"Johnny U: The Life & Times of John Unitas" by Tom Callahan
"Johnny Unitas is Horatio Alger, He's Frank Merriwell. He's Francis Scott Key. And he's ours."
---- quote from the Mayor of Baltimore ('47 - '59), "Big Tommy" D'Alesandro
"If there were a Mt. Rushmore of pro football, the craggy face of Unitas would be one of the four figures on it. Tom Callahan is the perfect writer to tell the real story of Johnny U, and he does it with deep reporting and clear wriiting, cracking a myth etched in stone and bringing back to vivid life the real man."
---- David Maranniss, author of the football bio that all others are measured by, "When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi
===========================
some quotes from "Johnny U":
He died on an exercise machine at Kernan. Bill Neill heard the gasp and went to him. A little while later, the phone rang at Gino Marchetti's home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "My wife answered", Gino said. 'I heard her say 'Oh, no'. Because it was September eleven, my first thought was that those bastards had run another plane into a building. When she told me John was dead, I couldn't say anything. I just sat down." He'd have cried if he wasn't Gino Marchetti.
----- Don't know who Gino Marchetti was? Good reason to read this book. Know who Gino Marchetti was/is? Even better reason to read this book.
"He was a football player," said Unitas's primary receiver, Raymond Berry. Those words don't look like much on the page, but you should have heard Berry say them.
----- Berry led the Pats to their first Super Bowl by Squishing the Fish down in the Orange Bowl. One of the great wide receivers and most cerebral players ever. And Johnny U's teammate on the Baltimore Colts.
long quote, but telling about what kind of player and man Johnny U. was:
...."I went back on the field and I walked straight up to John and said, "If you ever talk to me like that again, I'm going to break both of your skinny-ass legs." All he said was, 'Do your job, Parker. You and I'll talk later.'"
That was a Saturday. They didn't have their talk until Monday, six days before the opener. "We went into a little boiler room at Memorial Stadium," Parker said, "away from everybody else. I was waiting for him to say something first, and do you know what it was? He said, 'What kind of guy is Woody Hayes?' 'Good guy,' I said. 'Tough guy?' 'Oh, man.' 'Did he ever embarrass you?' 'Every fuckin' day,' I said. 'What was the most embarrassing thing he ever said to you or did to you?' I told Unitas exactly what it was. It was the last time we were together, as a matter of fact. Woody, Ann, their son Steve, and I were at dinner in a restaurant. Woody went to the bathroom, and while he was gone, I ordered a beer. I had graduated. I was a grown man now. I was a married man. 'Goddamn it!' he said when he came back to the table. 'You don't drink in front of me!' Everybody in the place was looking at us. He picked up the beer and poured it out. 'All right, Coach. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I won't do it again.' Unitas asked why I took that from him, and I said we'd been through a whole lot together. John said, 'You and I will be going through a whole lot together. I'll make you a deal. I'll take a few hits from your man if you'll take a few hits from me. I promise you, when it really matters, I'll be on your side.' 'I'll be on yours,' I told him. We never had no trouble after that. He called me the Perfessor. I called him Johnny U."
---- a story told byt Hall of Famer Jim Parker, one of the greatest of all offensive lineman. Now that is a Quarterback.
==========================
What kind of a man was Unitas? Here's a quote from Johnny Sample, who had been kicked off the Colts for stealing money from his teammates lockers in '59. He denied the crimes to the day he died. Following a stint in prison for check stealing, Sample became a highly regarded tennis linesman, calling matches at The US Open and other major tournaments (I s--t you not). The quote concerns a 1978 CBS Sports Spectacular reunion game on the 20th anniversary of the Colts/Giants OT Championship Game, often cited as the most important football game ever played:
"I got there just in time to see John intercept Conerly's pass [Gifford's pass, actually] and score the winning touchdown,' said Johnny Sample. "It was around the Fourth of July [July 7] because Wimbledon had just ended. I was in town for a tennis thing, staying at the Warwick. When I heard about it, I walked over to Central Park from Fifty-fourth Street. After the game, the guys were eating sandwiches and waiting their turns to be interviewed by Summerall. I'm standing by myself off to the side when, all of a sudden, Boom, the ball comes to me. I caught it just by reflex. I wasn't even looking. Unitas jogged over. I said, 'Why are you throwing to me, John?' He handed me a sandwich and said, 'Because you're back on the team, Johnny.' I'm glad he didn't throw me another one, though, because I couldn't have caught it. My eyes were full of tears."
---- THAT was Johnny Unitas.
==========================
Superfluous but obligatory slams of the Indianapolis U-Hauls and their QB, Petulant Peyton:
from "Johnny U": When Robert Irsay moved his franchise to Indianapolis on March 28, 1984, sneaking away in the dark of night, Unitas asked to have his statistics stricken from the Indy guide. "I never played there," he said simply.
again, from the book, following Unitas' death: Peyton Manning asked the Colts if he could wear black hightops in the game that week. The team checked with the league. The league said no. "Sometimes with the NFL," Manning said, "if it's not their idea, they're against it. I wish I had never asked. I wish I had just done it."
---- But you didn't, did you, oh Petulant Peyton?
===========================
---- quote from the Mayor of Baltimore ('47 - '59), "Big Tommy" D'Alesandro
"If there were a Mt. Rushmore of pro football, the craggy face of Unitas would be one of the four figures on it. Tom Callahan is the perfect writer to tell the real story of Johnny U, and he does it with deep reporting and clear wriiting, cracking a myth etched in stone and bringing back to vivid life the real man."
---- David Maranniss, author of the football bio that all others are measured by, "When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi
===========================
some quotes from "Johnny U":
He died on an exercise machine at Kernan. Bill Neill heard the gasp and went to him. A little while later, the phone rang at Gino Marchetti's home in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "My wife answered", Gino said. 'I heard her say 'Oh, no'. Because it was September eleven, my first thought was that those bastards had run another plane into a building. When she told me John was dead, I couldn't say anything. I just sat down." He'd have cried if he wasn't Gino Marchetti.
----- Don't know who Gino Marchetti was? Good reason to read this book. Know who Gino Marchetti was/is? Even better reason to read this book.
"He was a football player," said Unitas's primary receiver, Raymond Berry. Those words don't look like much on the page, but you should have heard Berry say them.
----- Berry led the Pats to their first Super Bowl by Squishing the Fish down in the Orange Bowl. One of the great wide receivers and most cerebral players ever. And Johnny U's teammate on the Baltimore Colts.
long quote, but telling about what kind of player and man Johnny U. was:
...."I went back on the field and I walked straight up to John and said, "If you ever talk to me like that again, I'm going to break both of your skinny-ass legs." All he said was, 'Do your job, Parker. You and I'll talk later.'"
That was a Saturday. They didn't have their talk until Monday, six days before the opener. "We went into a little boiler room at Memorial Stadium," Parker said, "away from everybody else. I was waiting for him to say something first, and do you know what it was? He said, 'What kind of guy is Woody Hayes?' 'Good guy,' I said. 'Tough guy?' 'Oh, man.' 'Did he ever embarrass you?' 'Every fuckin' day,' I said. 'What was the most embarrassing thing he ever said to you or did to you?' I told Unitas exactly what it was. It was the last time we were together, as a matter of fact. Woody, Ann, their son Steve, and I were at dinner in a restaurant. Woody went to the bathroom, and while he was gone, I ordered a beer. I had graduated. I was a grown man now. I was a married man. 'Goddamn it!' he said when he came back to the table. 'You don't drink in front of me!' Everybody in the place was looking at us. He picked up the beer and poured it out. 'All right, Coach. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I won't do it again.' Unitas asked why I took that from him, and I said we'd been through a whole lot together. John said, 'You and I will be going through a whole lot together. I'll make you a deal. I'll take a few hits from your man if you'll take a few hits from me. I promise you, when it really matters, I'll be on your side.' 'I'll be on yours,' I told him. We never had no trouble after that. He called me the Perfessor. I called him Johnny U."
---- a story told byt Hall of Famer Jim Parker, one of the greatest of all offensive lineman. Now that is a Quarterback.
==========================
What kind of a man was Unitas? Here's a quote from Johnny Sample, who had been kicked off the Colts for stealing money from his teammates lockers in '59. He denied the crimes to the day he died. Following a stint in prison for check stealing, Sample became a highly regarded tennis linesman, calling matches at The US Open and other major tournaments (I s--t you not). The quote concerns a 1978 CBS Sports Spectacular reunion game on the 20th anniversary of the Colts/Giants OT Championship Game, often cited as the most important football game ever played:
"I got there just in time to see John intercept Conerly's pass [Gifford's pass, actually] and score the winning touchdown,' said Johnny Sample. "It was around the Fourth of July [July 7] because Wimbledon had just ended. I was in town for a tennis thing, staying at the Warwick. When I heard about it, I walked over to Central Park from Fifty-fourth Street. After the game, the guys were eating sandwiches and waiting their turns to be interviewed by Summerall. I'm standing by myself off to the side when, all of a sudden, Boom, the ball comes to me. I caught it just by reflex. I wasn't even looking. Unitas jogged over. I said, 'Why are you throwing to me, John?' He handed me a sandwich and said, 'Because you're back on the team, Johnny.' I'm glad he didn't throw me another one, though, because I couldn't have caught it. My eyes were full of tears."
---- THAT was Johnny Unitas.
==========================
Superfluous but obligatory slams of the Indianapolis U-Hauls and their QB, Petulant Peyton:
from "Johnny U": When Robert Irsay moved his franchise to Indianapolis on March 28, 1984, sneaking away in the dark of night, Unitas asked to have his statistics stricken from the Indy guide. "I never played there," he said simply.
again, from the book, following Unitas' death: Peyton Manning asked the Colts if he could wear black hightops in the game that week. The team checked with the league. The league said no. "Sometimes with the NFL," Manning said, "if it's not their idea, they're against it. I wish I had never asked. I wish I had just done it."
---- But you didn't, did you, oh Petulant Peyton?
===========================
posted by joe sweeney at 6:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home