11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "UNCENSORED!...UNFILTERED!... STRAIGHT TALK FROM PLAXICO BURRESS!", July 13, 2008
This review is from: Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl (Hardcover)
If you're a real pro-football fan and have ever dreamed of having an NFL star come over to your house and spend the weekend... have a couple of beers... talk about all the stuff that really goes on in the clubhouse... on the field... in their private lives... what their childhood was like... and just shoot the "crap" with each other... just like you and I do with our buddies all year long... then this book is the absolute next best thing.
Plaxico Burress the wide receiver on the 2007 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants, who not only caught the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, but played the greatest game I have ever seen a receiver play in a championship game in the frozen tundra of Green Bay... 11 catches for 154 yards with the temperature at *MINUS-ONE-DEGREE-BELOW ZERO* with the *WIND-CHILL-FACTOR AT "MINUS-TWENTY-THREE-DEGREES-BELOW-ZERO*!. It was so cold that when a player tried to spit, the spit would freeze to the face mask of their helmet. The teams didn't have Gatorade on the sideline, it was all chicken broth. "No water, no Gatorade, just chicken broth."
How was Plaxico shaped into the man he became, that led to these historical games? Burress will tell you himself through the pages of this "ONE-OF-A-KIND" autobiography. I have read hundreds and hundreds of sports books in my life, but I have never read one that the subject pulls absolutely no punches, whether he's talking about touchdowns, partying, loving his Mother, or describing opponents and teammates, owners or coaches. I am not exaggerating even one iota! There is a co-author mentioned in the title of the book... but with no disrespect meant... I don't believe he did anything but turn on a tape recorder and let Plaxico speak from his heart to his unrestricted self-content... and then had it transcribed. Any football fan... and it doesn't matter what team you root for... you can't miss this book! There has never been an opportunity to have an NFL star come into your family room and tell you "the-way-it-is"... and I mean "ALL-OF-THE-WAY-IT-IS"!
Some examples: "Coach Sullivan is a military guy. He went to Army and he's gone to the airborne, ranger, and air-assault schools. Because of that, he looks at life the same way I do. You hear a lot of people refer to football as war and he's real sensitive to that because has been to war. He understands football is not really like, war, so he doesn't take it like that." (Personal note: I am a Viet Nam era veteran so that means an awful lot to me.) When he was a teenager, his hardworking Mother who he loved more than words could ever say... "Then one day my mom was going through my pants and she found it. She found two empty bags and smelled it. I told her I didn't know what it was. She knew. She just went into her room and cried. THAT'S WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT HOW HARD SHE WORKED AND I REALIZED HOW GUILTY I FELT. SHE HANDLED EVERYTHING DIFFERENTLY. SHE CRIED AND IT HURT ME SO BAD. SHE'S WORKING THIS HARD FOR ME AND I'M DOING THIS IN RETURN. I PROBABLY DID IT FOR ABOUT A SUMMER, BUT ONCE SHE FOUND IT, I QUIT. I STILL HUNG AROUND EVERYONE WHO DID IT. I KNEW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT."
More directly from Plaxico's heart: "The way I grew up, we had hard times, we had rough times. But I have no regrets about how I grew up. I wouldn't change a thing. My mom, she would never have done anything to hurt anybody, but she didn't bow down to no one, either. SHE WAS MY HERO." When he went to Michigan State on a football scholarship he played for Nick Saban and did not like him at all. "When Coach Saban cussed out defensive end Robaire Smith on national television, that was his biggest problem. When Saban got mad or something happened, he would just spaz out, flip out. He shouldn't coach at the NFL level, he has to coach college ball because he's so over controlling as far as talking to people. You can't talk to grown men that way." After Burress had a record setting game against Michigan he admitted he stopped going to class because he knew he was going to be a high first round draft choice.
When he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers he was coached by Bill Cowher who he says: "Coach Cowher is one of my best friends. I love Coach to death. He came to my Mom's funeral. Everybody thinks he is tough, and he is pretty tough on the sidelines, but he's not a tough guy that you can't talk to. He has got one of the biggest hearts and he's a player's coach. He is one of the people who you want to work hard for. He just wants you to tell him straight, don't lie to him." When Plaxico left the Steelers it was simply because their type of offense would not highlight his talents. The ownership of Pittsburgh even gave the Giants a strong personal reference before he signed with New York.
While Plaxico is "visiting-your-house" he will share such "doozies" as: Rodney Harris is the Patriot's biggest trash talker, "and he's a cheap-shot artist." Or when he was a free agent he didn't want to play with the Philadelphia Eagles: "I WASN'T GOING TO GO THERE TO PLAY WITH TERRELL OWENS. THAT'S JUST SOMEONE I DIDN'T WANT TO PLAY WITH FROM WHAT I SAW OF HIM."
What impressed me most about Burris is that he is an ABSOLUTE-STAND-UP-GUY. He tells it like it is! People ask him why he and loud, brash, and misunderstood teammate Jeremy Shockey are such good friends? They say: "WHY DO YOU AND SHOCK HAVE THIS GREAT RELATIONSHIP? IT'S BECAUSE HE IS JUST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO, WHEN YOU TALK TO HIM, YOU AIN'T GOT TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING A KNIFE IN YOUR BACK. THAT'S JUST THE TYPE OF PERSON HE IS. IF HE'S GOT A PROBLEM WITH YOU, HE'S JUST GOING TO TELL YOU HOW HE FEELS. HE DON'T CARE IF YOU DON'T LIKE HIM OR IF ANYBODY ELSE LIKES HIM."
Invite Plaxico over to your house... even with all the "aint's... double-don'ts... and nothing's... you'll be spoken to like no sports star has ever openly spoken to a fan (you) before. He is truly a breath of fresh air in this cliché ridden business. Plaxico... my door is always open for you... I hope you come back again real soon.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Burress tells it like it is, October 17, 2009
This review is from: Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl (Hardcover)
Plaxico Burress the former Steeler and now former Giant has written an extremely breezy and interesting book. He comes off as a guy who is enjoying his life and knows that the football career is just a temporary part of his entire life.
Burress gives us a runthrough of his childhood and early years in football and what comes out of this is that he had numerous occasions when he could have strayed into drugs and crime but stuck to being a sportsman through his personal convictions and the love of his mother.
The stories of Plaxico's years in the NFL culiminating in the Superbowl victory are told well and he doesn't seem to hold anything back.
It is massively disappointing to know that he is in jail at the moment and his NFL career is probably over as based on what is contained in this book, I would say he is an interesting and complex individual. I hope he can get his life back on track when he is released.
Worth a read if you are a fan of the NFL.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but could have been great!, August 5, 2008
This review is from: Giant: The Road to the Super Bowl (Hardcover)
I recieved this book as soon as it came out. Being a huge Giant fan I couldn't wait for this book, just as I can't wait for Coughlin's or Eli's book. The parts of this book about Plax growing up and his relationship with his Mother was the best part. His openness about his Mom and her death and how raw he felt during those times was heartfelt. I did feel short changed about his football stories. It seemed reading it that he was holding back. The book didn't really give me an insiders look or as much of an insiders look as I had hoped for. Considering the fantastic playoff run and Superbowl victory I had hoped for some inside, untold stories or quotes about the Run and the big game. What I read here was mostly covered elsewhere. Not a bad book, just a tad dissapointing. Strahan's book read a bit better.
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