Customer Reviews

Johnny Unitas: America's Quarterback

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

It's sad to say, but this biography of Johnny Unitas, arguably the greatest quarterback ever to lace up cleats, is woefully unimpressive. Lou Sahadi's remembrance of the famous `Johnny U' seems like it was put together by a high school student who put wrote an outline of Unitas' career and then went to Wikipedia to get enough information to expand the outline and get a passing grade from his teacher. There are absolutely no revelations to be found in the pages of this book. It is so slight in its substance that you actually have to consult Wikipedia to get more information. Its narrative flow is also so poor that reading this book is a chore. There is nothing about his relationships with his teammates and coaches that can't be gleaned from other sources. Each chapter seems to deal with one aspect of Unitas' career (from the early days a Louisville all the way through his unceremonious finale in San Diego), but seems impatient to move on to the next.

"...America's Quarterback" is not a total turkey, so it avoids the dreaded 1-star rating, but the overall average rating of 1.5 stars seems about right. You would hope that anyone who takes the time of writing a book about Johnny Unitas would put the effort in the plow new ground or provide a compelling story. Unfortunately, Sahadi does neither, and this book suffers tremendously because of that.

The author of this book does little work and he basically wrote the same thing over again, "the greatest quarterback that ever lived threw an amazing pass for a touchdown to win the game and be a hero." no insight, barely any detail, glances over Unitas's private life. the worst.

I wish this weren't the case, because I grew up idolizing Unitaas, but this book is awful! As the other reviewers have noted, it presents almost no information on Unitas. Almost the whole book revolves around the plays in various championship games. I am amazed it was published -- I haven't read a worse sports "biography." The only interesting part of the book was the interview with Unitas, where he described some funny things about his teammates. These are things we shuold have learned about Unitas himself.

Traces history of Unitas and the Baltimore Colts from the early 50's and the two NFL Championships in '58 and '59 through the Championship loss in Cleveland in 1964 including the '69 and '70 Superbowls up until Johnny leaves for San Diego in 1973. Continues on with Unitas experiencing retirement to his passing on Sept 11, 2002. Championship games described as though you are watching from play to play. Nifty 40 page interview with Unitas and author concludes prose portion. 40 more pages of Unitas' stats follows that. Book also includes material on Colts move from Baltimore and Ravens appearance. Fans of football and Baltimre Colts will enjoy reliving the memories. 16 pages of great photos. Required reading for any true Baltimore Colts fan.