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Their Life's Work: The Brotherhood Of The 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, Then And Now (2013)

by Gary M. Pomerantz(Favorite Author)

4.44 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1451691629 (ISBN13: 9781451691627)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: I was in junior high during the early glory days of the 70's Pittsburgh Steelers and I remember their dominance of the game during that time. I'm not a big football fan, but I remember the names Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene, LC Greenwood, Lynn Swann and Franco Harris. And I enjoy a good yarn - at that same age I usually read the long pieces in Sports Illustrated for the human interest theme, not for the technical aspects of the game. I'm pretty sure I skipped paragraphs. I was intrigued by the story of these men who came together and became more than the sum of their parts. Gary Pomerantz tells an engaging story about not just the players, but the Rooney family as well. It was the story of a business that was always changing (owning the football team) in a growing market... more (the NFL) which was being changed by various forces (the rise of the players' union, the influx of cash from television, the physical toll the game takes on the players). What they accomplished was incredible, but the costs were also incredible.He concludes the tale by recounting how they've spent their retirement years, including the impact the game had on them physically and mentally. Predictably some have fared better than others. The recent discoveries of the impact of playing football on the brain really chills my enjoyment of the game. It was bad enough to sacrifice joints and backs to the gridiron, but to also lose their mental faculties as well - resulting not only in their own early demise, but also destroying families because of behavioral changes, seems to me a price far in excess of the benefits of the sport.
review 2: History of the Pittsburgh Steelers with focus on 70s teams. Their rise to greatness and their ties to black colleges through Bill Nunn, Jr. was probably the most fascinating part. I knew nothing of the racial abuse taken by Joe Gilliam or his subsequent drug problem. I have no recall of the lawsuit Raider George Atkinson brought on Chuck Noll. Was that covered by the media at the time? Problems: Gale Sayers' name is misspelled twice. I'd have appreciated more football. The author decides to cut off following the team's progress at the SB win over the Vikings and turns to Steeler personalities. There is nary a word about SB XIII which was a letdown. He covers one too many Steeler reunions and the soap opera of which Steelers like which other Steelers. It is astonishing and sad how many of these players died young. Mike Webster's life is handled beautifully. Good book. less

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