As others have mentioned.it's a quick read. There are some funny stories in there, most of which I had never heard before.
The Parcells era was my favorite, so it was mandatory reading for me.
This is my personal review. The views expressed below are mine and mine alone. Your mileage may vary greatly.
I think the book was well researched. I think the plan was for it to be a football Boys of Summer but Gary Myers is no Roger Kahn to say the least. Unlike the Boys of Summer it's simply written, is an easy read and lacks the wistful nostalgia of Kahn's book. George Carlin was right about the differences between Baseball and Football. That would sum up this book and the Boys of Summer.
I found the story of the 1986 NY Giants players life after football to be a very sad and scary story. Life has been pretty unkind to most of them. The theme of the book is that the 1986 NY Giants were the franchises greatest team and a special group of people. The best part of the book tells the story of camaraderie and love between most of them to this day.
Myers makes Bill Parcells the hero of the book. It's been almost 60 years since my first NY Football Giants game at Yankee Stadium. Bill Parcells is certainly my football hero. I agree with Myers that Parcells is the reason the Giants won 2 Super Bowls from 1986-1990. I enjoyed reading about how connected he is now to most of the 1986 players and the respect and love they have for him.
But...Myers pretends that Parcells had total control of personnel and refers to a lot of players Parcells drafted/traded or traded for. We know that was not the case. George Young is mentioned often in the book but Parcells is the books hero so you can imagine how Young is portrayed for the most part.
To an extent I understand Young's portrayal. The more time that passes since 1990, the more history of the 1983-1990 NY Giants becomes public the less impressive George Young's 1987-1997 looks to me. So to an extent I understand where Myers is coming from and Young was not available to be interviewed when the book was written. But Young drafted Mark Haynes and Young traded Mark Haynes. Not Parcells. Just one example.
I was in my late 20's in 1986. I was about the same age as most of the players on the 1986 team and lucky enough to be around them more than a few times. It hurt me to read about what life after football has been for most of them. The NFL did not and does not take care of its players after football.
I will choose to remember the 1986 players in their primes and always celebrate them as the team that brought the most excitement and joy to me, my friends, my family and the entire NY Giants fan base of 1966 through today in all the years I've watched and rooted for the NY Giants.
it looked good. BP and GY had a lot of similar ideas about what wins in the league and part part of the issue may have been GY exploring hiring Schnellenberger imv.
GY struggled more in the 90's with FA but he still added very good players on D (few on O) including a HOF'er. Missed on the QB and what really fell off was the OL play imv.
Myers was after TC almost from the start and called for his firing what seemed like every other year.
was the NY reporter that accused Tom Coughlin of some unfounded, ugly stuff? Wasn't that Myers?
Not sure about this, but he did pile on Coughlin a lot and wrote a funny-in-hindsight article at the start of the 2011 season talking about how the Jets owned New York.
I seem to remember somebody from NY piling on in print when TC went all Captain Bligh in Jacksonville and was let go.
Agree good read on the 86 team
Is this a shot at yourself?
Quote:
.
Is this a shot at yourself?
Always.
The Parcells era was my favorite, so it was mandatory reading for me.
I think the book was well researched. I think the plan was for it to be a football Boys of Summer but Gary Myers is no Roger Kahn to say the least. Unlike the Boys of Summer it's simply written, is an easy read and lacks the wistful nostalgia of Kahn's book. George Carlin was right about the differences between Baseball and Football. That would sum up this book and the Boys of Summer.
I found the story of the 1986 NY Giants players life after football to be a very sad and scary story. Life has been pretty unkind to most of them. The theme of the book is that the 1986 NY Giants were the franchises greatest team and a special group of people. The best part of the book tells the story of camaraderie and love between most of them to this day.
Myers makes Bill Parcells the hero of the book. It's been almost 60 years since my first NY Football Giants game at Yankee Stadium. Bill Parcells is certainly my football hero. I agree with Myers that Parcells is the reason the Giants won 2 Super Bowls from 1986-1990. I enjoyed reading about how connected he is now to most of the 1986 players and the respect and love they have for him.
But...Myers pretends that Parcells had total control of personnel and refers to a lot of players Parcells drafted/traded or traded for. We know that was not the case. George Young is mentioned often in the book but Parcells is the books hero so you can imagine how Young is portrayed for the most part.
To an extent I understand Young's portrayal. The more time that passes since 1990, the more history of the 1983-1990 NY Giants becomes public the less impressive George Young's 1987-1997 looks to me. So to an extent I understand where Myers is coming from and Young was not available to be interviewed when the book was written. But Young drafted Mark Haynes and Young traded Mark Haynes. Not Parcells. Just one example.
I was in my late 20's in 1986. I was about the same age as most of the players on the 1986 team and lucky enough to be around them more than a few times. It hurt me to read about what life after football has been for most of them. The NFL did not and does not take care of its players after football.
I will choose to remember the 1986 players in their primes and always celebrate them as the team that brought the most excitement and joy to me, my friends, my family and the entire NY Giants fan base of 1966 through today in all the years I've watched and rooted for the NY Giants.
GY struggled more in the 90's with FA but he still added very good players on D (few on O) including a HOF'er. Missed on the QB and what really fell off was the OL play imv.
Myers was after TC almost from the start and called for his firing what seemed like every other year.
Not sure about this, but he did pile on Coughlin a lot and wrote a funny-in-hindsight article at the start of the 2011 season talking about how the Jets owned New York.
He wasn’t the only one but yes it was Myers. He’s a tool but has been around for centuries and has seen a lot. I still say fuck em.