/5 overall
Rating:
Summary: stories too short , "were are they now"
Review: this isnt much of "untold stories" , but more of "where are they now" it has little information about their packer days , and alot mnore on what theyre doing now , and how they hated forrest gregg , nearly everyone in the book mentions forrest gregg as a bad coach . the stories itself are at times , quiet boring . when i purchased this book , i expected a short autobiography of former players , but it turned out different . overall , its a good book , but alittle boring . i recommend this book to packer fans , not people who never heard of the players , becuase they wont understand it . 4/5 overall
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