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Giants Among Men: How Robustelli, Huff, Gifford, and the Giants Made New York a Football Town and Changed the NFL
written by Jack Cavanaugh
Studio : Random House
by Random House
Release Date : 2008-10-07
Publisher : Random House
Released : 2008-10-07
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781400067176
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 5 reviews)
List Price : $26.00
Our Price : $15.03
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Product Description |
From the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when basketball’s Boston Celtics were piecing together a run for the ages, when Montreal’s Canadiens were in the midst of notching a record-setting five straight Stanley Cups, and when the New York Yankees were the once-and-future kings of the diamond, one team boosted the NFL to national prominence as none other: the New York Giants.
In Giants Among Men, Jack Cavanaugh, the acclaimed author of Tunney, transports us to the NFL’s golden age to introduce the close-knit and diverse group that won the heart of a city, helped spread the gospel of pro football across the nation, and recast the NFL as a media colossus.
Central to Cavanaugh’s narrative, and emblematic of the Giants’ bond with their followers, was a hard-nosed future Hall of Fame defensive end named Andy Robustelli. A World War II combat vet, a graduate of Arnold College, undersized and nearing age thirty, Robustelli nevertheless anchored a Giants defensive unit so ferocious that they were the first team to inspire crowds to chant “Dee-fense!” But Robustelli and the Giants were a hit on the gridiron, playing in six NFL Championship Games in eight seasons between 1956 and 1963, the most remarkable aspect of this team was perhaps its relationship to the fans. These Giants were largely composed of ordinary joes who were equally at ease hobnobbing with Gleason and Sinatra at Toots Shor’s as they were rubbing elbows with working-class rooters on the IRT en route to Sunday games in the Bronx–like many of their fans, nearly all Giants players worked second jobs off-season to make ends meet. But the Giants of this era didn’t merely affect the fans’ relationship to the game; they changed the game itself. The team launched the careers of future head-coaching geniuses Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi, as well as those of a galaxy of stars and future Hall-of-Famers including Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Emlen Tunnell, Roosevelt Brown, Y. A. Tittle, Charlie Conerly, Rosie Grier, and Pat Summerall. The Giants teams of this remarkable era were tagged with the soubriquet “Mara Tech” (for the Mara family, who had owned the franchise since its inception)–due to the number of players and coaches who later found success in the boardroom, the broadcast booth, and behind the bench.
Filled with historical and cultural insight and vivid portraits of larger-than-life characters and indispensable everymen, Giants Among Men transcends nostalgia and sports trivia to faithfully depict a watershed era for both football and the American nation.
Praise for Jack Cavanaugh’s Tunney
“Impressively researched and richly detailed . . . a long-overdue portrait of a fascinating fighter.”
–Sports Illustrated
“A winning tale . . . Jack Cavanaugh brings Tunney, Dempsey and the fight scene of the Roaring Twenties back to life.”
–Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“[A] sprawling new biography . . . The boxing scenes are spun gold.”
–The New York Times
“Filled with vivid characters from one of boxing’s most glamorous eras, this tale goes fifteen rounds and delivers plenty of punch.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“One of the primary elements to the greatness of this biography is Cavanaugh’s ability to plumb the confusing depths of celebrity in America.”
–The Denver Post |
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Very pleasant and mature writing |
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I was 14 years old when I saw on TV Pat Summerall make a 49 yard field goal in the driving snow with time running out to win a game against the Browns. I found the drama and the heroism of these guys who played with great intensity to be quite powerful. Young males need heroes and the NY Giants were mine. There were no show-offs, no egos, no product endorsements, self promotions, or compulsive interruptions of the game for advertising. I really enjoyed the Giants' run of 5 years with the same group of heroes playing on dirt in all kinds of weather. I found this book to be quite pleasant reading. There are no great revelations or inflammatory gossip or lugubrious statements about the historical or societal significance of this or that. I enjoyed reading the respectful and gentlemanly comments from the grown up men who played in the great games I saw on TV. They were giants and they were heroic men and I liked them. |
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Small in stature |
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If you're most interested in information on the 1956-58 Giants, you'd be better off reading The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever by Frank Gifford, which covers the same time period better in my opinion. "Giants Among Men" is not a bad book, but it's real strength lies in it's dicussion of the post-58 to mid 60's era. |
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A Sloppily Researched and Edited Book |
As a longtime New York Giant fan, and televison sports researcher, I was very disappointed in Jack Cavanaugh's "Giants Among Men." A careful reader will quickly notice the author's reptitious style of the author, as he overly indulges in the post-game Charlie Conerly hotel room parties, and subsequent "nights on the town" at Toot Shor's and P.J. Clarkes's. The beginning of the book seems to be a biography of Andy Robustelli, and Mr. Cavanaugh provides endless detail of the defensive end, while virtually ignoring other Giant players. There are several casual mistakes (such as stating different winners of the same game) and a glaring error of the date when the goal posts were moved from the goal line to the end line of the NFL playing field ( it was 1974, not 1963, as Mr. Cavanauagh states). These errors cause the reader to wonder if the author truly knows professional football. His style of prose and use of various quotes seem to point to the fact that Mr. Cavanaugh really does not understand the sport. In addition, the author states that he interviewed former Giant defensive end Jim Katcavage and former NFL executive Jim Finks for the book - both men have been dead for over ten years..!!
Finally, it appears that Mr Cavanaugh has a "vendetta" against Frank Gifford for writing his own Giant book this fall. He quotes former New York Giant publicist Don Smith, stating that Gifford "was an opportunist who was always looking for a connection." He also refers to Gifford's wife, who was known as "Kathie Lee Johnson" prior to their marriage, as "Kathie Lee Epstein."
The lack of proper research and editing is obvious in "Giants Among Men." In that respect, this account is not a "giant", but a rather meager publication. |
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RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "WHEN THE NFL WENT FROM INFANCY TO MANHOOD." |
This book is ostensibly about the NFL New York Giants from the mid-1950's to the early 1960's... rest assured the author surely provides you with intimate details about the Giants during this time period... but if that's all you're expecting... and believe me... that's plenty... you're going to be more than pleasantly surprised... you will be blown away. Any old-time-old-school football fan will think they're having a dream or a flashback... to the time when football was really football! The quarterback wasn't wearing a dress in those days... there were no GUARANTEED one-hundred-million-dollar-plus contracts. All the players had fulltime jobs during the winter, and some even had second jobs during the playing season.
The New York Giants football team of this burgeoning era had so many famous All-Pro and future Hall Of Fame players that the potential reader will understand without hesitation why this was the time... and this was the team... that helped lead professional football onto center stage... a stage that the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE still dominates today. Some of the Giant players that you will be introduced to (or... reintroduced to) include Andy Robustelli, Pat Summerall, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Charlie Conerly, Kyle Rote, Y.A. Tittle, Rosey Brown, Del Shofner, Emlen Tunnell, Alex Webster, Jack Katcavage, Dick Lynch, Rosey Grier... and many others.
OH YEA... Two of their ASSISTANT COACHES... THAT'S RIGHT I SAID ASSISTANT COACHES... ARE TWO OF THE MOST LEGENDARY COACHES IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL!
**VINCE LOMBARDI AND TOM LANDRY**
Though the core and the title of this book is built around the New York Giants, the author Jack Cavanaugh seamlessly integrates every team and every noteworthy player that had an impact on the historical coming of age of this monolith... that is today's NFL. The reader is right there when Jimmy Brown the greatest running back in the history of the NFL comes into the league with the Giants greatest rival the Cleveland Browns. Brown is given complete recognition for his unmatched combination of POWER-SPEED-ATHLETICISM and competitive nature. Another powerful part of this book is how it educates the reader on teams and accomplishments that lead to the current state of affairs of the league at the time the book depicts. Such as the fact that the Cleveland Browns from the late 1940's to the early 1950's PLAYED IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES TEN-YEARS-IN-A-ROW! "The first four of those ten championship games had been played in the All-America Football Conference, all of which the Browns won. But the last six had been in the NFL, whose title it had won three times - including 1950, the Browns' first year in the NFL. This came much to the astonishment of the League establishment, which had regarded the AAFC as inferior." There is also a detailed look at a young quarterback that was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers without ever letting him get into a real game. This unknown quarterback then played semi-pro football for $6.00 per game. This football reject is then given a chance with the Baltimore Colts and becomes one of the greatest quarterbacks in history... Johnny Unitas. The author flawlessly weaves Johnny's story into the flow of the Giants tome... which dovetails into what is known around the world by any knowledgeable football fan as *THE-GREATEST-GAME-IN-THE-HISTORY-OF-FOOTBALL"... the 1958 World Championship Football game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts.
There are untold sub-plots and character studies that will keep the true football fan turning the pages faster than an Olympic sprinter going for the gold. But I would like to share one unique tale about one lesser known player named Hardy Brown. A chapter is named after him: "THE MEANEST MAN IN THE NFL". Hardy played for eight years "and had been the scourge of the NFL, knocking out scores of opponents and breaking as many, if not more, noses and jaws with his patented shoulder tackle. Though only six-feet-tall and about 190 pounds, Brown had a well-deserved reputation as the most devastating hitter in the NFL, a hell-bent-linebacker who flattened quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and opposing linemen, usually by using his shoulder as a lethal weapon." Hall Of Famer Y.A. Tittle said. "He was a regular knockout artist and inspired us. I remember how in his first game with the Colts against the Redskins in 1951, he knocked out all three running backs. Altogether that year, he knocked out twenty-one players. AND WHEN I SAY KNOCKED OUT, I MEAN KNOCKED OUT COLD WITH HIS SHOULDER TACKLE TO THE POINT THAT THEY HAD TO BE CARRIED OFF ON STRETCHERS. I NEVER SAW A FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO COULD HIT AS HARD AS HARDY BROWN. HE BROKE A LOT OF NOSES BEFORE PLAYERS BEGAN WEARING FACE MASKS IN THE MID-FIFTIES, AND THEN, AFTER PLAYERS BEGAN WEARING FACE MASKS, BUSTED A LOT OF THEM WITH THAT VICIOUS SHOULDER TACKLE."
The historical information in this book will hit the old-school football fan like a Hardy Brown shoulder-tackle!
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When The Giants Were New York Giants |
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This book covers an era when the Giants actually played in New York and weren't paid millions of dollars.Cavanaugh's book covers the Giants from 1952 thru the mid to late 60's.Even though I'm not a Giant fan this was an interesting look at football history.Legendary players such as Frank Gifford,Andy Robustelli, (who's from Connecticut) linebacker Sam Huff,and legendary coaches Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi all get time in the spotlight.The Giants actually fielded great teams from 1956 up until 1963/64.This being the 50th anniversary of the best game ever 1958's Giants vs. Colts gets it's own chapter.Cavanaugh also tells why the Giants to this day have a large New England following: there were no Patriots yet and the Giants used to hold training camps in Vermont and at Connecticut's Fairfield University, not to mention being broadcast throughout New England.Yes folks in the late 50's early 60's the Giants were the toast of New York,even sharing lockers and a field with other famous tenants such as Mantle,Maris,Berra,and Ford.This book is an excellent companion piece to Mark Bowden's 'The Best Game Ever' and Frank Gifford's soon to be released 'The Glory Game.' If anyone in your household is a big Giant fan 'Giants Among Men' will make a great holiday gift. |
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