Customer Reviews

Do You Love Football?: Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I loved Gruden when he was with the Raiders - a great coach, a terrific leader, and massively fun to watch. His book, however, is rather dissapointing. Not because he's a bad guy - quite the opposite. He is so reserved in his criticism that the whole book comes off like some sort of "Wonderful Life." For example, when talking about Ricky Watters (a player who was obviously a major pain in the a**), he says merely "For whatever reason, Ricky Watters never really seemed to warm up to me." And his dodging around Al Davis is even worse - his summary of why he left the Raiders is simply "My agent, Bob LaMonte, told me that negotiations for a contract extension were going nowhere." That's it???

Great guy, great coach, but a dissapointing read.

This book is an enjoyable read especially if you like football. The one thing that was a bit annoying was his constant use of football play names. It was a bit much. This book isn't like other book's I've read by coaches, it is more like a overview of his life. More of a biography than motivation book which is what I was looking for. If you want to learn more about Gruden in a fast read then buy the book.

I am not a huge Gruden fan ever since he left my Philadelphia Eagles, but I read this book and have to say that it is written like he thinks, 100 mph. I do not mind that he glossed over some things because he was trying to wrap up his entire life to date in under 200 pages. I think it did a great job showing how an NFL coach moves through the ranks, the importance of experience at the different coaching positions, as well as the time line of interest in the Post Bill Walsh era where everyone seems connected in the football family. I enjoyed his book and I went from making fun of the guy before hand, to respecting his success at such an early age. As for winning with Dungy's guys - yes, he did do that, but now that he has a running game in 2005, his team looks right back on top. Something people should realize about the NFL that is important. Coaches, for the most part, have all walked the same line and know all the same Xs and Os. In the end their success finges on their ability to work long hours and prepare, have good salary cap management by their GMs and have the players to win games. Gruden is a beast of a hard worker and knows his stuff, you may want to take some notes about his work ethic if you get anything out of this book. I have read just about every football book there is, no joke, so I know what I am talking about. If you want a pulitzer prize writer - try When Pride Still mattered, if you want a quick fun read that inspires a work ethic, this is a good book for you.

Great guy, wonderful true story, told very well. It was very pleasant to read something that contained so much enthusiasm and that was so positive and upbeat.

A must read full of insights and facts of the game.

I am a big Jon Gruden fan and I really enjoyed this book about him. It is a must have if you are a Gruden fan.

I love football it is the greatest sport in the world. Read this book. One of my favorites is this book. Go Colts! Go Stanford!

I loved reading Jon Gruden's book. It was not like all the other coaches books which after reading this, felt like they were all simply playing it safe, basically just writing down a long-winded halftime speech. However, Jon Gruden really gave readers insight to his life as an obsessive and sleep-deprived football enthusiast. It was full of interesting tidbits about the NFL franchises Gruden worked with. I was most intrigued by the story of how he got into the world of coaching football and the struggles that came along with it. To think of all he accomplished in this tough industry at such a young age is fascinating and this book told the story with personality. A must read for NFL fans.

If you want x's and o's, this isn't the book. If you want to see where Jon Gruden has been and what he's done & thought in each place, this is the exact book for you. The writing style is conversational - you'll feel he's sitting in the room with you. You will not get bored. Criticisms that he didn't go into enough detail are unfair. At the end of the book, you'll wish it continued on to cover the last two seasons. I'd welcome a sequel.

This book is about Jon Gruden's love and passion for the game of football. He was born into the coaching profession as his father was a football coach and scout. Once he identified coaching as his calling, Gruden's road to becoming a head coach in the NFL is an interesting one. It simply shows that dedication, hard work, and aligning yourself with quality people and organizations (e.g., George Siefert (San Francisco 49ers), Mike Holmgren (Green Bay) in your chosen profession eventually pay off.

Football lovers will enjoy this book as there are quite a few stories that include play-calling and football terminology. A good read.

This book is one of my favorites, one reason being that I love football. But you dont have to love football to like this book. In this book you read about how Jon Gruden, one of my favorite coaches works his way up his ladder of success. This book can teach you a lot about work ethic, motivation and self desire. He also talks about how he made it as far as he is right now because he had a great learning ability, wouldnt give up on any of his dreams and kept at what he wanted to do, be a profesional football coach. But there is one downside to this book as it is a very short book, but it is a very interesting and fun book to read. I had a realy good time reading this book and i hope you do too.