RSS Feed
23 Jun 2008
Book Review: '77
by Doug Farrar
If there was such a thing as "right place, right time" for this football fan, it would have to have been Denver, Colorado, in 1977. The small Farrar family (my mom and I) moved there from mom's native Michigan in September of 1976, as she had friends there and was looking for a change of scene. We both fell in love with the city right away -- with the mountains, with the clear skies, even with the crazy weather that could see short-sleeve temperatures and several inches of snow on the same late-spring day.
Most of all, we fell in love with the Denver Broncos. Because we had to. To understand true football fandom is to understand Denver in the 1970s. Though there were the NBA Nuggets, the NHL Rockies, and the AAA Denver Bears (one of the best minor league teams of all time in the late '70s, just ask Bill James!), it was the Broncos that gave the city its first and most lasting taste of "big league." To those pundits on either coast, Denver was either a Wild West relic town, with its Frontier Days overflows and unreconstructed rednecks, or the metropolitan outpost for a series of ski resorts.
To us, Denver was the major city that nobody knew. The Broncos became the main point of pride for an entire region.
It hadn't always been that way. The early Broncos, one of the original AFL teams, were mostly famous for their vertically striped socks. They went the entire decade of the 1960s without a winning season (a streak that continued until 1973), and the first team history, published in 1975, was appropriately entitled Barely Audible.
1977 changed all that. The team went 12-2 and made it all the way to the Super Bowl, where they got demolished, 27-10, by the Dallas Cowboys. It was a season of firsts: The Broncos won their first division title, their first playoff game, and went to their first Super Bowl. Veteran quarterback Craig Morton, the first near-elite signal-caller in team history, and first-time head coach Red Miller gave the team an offense to match their dominant Orange Crush defense in their first seasons in the Mile High City.
I was nine years old in 1977, and it was the first year I watched football. Terry Frei, the author of '77: Denver, the Broncos, and a Coming of Age, began that year as the Denver Post's newest beat writer, hired at the age of 22 in December of 1976. Frei's father Jerry once coached the Oregon Ducks, so the football knowledge was there. His brother Dave was the Broncos' assistant public relations director, so the understanding of the team's internal workings was a given. And Frei himself, who still writes for the Post as well as for ESPN.com, brings his own considerable experience to a project that illustrates the trap of the single-season review: merging a year's events with several character studies, and mixing in enough historical perspective to give full flavor to the proceedings. Well, it's a tough go.
There are two ways to attack the challenge. You can go with what I call the David Halberstam method, displayed in peerless fashion in the late author's Summer of '49, in which plots and people are woven together in a seamless narrative. Then, there is the more practical process, whereby the author takes a series of biographies and drops them block-style into a season review, with the history providing anything from background music to commercial interruption, based on how skillfully it's done.
Frei takes the latter road, but that doesn't mean that '77 is a substandard book. Quite the opposite, though I wonder how interesting it would be to those who aren't diehard Broncos fans and/or weren't in Denver during that time. More than anything, the book is an all-encompassing tribute to a team that finally turned it around after so many hopeless years, for a fanbase that had been selling out the home stadium since the mid-1960s.
The one thing remembered above all from those crazy days was Broncomania -- the fan frenzy like no other. Relentlessly growing for years, rooted in the heart of a city with a big chip on its shoulder. And in 1977, that love for team and town blew up in a way I've never seen since. Frei does an admirable job of telling this story.
The mention of local landmarks brought back a flood of memories -- the Elitch Gardens amusement park and its Mister Twister roller coaster, Red Rocks Ampitheater, Bandimere Speedway, and McNichols Arena, where the Nuggets and Rockies played. Still, that's my perspective, and I wonder how much these things would be of interest to those who weren't there. My sense is that Frei's love letter to those days is primarily intended for those who were, and I'm grateful for it. A reader who grew up in New Jersey or Texas might not care so much.
I can't call '77 a hardcore football book in the sense that you'll get play-by-play of the games that made the season so special -- the 30-7 win over the hated Raiders, with the fake field goal touchdown pass from Norris Weese to Jim Turner, or the 21-7 regular season victory over the Steelers. The Broncos beat those two teams -- winners of the three previous Super Bowls -- once each in the regular season, then beat them both again the playoffs. Frei doesn't get as much into the particulars as most FO readers would prefer, but he does bring the thoughts and feelings of the players to life. And that, above all, is what makes '77 a must-read for any football fan.
I can get running back Otis Armstrong's stats from a host of sources, but this book was where I first learned about his childhood medical problems and his longtime friendship with Darryl Stingley. I knew that Randy Gradishar and Tom Jackson were the heart of the best 3-4 linebacker corps in the league, but I knew less than I should have about Bob Swenson and Joe Rizzo, their underrated battery mates. I knew that defensive coordinator Joe Collier was the architect of that wonderful defense, but I didn't know the extent to which Miller, the old-school new kid, motivated his players above and beyond predecessor John Ralston.
The one player I did meet that year, defensive end Lyle Alzado, is still the closest to my heart. My mom was running her own advertising company, and bought ad time on Broncos flagship station KOA. Alzado was contracted to do a voiceover on one of the ads, and I got to meet him at the station. The gigantic Alzado was an impressive sight to a little kid (I remember looking up ... and up ... and up ... seemingly infinitely, until my gaze reached the top of his head), but he couldn't have been nicer -- not then, and not at the Nuggets games where I met him a few more times. When Alzado died in 1992 of the brain cancer that he blamed on his steroid use, I though of him less as another tragic stat or cautionary tale, and more as an old friend gone too soon.
And that's what I like about '77 -- the feeling of community and camaraderie, the places I revisited 30 years later in my mind, and the players I'm now learning more about.
However, subtract points for Frei's failure to mention legendary radio announcer Bob Martin. Imagine a book about the 1975 Steelers with no mention of Myron Cope, or the 1965 Dodgers sans Vin Scully, and you'll understand the egregiousness of this omission. It was Martin's call at the end of the AFC Championship win over the Raiders that most eloquently represented what it was all about. That year, that city, and that team: "The miracle has happened! The Broncos are going to the Super Bowl!" That's what it was, and that's how it felt.
I enjoyed '77 as a chronicle of the year that fueled my lifetime obsession with football. No matter where you first caught the bug, I suspect there'll be enough in this book to bring you back to a few memories of your own.
Anybody else eager for raiderjoe's forthcoming commentary?
Interesting review, Doug, thanks.
One thing that strikes me is, at least in comparison to baseball, football seems to have more team-centric, and fewer leaguewide, books. You see this especially in the college game-Keith Dunnavant's The Missing Ring about Alabama is a good example, and virtually all the Amazon reviews of John Ed Bradley's It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium are from LSU fans. '77 speaks strongly to you, Doug, but you note in your review that you're not sure how much effect it would have on somebody like, say, me, whose memories of 1977 are limited by a pre-natal state of being then, and whose sole experiences in Denver have come this millennium. The question I have, then, is do other people have this same impression? Is there something about football in its nature that drives this specialization in books?
If me and King Kong went into an alley, only one of us would take the time for a little kid. And it wouldn't be the monkey.
I grew up in Boulder and was 8-years old for the '77 season, so I can relate to Doug's flood of memories. Looking back it was truly astounding how consumed the entire region was by the Broncos run to the SB. RB Jon Keyworth's song "Make Those Miracles Happen" was on the radio 24-hours a day and nobody got tired of it. We even sang it in elementary school music class. Grocery stores were selling more Orange Crush soda than they ever would again. M&M's were also everywhere due to the Morton to Moses passing combo. I'm sure now they'd try to link the team to a veggie wrap and soy milk. I guess I'm the exact audience for the book, so I should check it out. That said, I really can't imagine anyone outside of this area having any interest in the book.
Broncos had to get fumble call go there way to win game. Broncos RB fumbled ball by goalline and refs called it a toduchown. If call is made properly Raiders win game (they were better team anyway) and go to Super Bowl and beat Cowboys.
Actually, two things not addressed in the article I want to know: (1) does Frei touch the rumors that Morton took a dive in the Super Bowl because he was in hock to gamblers, and (2) is the book Dr. Z wrote with Lyle Alzado mentioned at all?
Raiderjoe knows about Rob Lytle? My goodness.
Frei didn't go into the alleged gambling thing or the dive beyond referring to "ridiculous rumors" (he mentioned Morton's debts and how the team advanced him money), though he did talk about Morton's playoff injuries (which were pretty severe). I never bought the notion -- the Cowboys were just the NFL's best team that year. They added Tony Dorsett that season to a team that could already beat most everyone.
He mentioned the Alzado book in the context of the inaccuracies in Alzado's retelling of the twelve players who tried to get Ralston fired. I found that book a few years ago, and it's definitely interesting.
re 5
The refs called him down by forward progress.
He fumbled, Raiders recovered,
and might have scored a td.
are you drunk?
Oh, the Cowboys would have beat the holy snot out or the Raiders
cowboys definitelt would not have beat Raiders in Super Bowl 12. The raiders were better team than Cowboys that year. Raiders even won game in Pittsburgh that year.
I was 7 and living in Colorado Springs. The whole state was crazy, unlike anything I have seen since. Our priest started wearing robes with a lot of orange on them & everyone had an orange crush shirt. If you are a Bronco fan of any age, you would enjoy this book.
I got both Alzado and Gradishar's autograph that year and I remember Alzado as kind of a jerk (my dad had to buy something from the sore he was at for him to sign) and after that he was not that cool, while Gradishar was a great, great guy who took the time to really talk to me, which for a 7 year old Bronco maniac was a big, big deal
Bob Martin should have been mentioned more as another post said. Every single person I know listened to Bob Martin and Larry Zimmer on the radio and turned the tv volume off because the announcers were 'biased'.
RaiderJoe
Don't forget about the obvious Jack Dolbin TD catch mistakenly called incomplete in 3rd quarter, (Turner missed FG on next play). Don't hear you complaining about that one. I have a copy of the 77 afc champ game on dvd.
RAIDERS MAKE MORE EXCUSES THAN EVERYBODY. FUmble play inconclusive.
Thad
Regarding Alzado, he goes over the Dr Z book and how polarized Alzado was in the locker room and how Alzado treated Dr Z. Alzado is probably the player in the book with the most written about him.
I have heard about Craig Morton taking a dive from several different sources, including a Vegas high roller I met a few years ago. He briefly mentions the Morton rumors, but dispells them as rumors and cites Morton's injuries. THe fact that he owed so much money allegedly to the mob and and definitely to the IRS and that he made 7 turnovers in 2.5 quarters make you wonder. I saw him on one of the those 'Stu Feiner/gambling tout' ads in usatoday about 10 years ago. I have also heard that TOm Jackson has a real problem with him, but will not say why.
This book is a valentine to the 77 team, and deservedly so. I am glad that he combed over the Morton thing. He probably would have sold a lot more books had he made a bigger deal about it, but in doing so, it would have lost what made it a good read.
and the Raiders also lost that year to the Rams... It would be interesting to see how beatpaths work for past seasons.
1976 was the first year I became aware of football as I watched the Vikings make their last superbowl appearance (and lost handedly to what I still feel was the greatest Raider team). I haven't like the Raiders from that day (though I did admire Stabler).
I lived overseas in Panama in those days and getting my only football news through a truncated english newspaper that was lucky to have the scores in by Tuesday, I kept scrapbooks of the standings each week (cutting them out and pasting them in) along with box scores and recaps. I kept doing that through the end of the '78 season, so the week by weeks of those seasons I remember like that. The armed forces network would show football games, but not live.. they'd sometimes be weeks later, "via tape delay", as in someone taped it and mailed it down there and then they'd find some time to show it.
The most interesting fact in the book that I did not know was that NT Rubin Carter, who was all over Staubach in the SuperBowl (2 sacks in 1st half) recieved a death threat at halftime.
Great job Doug, good read!
I'm very torn on this. I love the Broncos and the city of Denver. On the other hand, I hate Terry Frei. If it was within my power, I would take all the money he currently has and burn it in front of him. So the idea of giving him some of my money is totally unacceptable. Maybe someone I know will buy the book and then I can read it without supporting that smug, contrary bastard.
As to the question of whether Morton took a dive... With the staggering talent differential between the two teams, and the fact that Morton was clearly on the downside of his career at that point and injured all to hell... Would you actually be able to tell the difference between taking a dive and just being that outclassed, old and hurt? I don't claim to know either way, just saying it might be hard to tell.
Re 15:
Just get a library card?
Re 16-- what is this "library card" about which you speak?
Wow, not sure I can review the pain of the Colts' loss to the Broncos that year. Both 10-1 going into the game... near the end the cameras caught a Bronco fan with a sign that read "11-1 Alone at the top." Still bitter 31 years later. Then "The Ghost to the post" a month later.... (let go, man, let go. It's alright....)
Morton took a dive? Apart from being terrorized by the doomsday defense all day, he was playing against his former team, against the quarteback that they ditched him for despite being a playoff QB. It would be hard to fathom him not trying against Dallas...
Follow the link in my name to see that most of the original Mister Twister design lives on at Knoebels Grove in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.
I'm curious. How many non-Steeler fans, or Steeler fans who don't remember 1973, have read About Three Bricks Shy of a Load (Roy Blount Jr.'s account of his year with the '73 Steelers), and what did you think?
#21 -- Interesting that you mentioned that. I found the book in a used store last weekend, and bought it because I always liked Blount's writing. Haven't read it yet, but I bet it's good.
The best NFL single-season recap I've read to date is Fighting Chance, by Fred Moody (the story of the '88 Seahawks).
All depends how it's written. I recently read Dr. Z's The Last Season of Weeb Ewbank, although I'm not a Jets fan and have no personal interest in Ewbank, but I liked it a good deal. It also serves as a look back in time -- I was particularly interested in the scene where the Jets wanted to work out their new rookies as soon as they could to see what they had, so right after the draft (which was in February back then) they assembled the rookies and had them run through workouts in the Shea Stadium parking lot. (In February!) There's also a description of how they sometimes had to put on their uniforms in the bushes before exhibition games because there was no locker room. Things have changed.
re23 maybe explains why Jets were crappy teasmm in 1973. Raiders were good - had real locker oromms as Al Davis is da man and always look out for his players. Team si s is real quality oranitogution
flipped through the book at a book store today. No mention of Raiderjoe in the book what so ever. So I didn't bother buying it
RaiderJoe, I don't want to hear about Al Davis. He doesn't care about the fans that support his team. The Raiders aren't going to win a thing until he retires or dies. Cliff Branch, Ken Stabler, Ted Hendricks, and Jack Tatum aren't walking through that door. But, as far as the book is concerned, it was a pretty good read and gave you more of an in-depth look at that team and that year.
Post new comment