Bigger Than the Game: Bo, Boz, the Punky QB, and How the '80s Created the Modern Athlete

by Michael Weinreb

A mesmerizing look at the year when American athletics went corporate, villains replaced heroes, and sports stars became superstars.

Greed and excess defined the 1980s, and the sports world was no exception. Shifting from the love of the game to the love of money, athletes made the transition from representing honor and humility to becoming brash and branded. Capturing the stories of headliners who capitalized on this trend, Bigger Than the Game charts the rise (and sometimes spectacular fall) of four athletes over the span of one of the most dramatic eras in sports.

Meticulously researched, with stirring, you-are-there reporting, Bigger Than the Game assembles a cast that includes Jim McMahon, who took the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl glory despite his penchant for partying and his aversion to following the game plan; Brian Boswoth, the university of Oklahoma linebacker who mugged for the cameras while calling the NCAA a communist organization; Bo Jackson, who pursued promising careers in both pro football and baseball; and Len Bias, poised to ensure the Boston Celtics' dominance but died of a cocaine overdose just one day after the draft. Also packed with portraits of folk heroes such as "Refrigerator" Perry and Michael Jordan, Bigger Than the Game offers a riveting ride for every sports fan.

Genres: Sports, Football, Baseball, Nonfiction, Cultural

352 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2010

About the author

Michael Weinreb is the author of Bigger Than the Game: Bo, Boz, the Punky QB and How the '80s Created the Modern Athlete. His previous book, The Kings of New York (paperback title: Game of Kings), won the Quill Award as the Best Sports Book of 2007, was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly, Amazon.com and The Christian Science Monitor, and was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice.

He is also the author of Girl Boy Etc., a short-story collection. He has written for The New York Times, ESPN, GQ, Grantland and Sports on Earth. His work has also been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing collection. His book Season of Saturdays: A History of College Football in 14 Games, was published in Fall 2014 by Scribner and was named one of the best books the year by Newsweek and Quartz.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bigger Than the Game is a thoughtful, well-researched look into the human side of sports — how identity, mental health, and personal struggle intersect with fame and performance. The author does an excellent job blending storytelling with insight, showing that athletes are far more than their stats or highlight reels.

That said, I found myself wanting a deeper dive into the Brian Boswell story. It’s introduced with intrigue, but the narrative felt a bit underdeveloped compared to other sections. More context or follow-up would have added real emotional weight.

Still, it’s a compelling and worthwhile read for anyone who loves sports beyond the scoreboard — reflective, honest, and at times surprisingly moving.

[Chris Heim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was right up my wheelhouse, as it focused on some of the biggest media stories in sports in the 80s and early 90s: The Punky QB, The Boz, Bo, and Lenny Bias. All of them were tragic in their own ways, from Bias's premature death to Boz and McMahon's self-destructive ways, to Bo's once-in-a-lifetime athleticism destroyed injury in a single moment. Other stories are added in for context, from the political (Reagan's influence on society, including some of the behaviors exhibited by these athletes) to the explosion of the athlete as marketing superstar (Jordan). If you grew up watching sports in the 80s and early 90s, you'll love this book!

[C Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bigger than the Game is an outstanding treatise on the self-aggrandizement of the modern athlete. The author chose the year 1986 as somewhat of a watershed year. 1986 saw: Bo Jackson play two professional sports, a steroid laden and overrated linebacker at the University of Oklahoma, Brian Bozworth, become the face of the college football, the cocaine induced death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, and the crowning of the Chicago Bears as NFL champions behind the brash quarterback Jim McMahon, the outspoken coach Mike Ditka, and everyone's darling 330 plus pounder William "The Refrigerator" Perry.

The theme of this book is how the modern athlete in the media age has become bigger than the sports they play. It's about narcissist self promotion, the breakdown of the team concept where there is only "I" not "we." Or, as the dust jacket says, it was "the era when athletes evolved from humble and honest to brash and branded." There is certainly a little hyperbole to this description as there are scores of athletes in all eras that fit this mold, but there was not a 24 hour news cycle and the Internet for any but the greatest superstars to rise to such fame (or infamy).

After reading this book we should have predicted the steroid scandals that have wracked baseball, track and field, and cycling, the despicable display of self adulation in the Lebron James reality TV hype surrounding his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers, the sniping between superstars Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, the Allen Iverson type athletes with great talent that can't seem to find a way to play for anything other than themselves thus never fulfilling championship potential, the criminality of college athletes with the University o f Miami football team being exhibit A and B, and even the tiresome will he, won't he perennial retirement saga of Brett Favre. Maybe it didn't all start in 1986, but the stories the author tells are a prelude of what came after.

The book centers mainly on four athletes with ESPN and the advent of 24 hour sports coverage in the foreground of the revolution. First, Jim McMahon, the "punky QB" in the clunky title, is a fascinating case of self promotion and thumbing his nose at authority, especially because he readily admits he did and does care. He went to Brigham Young University for one thing and one thing only, to start at quarterback for the football team. He didn't go to get an education or graduate, and he certainly didn't go for any religious purposes. In fact, he almost openly flaunted the rules, drinking and carousing his way through a solid college career. And then with the Bears he was the unorthodox quarterback who defied and fought with his coach, thumbed his nose at NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, but was winner. And that's all that mattered.

Brian Bozworth, the self-admitted steroid laden Oklahoma Sooners linebacker spent much of his college career trying to gain attention. His Mohawk and constantly taking his helmet off to play to the cameras and his brash mouth made him one of the faces of college football. Of course, he was a high draft pick in the NFL and was a complete bust. Bozworth built an image that had little substance, other than steroids, behind it. I will never forget the game where Bo Jackson ran over "The Boz" on national television.

And perhaps the saddest story is the untimely cocaine induced death of Len Bias. Weinreb completely dispatches all the myths surround Bias's death. It was clear from who he hung out with and those who knew and talked about him that he was not a first time cocaine user, but appears to have at least been an occasional, recreational user of the drug. After being drafted by the Boston Celtics he went on a little cocaine binge that killed him. Len Bias may have been a great player, but a certain myth built up around his innocence, suggesting even naivety, that doesn't stand up to reality.

Bo Jackson is mostly a foil to all this. Jackson was a quiet, mostly unassuming personality who chose baseball over football but ultimately decided he wanted to play both, and did. His rise to fame from a poor, rural childhood was marked by a shyness and lack of desire for the spotlight. But he parlayed his fame into endorsement opportunities long after his untimely retirement from sports because of an unfortunate, freaky hip injury. The ability to be a relevant marketing personality long after his career was over could have only happened in burgeoning electronic era.

Despite the unfortunate choice of title, this book is very readable and bring backs memories for those whose formative years were the mid-1980s. While ultimately the theme of the book is darker one, for better or worse we live in the era that might not have started exactly in 1986, but certainly that year is as good as any to point to the beginning of the aggrandizement of the modern athlete.

[William]

I don't totally buy everything Weinreb is trying argue here. I think he overreaches. In committing the most common error in assessing the culture of the U.S. in the 1980s--discussing and analyzing everything as if it were an appendage of Ronald Reagan--he goes too far. (I really kind of hate it when people do that and it seems like the do it all the frickin' time. Madonna is just an outgrowth of "The Gipper" and his impact on the country. So is Cheers. And Punky Brewster. And the Miracle on Ice. And The Goonies. Everything. In fact the on event of the '80s that actully happened was Reagan getting elected. Please. I know you academics hate Reagan. I don't love him either. But get over it. There were other things going on. Star Wars isn't an appendage of President Reagan, President Reagan was an appendage of Star Wars. But I digress. . .)

All that said, he has definitely put his finger on something real here, and for that the author deserves real kudos. I think he uses the term "sports cult of personality." But yeah--that really did fully emerge in the 1980s. There were flashes of it in Joe Namath, Ali, and Reggie Jackson, but in the '80s the right mix of elements made it the new normal for athletes. These elements include rock and roll achieving mainstream cultural dominance for long enough that even previously "square" jocks were shaped by it ethos, a critical mass of post-Civil Rights black athletes and the new hip-hop culture they brought to sports, the emergence of a new, vaguely postmodern and somewhat ironic sensibility of advertising, the rapid expansion of television coverage of sports and news brought on by cable, and of course, the even more rapidly increasing salaries brought on by the advent of free agency. There are probably some other things I'm missing. . .

Cocaine. Maybe cocaine. Weinreb sure spends a lot of time on it. Not that that's a bad thing. In fact, his writing is almost always enjoyable, even when he's going a bit too far in trying to connect the cultural dots, and even if his ideas are not always quite as profound as he hopes they are. His profiles of Bo Jackson and "The Punky QB," Jim McMahon are especially fascinating.

I'd recommend this book to a wide audience--anyone fascinated by contemporary sports (Because really, Weinreb's book is pretty much about how we got from the mid-century "work hard, love your mom, and be gracious in victory" ethic that once dominated sport to. . . well, Jim McMahon. . .) But it is also recommended to anyone obsessed as I am with the 1980s or pop culture in general. (This means you, Jeff Hofmann!) Based on this book and Season of Saturdays, his memoir/pseudo-academic discussion of the history of college football, I'd say it's pretty accurate to describe Weinreb as the Chuck Klosterman of sports.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

i remember seeing this years ago at a bookstore, flipping through it--grantland was just becoming a thing, and weinreb was one of their solid regulars--and going, eh, there's not much there there. then i picked up a copy for 50 cents at a library sale and i was still: well damn, there's no there there, but he had a pretty great thesis.

the thing is, so much is left on the table. not enough interviews were done. boz's name is in the title but he gets maybe 10 pages. much of the book focuses on mcmahon, and those sections were excellent. most importantly, weinreb omits the easiest/hardest/most important question: all of these people who shaped 80s sports, even the fridge, were fleeting phenomena at best. none became a hall of famer in any sport. and yet they were inescapable for a couple of years. way more people knew who the fridge was than, say, jerry rice, who was steady and boring in the same way that marvin harrison was (well, on the field, anyway; off the field, harrison was apparently some kind of drug kingpin).

anyway, this is almost a great book, almost the book we needed...and it's still a serious cultural studies dissertation somebody should write.

[David Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bigger Than the Game: Bo, Boz, the Punky QB, and How the '80s Created the Modern Athlete by Michael Weinreb (Gotham Books 2010)(796.0973). Beware a misleading title and cover. What's billed as "Bo, Boz, and the Punky QB" does contain some great stuff about the three athletes pictured on the cover (Bo Jackson, Brian Bosworth, and Jim McMahon). However, it quickly became apparent that the book focused mostly on Len Bias' mother (and the sordid tale that lay therein), the Nike corporation, and Ronnie and Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign. An interesting start by a book lay in ruins. What a waste - don't bother. Oh - by the way, the author's failed to prove his premise/subtitle ("...How the '80's Created the Modern Pro Athlete") as well. My rating: 4/10, finished 12/1/2010.

[Leland Horton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was incredible. "Bigger Than The Game" is one of the best books I have ever read. It delivered on its title of explaining the background and impact of Bo Jackson, Jim McMahon and Brian Bosworth. Michael Weinreb intertwined their stories with other events of 1986, and thier effects, namely the Challenger space shuttle, Len Bias and the changes his death brought, Penn State v. Miami, the Reagan presidency, and the rise of Nike.

Putting a magnifying glass on sports in the year 1986 was genius. Weinreb then skillfully told all of the stories and deftly wove the stories together. Despite the broad range of topics discussed, his writing maintains its flow throughout.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting look at the transition of sports culture in the mid-1980's, when the view of sports started to shift from the traditional team-focused concept to the more individual, marketing-related focus that we see in sports today. Weinreb looks in particular at 1986 and uses Jim McMahon, Brian Bosworth, Bo Jackson, and Len Bias as examples of how our view of individual athletes would forever change. Overall an interesting read, but some parts were better written than others. I particularly enjoyed the look back at the 1985 Bears and Bo Jackson, probably because I remember them much better than Boz or Bias.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly ambitious work of 1980s social and cultural history told through the lens of big time college and professional sports. Weinreb focuses on the year 1986 as a watershed moment in American sports culture as it shifted towards more integration with entertainment. He profiles several prominent athletes from that year (Jim McMahon, Len Bias, Bo Jackson, Brian Bosworth) as emblematic of the changing nature of sports. It doesn't always work perfectly, but I'd definitely recommended to anyone interested in sports and/or America in the 1980s.

[Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ambitious book details the rise of the modern athlete-as-celebrity, tying some of the most outlandish characters in professional sports history to the establishment of ESPN and Nike in the mid-80's (as well as the volatile politics and pervasive drug culture of the time). There is a lot going on in this book but Weinreb deftly navigates the material, warmly illustrating larger-than-life characters while crafting a compelling narrative that touches on the worlds of sports, politics, media, and big business.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, well done portrayal of sports stars in the 80s and how contextual culture led to individual marketing. I enjoyed it for the most part although the Len Bias stuff was either too drawn out or, for someone like me who's from Maryland and has heard the story a million times, just too tiring. I would've also liked a lot more on the 86 Mets, who were not at all unlike the 85 Bears with their bravado/domination. But overall, a solid read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ambitious book, but I think it could have been better organized. A lot of the material is recycled and has appeared in slightly altered form before, but Weinreb skillfully uses it to support his view of the commercialization of athletics and athletes. We do get some new glimpses of McMahon, Bosworth, Bo Jackson et al and a detailed overview of the Len Bias drug story.

A good book that could have been a great one.

[Daniel Mortensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. But, where I was looking for more of a coherent thesis as to how the 80's changed the nature of sports, I instead got several loosely constructed narratives about individual athletes/teams and little relation between them. It did, however, provide a lot of insight and detail into the death of Len Bias, the rise of one of the greatest athletes of all time, Bo Jackson, and the dysfunctional yet talented mid-80's Chicago Bears led by quarterback Jim McMahon

[Mattmiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks at how the cultural climate was right in the mid eighties for a shift that lead to single players being promoted for their individuality in the context of team sports. Most of the book is about Bo Jackson, Jim McMahon, Len Bias, Brian Bosworth and Ronald Reagan. I thought he was stretching with some of the connections to the Reagan administration. Overall a good read, nostalgic and gives some of the context for how athletes have come to affect American culture.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me and I really enjoyed reading it. I remember the athletes and games but was really to young to realize or care about the events that were going on during this period of time. It is interesting to read how everything came together at the same time to shift the sports world in such away to become what seems normal today. if you enjoy sports I think this book will be an interesting look at when sports changed in America.

[Daniel Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting case study on the rise of the modern athlete. If you ever wondered how the modern athlete came to be this book offers the evidence. Sometimes culture mirrors athletics and vice versa. This book provides a captivating illustration of how this happens.

Overall a good read - but some of the chapters and subject topics were repeated or had abrupt endings.

[Austin Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting pieces (especially the '85 Bears material), but in the end it seems like there were too many strands to come together into one coherent narrative. I appreciate the effort, and I enjoyed the read, but I think this would have worked better as a series of articles rather than one book.

[Matthew Fitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book about the societal impact of Sports in the 80's with a focus on the year 86. Great portraits of Bo Jackson, Jim McMahon, and the tragic death of Len Bias.....Must read for us children if the 80's....

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to look back at the development of the modern athlete. I didn't realize that cultural phenomenon that Bo, and the Bears were at the time.

[Amort · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for Jim McMahon fans.