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Strictly Business
Football is a game of physical sacrifice and extreme emotion, where the bonds between teammates are intense, the rewards immense, and the losses crushing. But it's also a business--and it can be a cold one--as San Francisco 49er star running back Roger Craig found out after his crucial fumble in a playoff game helped derail the team's drive for a third consecutive Super Bowl.
In Strictly Business, Roger Craig offers an inside look at the world most fans don't see. From the hopes of pre-season camp and the careful game plans of the locker room, to the brutal reality of the field, this is football at its highest level as played by the dominant team of the past decade. Craig what Joe Montana says in the huddle during a crucial drive; how Bill Walsh got the best performance out of every 49er player; the mental side of how the pros fight past injury and self-doubt to win; Craig's unique training program, the toughest in the game; highlights of the 49ers' greatest triumphs; and how teams and dynasties are built and how they break apart.
Finally, Roger Craig details the emotional experience of leaving the team he loved--a team that didn't want him anymore--an experience that brought home to Craig the truth about it's strictly business.
In Strictly Business, Roger Craig offers an inside look at the world most fans don't see. From the hopes of pre-season camp and the careful game plans of the locker room, to the brutal reality of the field, this is football at its highest level as played by the dominant team of the past decade. Craig what Joe Montana says in the huddle during a crucial drive; how Bill Walsh got the best performance out of every 49er player; the mental side of how the pros fight past injury and self-doubt to win; Craig's unique training program, the toughest in the game; highlights of the 49ers' greatest triumphs; and how teams and dynasties are built and how they break apart.
Finally, Roger Craig details the emotional experience of leaving the team he loved--a team that didn't want him anymore--an experience that brought home to Craig the truth about it's strictly business.
209 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1992
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January 14, 2022
Roger Craig wrote Strictly Business so you could get to know him as a football player and as a human being. And the book also served as a medium for Craig to air out his true feelings on his playing days as a San Franciso 49er running back from 1983 to 1990.
Craig saw his best days as a runner and pass catcher for the 49ers in the 1980s, but on the other hand it was cruel and sort of fitting that he saw his days as a forty-niner end during the 1990 season. That was also the season in which his production took a steep decline.
After being one of the focal points of 49ers offenses for seven straight years in the 1980s, a knee injury, a rookie running back named Dexter Carter, and a 49ers offense that was more concerned with passing the ball spelled the beginning of the end for Craig in San Francisco.
To me, the best chapters in this book were sixteen and seventeen. In those two chapters he laid it down how he felt about his last season in San Francisco, and then he discussed how he felt disrespected and tossed aside by 49ers management because of that infamous fumble in the 1990 NFC Championship game versus the New York Giants.
Meanwhile, another of Craig's aims in the book was to give you a limited amount of information on his private life which included his wife and kids, his budding acting career at the time, his modeling career, and etc. Some public figures don't want anyone knowing too much about their private life, they just want you to know about their entertainment career.
Pros of Strictly Business: The book gave you a good amount of information on Craig's playing career for the Niners in the latter part of the 1980s. Plus, Craig did a good job in giving you the reader his honest feelings on how he felt he was treated by his 49er head coach (George Seifert), his position coach (Al Lavan), the team owner (Eddie Debartolo Jr.), and others in team management after his fumble in the 1990 NFC Championship game.
Cons of Strictly Business: It would have been nice if Craig would have put in a chapter or two about his playing careers at Central High School (Iowa) and the University of Nebraska. There was barely a mention about two those stages of his football career.
In conclusion, it was the 1990 season in which Craig's frustrations with 49ers management reached its peak. And chapter seventeen was his chance to vent his frustrations with 49ers management. As mentioned before, Strictly Business was more than an autobiography on Roger Craig, the book also served as a therapy session for him, especially the last 24 pages of the book.
Craig saw his best days as a runner and pass catcher for the 49ers in the 1980s, but on the other hand it was cruel and sort of fitting that he saw his days as a forty-niner end during the 1990 season. That was also the season in which his production took a steep decline.
After being one of the focal points of 49ers offenses for seven straight years in the 1980s, a knee injury, a rookie running back named Dexter Carter, and a 49ers offense that was more concerned with passing the ball spelled the beginning of the end for Craig in San Francisco.
To me, the best chapters in this book were sixteen and seventeen. In those two chapters he laid it down how he felt about his last season in San Francisco, and then he discussed how he felt disrespected and tossed aside by 49ers management because of that infamous fumble in the 1990 NFC Championship game versus the New York Giants.
Meanwhile, another of Craig's aims in the book was to give you a limited amount of information on his private life which included his wife and kids, his budding acting career at the time, his modeling career, and etc. Some public figures don't want anyone knowing too much about their private life, they just want you to know about their entertainment career.
Pros of Strictly Business: The book gave you a good amount of information on Craig's playing career for the Niners in the latter part of the 1980s. Plus, Craig did a good job in giving you the reader his honest feelings on how he felt he was treated by his 49er head coach (George Seifert), his position coach (Al Lavan), the team owner (Eddie Debartolo Jr.), and others in team management after his fumble in the 1990 NFC Championship game.
Cons of Strictly Business: It would have been nice if Craig would have put in a chapter or two about his playing careers at Central High School (Iowa) and the University of Nebraska. There was barely a mention about two those stages of his football career.
In conclusion, it was the 1990 season in which Craig's frustrations with 49ers management reached its peak. And chapter seventeen was his chance to vent his frustrations with 49ers management. As mentioned before, Strictly Business was more than an autobiography on Roger Craig, the book also served as a therapy session for him, especially the last 24 pages of the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review