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Just Tackle, Baby!
256 pages, Hardcover
Published August 4, 2026
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August 19, 2026
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: A LONG TIME AGO *** THE RAIDUHS*** … WERE LEGENDARY… ON AND OFF THE FIELD… RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THIS SUCCESS… WAS THE TALENTED… AND LOQUACIOUS… PHIL “FOO-FOO” VILLAPIANO!
FOO-FOO’S STORY OF HIS LIFE… BEFORE… DURING… AND AFTER… **DA RAIDUHS**… IS A FREAKING CLASSIC!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil… aka… “Foo-Foo”… is a “Joisey-Boy”… who played thirteen years in the NFL… nine years with the other-worldly… legendary Oakland Raiders… and four years with the Buffalo Bills. Any lifetime Raider fan… and any… original Oakland Raider PSL season ticket holder… *LIKE-ME*… would have thought… upon the release of this long overdue book by Villapiano… would be almost all about the Raiduhs… and I was gleefully wrong! Phil is now seventy-seven years old… and this book covers his life from childhood… when… even then… he absolutely… loved tackling people… to high school… to college… to the pro’s… to the enormous success he accomplished in sales in the shipping industry after his playing career. Phil proudly states he accomplished more success in sales… than he did in football.
Being that I personally… after playing ball for decades… and after serving honorably in the military… (And playing ball on the service team)… spent the rest of my life selling successfully. I always used the same motivations and techniques… in selling that I used on the athletic field.
AND GUESS WHAT???
Phil did the exact same thing (admittedly Foo-Foo also had a Super Bowl Ring… to open doors… and if he didn’t use it to open doors… he most assuredly used it to close sales!) This tremendously told story… becomes a business sales book… as much as a legendary sports story! Villapiano… never pulls any punches on the field (literally)… or in his personal life… regarding his family… wives… friends and opponents.
Phil… MADE ALL-PRO TWICE… AND THE PRO BOWL FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS WITH THE RAIDUHS… AND WON A SUPER BOWL.. and became the leader of after hour recreational competitions each night during training camp. Along with NFL Hall of Famers… (AND YES… LEGENDS!) such as Al Davis and John Madden… Foo-Foo… rolled with such dignitaries as the head of THE HELLS ANGELS… even though on one fateful night… he got the shit kicked out of him being attacked by a bunch of Hells Angels with hammers!
Villapiano’s story is rightfully filled with pride… in family… in team… football and sales. Anyone who has faithfully followed the Raiduhs for the last fifty years… knows that probably seventy-per-cent of all historical videotaped player interviews regarding the Raiduhs include Phil. What is amazing along with many other treats in this sensational book (that is so good I did not want it to end!)… is the job his “co-author” Todd Schmidt accomplished! To be able to transfer all of Phil’s mile-a-minute… unstoppable stories… into a cogent… consistently flowing… like a raging river of literary brilliance… without ever being overbearing… inconsistent… or going off-the-rails… on unnecessary tangents.
In the midst of sharing off the field team stories that at times had bordered on deviant back in the day they happened… remarkably… Villapiano… always stops way short… of divulging any truly embarrassing… or off-putting details… that in my belief system have no need to be done to many men that are no longer around to defend themselves. In the midst of interesting and at times hilarious stories… being unfolded by Phil the master storyteller… he encases himself in pure class… by only telling what is truly needed to be told… even after all these years. I richly applaud him for that!
Whether you’re a Raiduh fan or not… if you’re truly a football fan… you will have to admit… that more historical… breathtaking… and rule changing plays… almost solely belong to THE SILVER AND BLACK HISTORY! As an example the NFL itself… rated ***THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION (some people might call it the Immaculate Reception… but Phil and I are not two of them!) rated that play AS THE GREATEST PLAY IN NFL HISTORY is discussed in intricate first-hand detail… as Foo-Foo… was obviously front and center… in the middle of the entire play. And as this fateful “screw job” got more and more famous every year… surprisingly Phil and Franco Harris became extremely close personal friends for life. Also the bloody… battering… all-time classic games between the Raiduhs and Steelers… that was probably the greatest rivalry through the books reported years in history. Along with blood and guts… and heart... and disdain by both teams of any respect or observance of any rules of civility.
Simply stated you cannot be a true NFL fan if you’re not intimately familiar with the following NFL (RAIDUH) plays: (In addition to THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION)
**THE-HOLY-ROLLER**
**THE-SEA-OF-HANDS**
**THE-GHOST-TO-THE-POST**
**OLD-MAN-WILLIE-RUNNING AN INTERCEPTION BACK FOR A SUPER BOWL TOUCHDOWN**
All Raiduh plays… all covered in this book!
The pure volcanic hatred between the Raiduhs… Chiefs… Steelers… Chargers and Broncos… is not a manufactured story-line… but facts… like tempered steel. In fact one of the greatest stories in the book… is when Phil gets into a brawl in Kansas City with the Chiefs by their bench… Phil is on the ground under the bench being pummeled by the Chiefs… it so happens that Villapiano’s Father and *HIS MAILMAN FROM NEW JERSEY*… are sitting in the stands in the first row… behind the bench… THE JOISEY MAILMAN jumps over the small fence and runs over and starts swinging against the Chiefs players. (He surely must have won Jersey mailman of the year!) (AND ENSHRINED IN THE CLIFF CLAVIN HALL OF FAME!)
---------------------------------------------------------
It was obviously a different place and time when Phil played… and all teams took physicality to another level… and yes… that was before the NFL put a dress on the quarterback! (Understandably… concussion knowledge changed things) Here are a few things that were in Foo-Foo’s game day personal arsenal:
**THE RAKE** - “The Rake was essentially tackling a guy around the face.”
“*PALM TO THE EYE TECHNIQUE** - “It was a quick jab to the face, very useful in keeping blockers honest.” “I’d pop them good with the area right under my thumb… which had a layer of plaster of Paris over it.”
“I ALSO INVENTED SOMETHING CALLED **THE-CAN-OPENER** “THIS WAS GETTING THE BALL CARRIER’S HELMET IN THE CROOK OF MY ARM AND THEN TWISTING MY UPPER BODY HARD SO THE HELMET WOULD GO FLYING OFF. NOT ONLY DID THE FANS LOVE IT, BUT MY OPPONENTS HATED IT. NO ONE WANTED TO HAVE THEIR HELMET POPPED OFF! AT THAT TIME NOTHING SAID I COULDN’T DO IT.”
And of course you would soak your pads in plaster of Paris… THEN YOU’D HAVE THIS RUBBER STUFF WHICH YOU WRAPPED AROUND YOUR ARM AND PLACED THE PLASTER PAD ON TOP OF THAT. THEN YOU'D TAPE IT IN PLACE AND FINALLY PUT A PAD OVER IT. IT WAS LIKE HITTING SOMEONE WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER.”
The reader will be transported from one extreme to another… late in the book… decades after his retirement from football… he’s at a Raiduh game… and after the game is over he’s looking for a tailgater to get a few more beers… and comes across a paralyzed Raiduh fan… and after asking a few questions… Phil feels that with the right motivation the paralyzed man could train to be able to take a step. Phil takes off his Super Bowl ring gives it to the man… who doesn’t want to take it… and Phil says… you can give it back to me when you can walk…
You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens there… along with how to be a Raiduh… how to be a successful salesman… and how not to throw up… when you hear about Conrad Dobler sucking women’s toes!
****************************** JUST-WIN-BABY!!!!! **********************
PS: I came upon nine typos… the only reason I mention it here to Phil… is because you know that being a Silver and Black fan… or player… or author… means…**A-COMMITMENT-TO-EXCELLENCE!**
PSS: You’ll have to read the book to find out how Phil got the nickname “Foo-FOO”!
FOO-FOO’S STORY OF HIS LIFE… BEFORE… DURING… AND AFTER… **DA RAIDUHS**… IS A FREAKING CLASSIC!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil… aka… “Foo-Foo”… is a “Joisey-Boy”… who played thirteen years in the NFL… nine years with the other-worldly… legendary Oakland Raiders… and four years with the Buffalo Bills. Any lifetime Raider fan… and any… original Oakland Raider PSL season ticket holder… *LIKE-ME*… would have thought… upon the release of this long overdue book by Villapiano… would be almost all about the Raiduhs… and I was gleefully wrong! Phil is now seventy-seven years old… and this book covers his life from childhood… when… even then… he absolutely… loved tackling people… to high school… to college… to the pro’s… to the enormous success he accomplished in sales in the shipping industry after his playing career. Phil proudly states he accomplished more success in sales… than he did in football.
Being that I personally… after playing ball for decades… and after serving honorably in the military… (And playing ball on the service team)… spent the rest of my life selling successfully. I always used the same motivations and techniques… in selling that I used on the athletic field.
AND GUESS WHAT???
Phil did the exact same thing (admittedly Foo-Foo also had a Super Bowl Ring… to open doors… and if he didn’t use it to open doors… he most assuredly used it to close sales!) This tremendously told story… becomes a business sales book… as much as a legendary sports story! Villapiano… never pulls any punches on the field (literally)… or in his personal life… regarding his family… wives… friends and opponents.
Phil… MADE ALL-PRO TWICE… AND THE PRO BOWL FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS WITH THE RAIDUHS… AND WON A SUPER BOWL.. and became the leader of after hour recreational competitions each night during training camp. Along with NFL Hall of Famers… (AND YES… LEGENDS!) such as Al Davis and John Madden… Foo-Foo… rolled with such dignitaries as the head of THE HELLS ANGELS… even though on one fateful night… he got the shit kicked out of him being attacked by a bunch of Hells Angels with hammers!
Villapiano’s story is rightfully filled with pride… in family… in team… football and sales. Anyone who has faithfully followed the Raiduhs for the last fifty years… knows that probably seventy-per-cent of all historical videotaped player interviews regarding the Raiduhs include Phil. What is amazing along with many other treats in this sensational book (that is so good I did not want it to end!)… is the job his “co-author” Todd Schmidt accomplished! To be able to transfer all of Phil’s mile-a-minute… unstoppable stories… into a cogent… consistently flowing… like a raging river of literary brilliance… without ever being overbearing… inconsistent… or going off-the-rails… on unnecessary tangents.
In the midst of sharing off the field team stories that at times had bordered on deviant back in the day they happened… remarkably… Villapiano… always stops way short… of divulging any truly embarrassing… or off-putting details… that in my belief system have no need to be done to many men that are no longer around to defend themselves. In the midst of interesting and at times hilarious stories… being unfolded by Phil the master storyteller… he encases himself in pure class… by only telling what is truly needed to be told… even after all these years. I richly applaud him for that!
Whether you’re a Raiduh fan or not… if you’re truly a football fan… you will have to admit… that more historical… breathtaking… and rule changing plays… almost solely belong to THE SILVER AND BLACK HISTORY! As an example the NFL itself… rated ***THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION (some people might call it the Immaculate Reception… but Phil and I are not two of them!) rated that play AS THE GREATEST PLAY IN NFL HISTORY is discussed in intricate first-hand detail… as Foo-Foo… was obviously front and center… in the middle of the entire play. And as this fateful “screw job” got more and more famous every year… surprisingly Phil and Franco Harris became extremely close personal friends for life. Also the bloody… battering… all-time classic games between the Raiduhs and Steelers… that was probably the greatest rivalry through the books reported years in history. Along with blood and guts… and heart... and disdain by both teams of any respect or observance of any rules of civility.
Simply stated you cannot be a true NFL fan if you’re not intimately familiar with the following NFL (RAIDUH) plays: (In addition to THE IMMACULATE DECEPTION)
**THE-HOLY-ROLLER**
**THE-SEA-OF-HANDS**
**THE-GHOST-TO-THE-POST**
**OLD-MAN-WILLIE-RUNNING AN INTERCEPTION BACK FOR A SUPER BOWL TOUCHDOWN**
All Raiduh plays… all covered in this book!
The pure volcanic hatred between the Raiduhs… Chiefs… Steelers… Chargers and Broncos… is not a manufactured story-line… but facts… like tempered steel. In fact one of the greatest stories in the book… is when Phil gets into a brawl in Kansas City with the Chiefs by their bench… Phil is on the ground under the bench being pummeled by the Chiefs… it so happens that Villapiano’s Father and *HIS MAILMAN FROM NEW JERSEY*… are sitting in the stands in the first row… behind the bench… THE JOISEY MAILMAN jumps over the small fence and runs over and starts swinging against the Chiefs players. (He surely must have won Jersey mailman of the year!) (AND ENSHRINED IN THE CLIFF CLAVIN HALL OF FAME!)
---------------------------------------------------------
It was obviously a different place and time when Phil played… and all teams took physicality to another level… and yes… that was before the NFL put a dress on the quarterback! (Understandably… concussion knowledge changed things) Here are a few things that were in Foo-Foo’s game day personal arsenal:
**THE RAKE** - “The Rake was essentially tackling a guy around the face.”
“*PALM TO THE EYE TECHNIQUE** - “It was a quick jab to the face, very useful in keeping blockers honest.” “I’d pop them good with the area right under my thumb… which had a layer of plaster of Paris over it.”
“I ALSO INVENTED SOMETHING CALLED **THE-CAN-OPENER** “THIS WAS GETTING THE BALL CARRIER’S HELMET IN THE CROOK OF MY ARM AND THEN TWISTING MY UPPER BODY HARD SO THE HELMET WOULD GO FLYING OFF. NOT ONLY DID THE FANS LOVE IT, BUT MY OPPONENTS HATED IT. NO ONE WANTED TO HAVE THEIR HELMET POPPED OFF! AT THAT TIME NOTHING SAID I COULDN’T DO IT.”
And of course you would soak your pads in plaster of Paris… THEN YOU’D HAVE THIS RUBBER STUFF WHICH YOU WRAPPED AROUND YOUR ARM AND PLACED THE PLASTER PAD ON TOP OF THAT. THEN YOU'D TAPE IT IN PLACE AND FINALLY PUT A PAD OVER IT. IT WAS LIKE HITTING SOMEONE WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER.”
The reader will be transported from one extreme to another… late in the book… decades after his retirement from football… he’s at a Raiduh game… and after the game is over he’s looking for a tailgater to get a few more beers… and comes across a paralyzed Raiduh fan… and after asking a few questions… Phil feels that with the right motivation the paralyzed man could train to be able to take a step. Phil takes off his Super Bowl ring gives it to the man… who doesn’t want to take it… and Phil says… you can give it back to me when you can walk…
You’ll have to read the book to find out what happens there… along with how to be a Raiduh… how to be a successful salesman… and how not to throw up… when you hear about Conrad Dobler sucking women’s toes!
****************************** JUST-WIN-BABY!!!!! **********************
PS: I came upon nine typos… the only reason I mention it here to Phil… is because you know that being a Silver and Black fan… or player… or author… means…**A-COMMITMENT-TO-EXCELLENCE!**
PSS: You’ll have to read the book to find out how Phil got the nickname “Foo-FOO”!
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