Customer Reviews

The Football Code: Football's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Honor

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Football Code" is an interesting summary of interviews with numerous players about the 'unwritten' code of conduct within the game - covering retaliation, intimidation, trash talking, running up the score, sign-stealing, steroid use, referee baiting, etc. However, the best part of the book was the introductions by Jerome Bettis and Ahmad Rashad.

Bettis begins by stating that retaliation is a big part of the game, and you have to be smart about how you go about it. You have to wait for the right opportunity, otherwise you could take a costly penalty and really hurt your team. Sometimes you could get a guy back on the next play, other guys have had to wait for years. With all of the camera angles today, you can't afford to do just anything - players can get fined $25 - 50,000, or suspended for a game. That's a lot of money, and has cleaned up a lot of the dirty stuff.

Bettis continues, telling us that intimidation is a big part of the game as well. Trash talking is a form of intimidation. Steroids, however, have no place in football, according to Bettis - its cheating and others could get hurt. Another part of the code is not talking bad about your teammates. Finally, Bettis believes real players play hurt - they don't want to let their teammates down.

Rashad's introduction reinforced some of what Bettis said, and then went on from there. Cold weather, he says, was the Viking's biggest intimidator when he played there. Tricks of the trade include siliconing jerseys, using the home plate in the Viking's football/baseball stadium to disorient the defensive players, and making cuts on the painted yardage line (greater traction in really cold weather). The funniest part of the book was Rashad's story of Viking rookie hazing - making them ride with Jim Marshall from Minneapolis to Mankato for practice; Marshall reportedly scared them so bad they didn't want to go back with him.

Berstein goes on to tell us that 'the code' is not just about avoiding actions that might end an opponent's career (vs. just trying to send him to the bench) - it's also about not running up the score late in the game, excessive celebrations, etc.

Comments about sign-stealing from players and coaches mostly indicated it was of little concern, especially since it was hard to do correctly and at most they'd play another team only twice in a season. Regardless, some coaches were notoriously paranoid (eg. George Allen), probably because they did it themselves. On the other hand, there seemed to be a bit of consensus that 'Spygate' (Giants in 2007) taping of signals went too far.

Handling referees was another particularly interesting section. Some, like Jerry Glanville, had no reticence about charging out there to tell the referees what they thought; Glanville even passed on his secret for not getting tossed out. Bud Grant, on the other hand, said he never bothered with talking to referees - it was a waste of time and a distraction. Randy Moss of the Vikings provided what must have been a hilarious 'bad' example of communicating with referees at the time - picking up a water bottle from the scorer's table and drenching the referee who he felt had blown a call involving Moss ($40,000 fine).

"The Football Code" closes with examples and statements about the need for better player pensions and medical care for the old-timers. Worse yet, a 9/29/2009 article in the New York Times reported the NFL had found dementia rates in former players 30-49 at 19X the normal levels. Help is well-deserved indeed!

The book has amazing potential to give outsiders and fans the inside look to the sport that now dominates our fall weekends. Unfortuantely, the book is mainly 6 or 7 pages of interesting insight regurgitated over 200 or so pages. The insight of the players is interesting but again its really all rehash. How many times can 3 players from every era say what happened under a pile and it be continually interesting? One of the subplots of the book is the erosion of these codes in todays game due to inflated salaries, league mandates, and increasing television coverage. An interesting concept of a book with just a lot of fluff. This is the most apparent in the beginning with 2 forwards by former players who are quoted ehavily throughout the book, a preface, and then a introduction. I would recommned The Dark Side of the Game" by Tim Green for a much more insightful and daring look into the world of Professional Football.

I bought this book for my daughter who is an avid Football fan. She was ecstatic to get it and couldn't put it down. Then, my husband read it and they both said it was unbelievably well written and very informative. Since I can't tell a 1st down from half time, I have not read the book but would recommend it to others based on the rave reviews my two family members gave it! MAK