Review Collision of Wills Johnny Unitas Don Shula and the Rise of the Modern Nfl by Jack Gilden

Gilden, Jack. Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL. Lincoln: Academy of Nebraska Printing, 2018. Pp. 328. Afterword, index and bibliography. $29.95 hardback.

Reviewed past Bob D'Angelo

University of Nebraska Press, 2018.

The Baltimore Colts of the 1960s could exist called the National Football League'south underachievers — or, more charitably, unlucky. From 1963 through 1969, the Colts were 71-23-iv during the regular season, including back-to-back seasons (1967-1968) when Baltimore only lost two games and tied two others.

The playoffs were another thing, as the Colts were two-3, including stunning losses to the Cleveland Browns in the 1964 NFL title game and in Jan 1969 to the upstart New York Jets of the American Football League in Super Bowl III. That team was led by Don Shula, a immature, up-and-coming firebrand who would win more than games than whatever other NFL coach and would preside over the league's only perfect season. Shula had at his disposal the greatest quarterback in the game — Johnny Unitas, who had ii NFL titles nether his belt and was the league'southward well-nigh dangerous passer. Oddly, that combination never totally clicked in Baltimore. Certainly, there was success, but the Colts ever seemed to come up up short when it counted the almost. In part, it was because of the struggle for command between the motorbus and his quarterback. That is the premise in Jack Gilden's arresting volume, Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL. Gilden, a Baltimore native, peels dorsum the fog of 1960s football to bring two giants of the game into sharper focus. We see Unitas and Shula as they really were, and not e'er in a favorable light.

Gilden crafted his narrative on the strength of 30 interviews with players, coaches, family members and journalists, including chats with Shula and Unitas' daughter, Jan Unitas. Gilden doesn't just limit his interviews to members of the Colts family; he spoke with Gary Collins, the Browns' wide receiver who befuddled Baltimore in the 1964 NFL championship game; and Joe Namath, who "guaranteed" a victory before Super Bowl III and then delivered on his promise.

Unitas remains a revered figure among his teammates, who withal have photos of No. 19 in their homes, years after his expiry in 2002. Unitas, with his castor crew cutting and cold stare, was the NFL's Nearly Valuable Player iii times and could choice a defense apart. Shula has not coached a game since 1995, just the granite jaw and white-hot intensity remains embedded in the retention of pro football fans. His wrath could find a player or official — remember Shula grabbing his throat in a "you choked" gesture to a referee on a Monday night game confronting Philadelphia in 1981? He also could take hold of a team napping, equally he did against San Diego in a playoff game in 1982, when he had Don Strock throw a laissez passer to Duriel Harris with half dozen second left in the outset half. Equally defenders converged, Harris defenseless the brawl and flipped information technology to running back Tony Nathan, trailing on the play. Nathan completed the "87 circle curl lateral" for a touchdown that shook the old Orange Bowl. And of course, 17-0 in 1972 — the only undefeated, untied flavor in NFL history. Unitas and Shula "should have appreciated each other," Gilden writes (p. 131). Unitas won two MVP awards while playing for Shula, but Unitas' performances "were the primal factors" in Shula'southward success (p. 132).

Despite his impassive mask, Unitas had a frail ego that was wounded past what he perceived as disrespect and meddling by Shula. Even the jitney admitted as much to Gilden, noting that "I was and so intense in what I was doing, sometimes I didn't handle it equally well as I should accept." (p. 134). As Tom Callahan notes in his 2006 volume, Johnny U, Unitas and Shula had "the same attitude nigh piece of work, the aforementioned competitive spirit, the same tunnel vision, the aforementioned stubbornness, the same bluntness." The difference was that Shula was louder, and Unitas detested that. Gilden expands on those traits and that tension more than completely in Collision of Wills.

Gilden's research takes the reader through the Colts' highs and agonizing lows. Baltimore reached the NFL championship game in 1964 before losing to the underdog Cleveland Browns, dropped a baroque playoff game to Greenish Bay in 1965, and were shut out of the playoffs in 1967 despite an 11-1-2 record. The team went 15-one in 1968 to win the NFL title but so lost to the Jets in Super Bowl III. Despite Shula's obvious pride in the Miami Dolphins' perfect flavour, the Colts' 26-two-2 record in the NFL during the 1967-1968 seasons might accept been more impressive. The Colts were facing legendary teams — the Light-green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys — and chirapsia them handily, except for a loss to the Rams in 1967 and a defeat to the Browns in 1968.

Gilden blends the Colts' 1968 success with the tumultuous yr that faced the United states. The Vietnam War polarized the U.s.a., Gilden writes, and the two teams that would run into in Super Bowl III mirrored the schism that split the country. On one side were the Colts, coached by Shula — Unitas was injure for much of the season, so journeyman Earl Morrall was put in accuse — while on the other side were the Jets, the anti-establishment, cool squad from the renegade AFL. He further plumbs the social upheavals of the 1960s, referencing the writings of Gay Talese, Philip Roth and John Updike, to innovate the turbulence Unitas experienced off the field. Admittedly, Unitas brought it upon himself. The quarterback enjoyed playing the field — on and off the turf. Unitas and his outset wife, Dorothy, were often presented to the press as the platonic couple, Gilden writes (p. 143). But Dorothy Unitas was independent, outspoken and fifty-fifty profane. That didn't terminate the quarterback from adulterous on his wife. Gilden, who relied upon January Unitas as the major source for the family unit's marital strife, uses a poignant quote from the quarterback's oldest child to sum up her male parent'due south view of his family: "With my father not only were we not offset, we weren't fifty-fifty on the totem pole." (p. 155).

Gilden's narrative is bolstered past the interviews he conducted with players like Tom Matte and coaches like Charley Winner, who are brutally frank but still profess admiration and respect for both Unitas and Shula. Raymond Berry did not desire to be interviewed but was prodded past Jan Unitas and provided perspective in his own mode; that is, he did non address the conflict between Unitas and Shula merely gave Gilden excellent groundwork information. Gilden too notes the emergence of Shula's defensive coordinator — Chuck Noll — who would establish a dynasty with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 1970s and win iv Super Bowls during the decade. Other characters are woven in and out of the narrative: Carroll Rosenbloom, the Colts mercurial owner; Weeb Ewbank, Shula'due south predecessor at Baltimore who outcoached him in Super Basin III past using a bruising running game and swarming defensive secondary; and Johnny Sample, who shined on defense for the Jets in the Super Bowl but was a former Colts role player who had been defendant of stealing from the lockers of his teammates.

Unitas, who was inserted late into Super Bowl III, was seething even though his passes did not accept the zippo he was accustomed to. After the shock of the loss faded somewhat, Gilden writes, Unitas was asked by Baltimore sports columnist John Steadman why he didn't make it the game earlier. "I would have if Shula'due south big ego hadn't gotten in the way," Unitas said (p. 282). Shula's status in Baltimore was shaky after that loss and he knew it. His human relationship with Unitas was frosty, and at present he believed Rosenbloom was looking for a way to get rid of him, especially when the Colts went eight-v-1 in 1969. Miami came courting, and Shula jumped transport. When Edwin Pope, sports editor of the Miami Herald, somewhat jokingly suggested to Dolphins owner Joe Robbie in early on 1970 that he should lure Shula away from Baltimore, Robbie got serious. As Bill Braucher wrote in his 1972 book, Promises to Continue, Robbie "shot forward in his chair and slammed a fist on the desk-bound," exclaiming, "That'southward the homo!" The rest is history.

Both Unitas and Shula are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, each etching out a glorious career. For seven years they both excelled in spite of each other, winning more games than even Vince Lombardi's fabled Packers. Gilden brings that conflict into precipitous focus with a compelling narrative and the perspective of people who admired both men.

Bob D'Angelo was a sports journalist and sports copy editor for more than three decades and is currently a digital national content editor for Cox Media Group. He received his master's caste in history from Southern New Hampshire University in May 2018. He is the author of Never Fear: The Life & Times of Wood K. Ferguson Jr . (2015), reviews books on his weblog, Bob D'Angelo's Books & Blogs , and hosts asports podcast channel  on the New Books Network .

tiptonwiled1952.blogspot.com

Source: https://ussporthistory.com/2018/09/30/review-of-collision-of-wills/

Share this post