No Medals for Trying: A Week in the Life of a Pro Football Team

by Jerry Izenberg

Last season, football's New York Giants invited sportswriter Izenberg (How Many Miles to Camelot, 1972) to observe a week of practices and team meetings. He made the most of the opportunity, coming up with this engrossing day-by-day account leading up to an important game. Coming off a bitter and disappointing Monday night loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Giants, faced with a shortened workweek, waste no time in beginning preparations for Sunday's crucial matchup with the tough Philadelphia Eagles and their outstanding quarterback Randall Cunningham. As Izenberg makes clear, the most important members of the team during the week are trainer Ronnie Barnes and Dr. Russ Warren. Can they mend quarterback Phil Simms' bum ankle? More important, can they have inspirational linebacker Lawrence Taylor (with a painful, hobbling knee injury) ready by game time? Coach Bill Parcells downplays the possible loss of Simms by touting inexperienced backup Jeff Hostetler. Announcing that Taylor will not play, Parcells inserts reserve Johnie Cooks as outside linebacker--but no one, including Cooks, is under any illusion that Taylor is replaceable. As the week unfolds, Izenberg observes closed-door offensive and defensive strategy sessions in all their arcane intricacy. He provides a rare look at an evolving game plan contingent on something as basic as one man's ability to play with pain. By game time both Simms and Taylor are, somehow, ready to play. In an emotional, hard-fought game played in subzero temperatures at wind-swept Giants Stadium, the Eagles come away winners. The Giants will rebound, however, to capture the NFC East title. Izenberg succeeds in penetrating the complexity of the Xs and Os and in describing the essential role of basic human emotion in a game he calls ""a chess match with muscles.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Football

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You don't get any medals for trying. You are supposed to do that." Excellent book about the 1989 Giants preparing to face the Eagles. In 2025, a year where the current Giants are in a state of despair, it was nice to read about an era where the Giants were tough and well-coached. It was interesting to read this book and compare it to the way things are now. Historically, it seems like some things never change with the Giants -- people are still flying planes over the stadium complaining about the product on the field like in the 70s, the Giants have remained their own worse enemy on the field with awful fumbles, and Ronnie Barnes is still with the team. The book also talked about the franchise's preference for continuity, which also continues to be the current mentality as ownership is bringing back the same regime after three years and no progress. The biggest difference between the late 80s and now is the stadium. One big takeaway from the book was that the old Giants Stadium was a real home field advantage with the Meadowlands winds. It was a place to play that had character. The same cannot be said for Metlife right now.

I loved the little bits of information about what the players and coaches did away from the facility. Bart Oates, the center, attended law school at Seton Hall during the season. Reyna Thompson would jog six miles at night. Parcells would go to the same deli for coffee every morning. The book made NFL players seem a lot more human.

There were plenty of great Parcells stories and quotes too. Like this: "Five times during the football season I would drive down [to the Jersey Shore] at night and sat on the boardwalk and sat on that bench in Sea Girt and walked down to the water. Pitch dark. Go back and sit all night. Five o'clock in the morning I go to a 7-11 and get my coffee and drive back up." Or how Phil Simms said that Parcells would not talk to players because Parcells knew it was an emotional game and not talking the players would get them riled up with a "me against the world" mentality.

[Scott Breslove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an interesting, but basic, look into a week in the life of an NFL team. Due to the subject matter it got pretty repetitive, does LT play or doesn't he, how do we defend this, etc.. The insight into the inner workings of a team it provided was interesting enough, but nothing blew me away. Also, this was another sports book where the author tried to get way too poetic with his prose, it's just a football book buddy, take it down a notch. All in all, an enjoyable book, but at its core nothing more than a three star book.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad read. Very interesting look into a week of preparation of the 1989 New York Giants, a good football team. Best read you'll ever get on Parcells as a coach. It was good but at times I wish the author had gone more in depth rather than just writing the obvious.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lawrence Taylor played six days after breaking his leg. Is there anything cocaine can't do?