One Knee Equals Two Feet (and Everything Else You Need to Know about Football)
by John Madden
Overview
School Library Journal
Insightful and amusing, Madden writes as he broadcasts, giving colorful pictures of the players he has seen and lists of, in his view, the "best players." Chapters are devoted to positions and what viewers should look for. Football aficionados will enjoy this.
My thoughts
Boom! How can you not love John Madden?!
When I saw this book in Budget Bookstore, I knew it was for me! Actually I knew it was for my mate in Australia because he bags on Madden alllllllllllllll the time! I thought it would make a terrific birthday gift!! (I'm so cruel sometimes!)
The book is, well, typical John Madden! What more can be said about that? He writes with authority using expressions that would rival those of Australian football announcer Rex Hunt! I'd like to see the two of them come head to head! :-)
Favorite Passage
Franco Harris was a different type of fullback. Just as great in his own way as Zonk, but different. He was as much halfback as fullback. With him, the Steelers ran a weakside trap better than any team I've ever seen. As good as his blocking was, Franco ran it better than any back I've ever seen. If you jammed him inside, he could bounce outside. If you played him wide, he could cut inside. He had that instinct to go where he should go. Especially on Three Rivers Stadium's artificial turf. On grass, Franco couldn't make the same cuts. When he ran that play in the Oakland Coliseum, he usually slipped on the wet grass. But in Three Rivers, he could plant one foot on that carpet and cut inside.
Playing against Franco was like playing Russian roulette. You knew he was going to get off a long run, but you didn't know when. You knew there was a bullet in the gun, but you didn't know when it would fire. And just when you thought you had him, bang, that's when the gun went off.
It's a shame that Franco's career ended the way it did -- suddenly released by the Steelers in a contract dispute, joining the Seahawks, then being releasted before he could surpass Jim Brown's total of 12,132 yards. I don't want to remember Franco that way. Franco deserves to be remembered as one of the best running backs in NFL history.
