Johnny Unitas: America's Quarterback [Hardcover]

Lou Sahadi (Author), Peyton Manning (Foreword), Art Donovan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

Johnny Unitas was and forever will be the quintessential football hero. He was a fearless competitor and a legendary leader. His crewcut, black, high-topped shoes, and golden arm are forever etched in our minds as symbols of greatness for a league he led to prominence. But Unitas’ road to stardom was filled with adversity that helped shape him as a football player and as a man. Johnny Unitas: America’s Quarterback is the only work of its kind that adequately explores both the heroic and human sides of an American legend.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Anyone who saw Unitas play quarterback in his salad days--an era when quarterbacks called their own plays, and "roughing the passer" was the goal of the defense rather than grounds for a 15-yard penalty--uses him as the benchmark by which all other quarterbacks are judged. Veteran sports journalist Sahadi combines game accounts and interviews with teammates and coaches to tell Unitas' story, which makes ideal fodder for the daydreams of aspiring athletes: skinny kid gets cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers, plays semipro ball for a year, gets a second chance with the Baltimore Colts, and rides to the rescue--and immortality--when the starter gets hurt. He also recounts Unitas' last years, when surgery left his formerly golden right arm virtually useless and the National Football League turned its back on his medical issues. Pro-football fans of a certain age will relish every word of this biography, which asks us to celebrate a skinny kid who threw touchdown passes in 47 straight games and will always be known as America's quarterback. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap

Sports Illustrated triumphantly hailed Johnny Unitas as "The Greatest There Ever Was." And the incomparable Baltimore Colts quarterback was certainly just that, as evidenced by the accolades that poured in from all over the country upon his death on September 11, 2002—two years after he was selected as the quarterback of the All-Time NFL Team by the Hall of Fame selection committee.

Unitas virtually ushered the National Football League into the American consciousness, laying the groundwork for the tremendous global success it enjoys today. In an age when defenses were allowed to run wild and unrestrained, he was the picture of fearlessness. In fact, no other quarterback before or since struck as much fear into the hearts of defenders, as he would courageously stand in the pocket and methodically pick teams apart with his golden arm and unshakeable demeanor.

There has never been a complete biography of this fascinating icon—until now. Johnny Unitas: America’s Quarterback is the ultimate biography by an author who walked the streets the great quarterback grew up on, interviewed scores of people who knew him intimately—including family, friends, and colleagues both inside and outside the NFL—and produced a comprehensive and authoritative picture of an American legend. The book is also unique in including a never-before-published interview with Unitas himself, an unusual treasure given his reserved nature and reluctance to be in the spotlight.

Johnny Unitas poignantly chronicles John Constantine Unitas’ unlikely path from the Pennsylvania coal mines to NFL superstardom. It eloquently tells the inspirational story of an undersized and overlooked long shot that paid off. Nothing was ever handed to young John Unitas, and he had to work particularly hard for every chance he ever got in life. But he did more than make the most of his chances, and by the time he was leading the Baltimore Colts to multiple NFL championships, he had earned heroic stature for both his athletic abilities and leadership qualities.

As a quarterback, Johnny Unitas was a true American idol the likes of which we have not seen since. As a man, he was a respectful, private person who captured a nation’s imagination. Johnny Unitas is the first book to accurately examine both characters: the quarterback and the man.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572436107
• ISBN-13: 978-1572436107
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,612,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not good, December 12, 2004

By 

Lance M. (Brookline, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Unitas: America's Quarterback (Hardcover)

Before I buy most sports books I usually read reviews in Amazon to see if the book is decent and I regret very much not doing the same for this.

I must agree with the previous reviewer about the book. It's poorly written and incomplete. I had high hopes reading this book, believing I'd get to know Mr. Unitas and find out what made him click. It disappoints in most areas. The author writes in a style reminiscent of the kind of sports books written in the 60's and 70's. Many sportswriters follow a script that slightly deviates from writing a detailed chronological story and fills the book with repetitive superlatives. Quite annoying really and that's what this book is like. Publishers should get their act in gear and not publish these poorly written sports books.

I didn't feel the author got Unitas as a complete person. You wonder about his personal life - did he get divorced because of who he was or because of who his wife was or how they grew apart. A good biography details the faults of the subject along with the greatness. Yes, so he trusted some people too much and was a competitor and all that - who isn't that way? How did he treat his kids? He was a living legend and was Baltimore but who was he besides a great quarterback?

The author lost me when he went into painful detail about Super Bowl III when Unitas didn't affect the outcome that much. Why did the author describe EVERY FRIGGIN PLAY in the first half? Yes, a filler chapter to evidently meet a word count quota. And the same goes for the appendix. The book looks big, which is why the price is $25 but it's just an expanded newspaper article that contains the same amount of information you'd get in a Sunday newspaper feature.

On the plus side I haven't read much about Unitas and learned the basics about his early life and his stint with the Chargers. I think those parts could have been better with more insight but at least you know. And I liked reading his interview at the end but again, it's something you'd get in a newspaper article.

The definitive biography of Unitas still hasn't been written. This book is more for teenagers who want to read about the evolution of the NFL. At full price it's an awful value. If you want to read it wait until it's under $5 on the cheap rack - it won't be that long of a wait.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Poorly Written, December 1, 2004

By 

Michael N. Yotz (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Unitas: America's Quarterback (Hardcover)

Don't waste your money on this one.

Very poorly written. This appears to be a magazine article that was expanded into a book with a bunch of glowing quotes about Unitas and then added 40 pages of stats, some photos without captions, three forwards and an afterword. As a n alternative, run a google search for Unitas, read the first few hits, and you will know more about Johny U in a few minutes from running the search - than you would learn from wasting your time reading this paperweight.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Great, but Not That Bad, Either, January 29, 2007

By 

D. Michael Cook "mrcook67" (Reynoldsburg, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johnny Unitas: America's Quarterback (Hardcover)

I received this book as a Christmas gift in 2005, and just got around to reading it......and I have to admit that when I was done, I had enjoyed it. I was rather stunned when I got on Amazon.com after I had finished the book to read the obviously disappointed other reviews. Didn't I see what the other reviewers had seen? I guess I just liked the Colts and Unitas so much back then (I'm now 57) that I enjoyed being able to read about my favorite player. I enjoyed the stories and appreciated the ending interview and the extensive statistics.

What the Amazon reviews (and a subsequent "Unitas" search) did, however, was guide me to and influence me to buy Tom Callahan's "Johnny U," which was released in 2006. I LOVED that book. The Sahadi book is more "sports reporter" oriented, with game details and stories, while the Callahan book is more "sports writer" oriented, with input from a lot of player and friend interviews and personal insight. If I had to have only one, I'd pick the more personal and touching Callahan book, but I've got both, and I am glad I do. Together, they cover what I wanted to know -- the personal side, the game details, and the statistics.