One more July: A football dialogue with Bill Curry

by George Plimpton, Bill Curry

This book was written from a tape recording that Plimpton did with former Packers and Colts center Bill Curry during a car ride up from Georgia to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Curry was trying to make a comeback with the Packers. Curry played in the NFL from 1965 to 1974. It's a nice look back at that era of the NFL as Curry talks about coaches he played under and superstar players that he went up against. A good read for those interested in that period of NFL history. A rambling, dreamy book that captures the best parts of Paper Lion without Geo. Plimpton's more intrusive aesthete-in-the-woods asides. "Curious places, these football halls of fame. So little to put in them that gives a sense of the game. Dead men's voices...deflated footballs with the dates in white paint on them...old photographs...empty uniforms...ghostly places. The men just sucked out of those uniforms like vacuum cleaners had got to them."

Genres: Football, Sports, Nonfiction

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, actor, and gamesman. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.

He was the grandson of George A. Plimpton.

Reviews

[Chris Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you find something you like, seek out its influences.

That's how I feel about music and writers, in particular.

A few years ago, my favorite sportswriter, Joe Posnanski wrote a blog post listing his all-time favorite books on sports.

I jotted down a good dozen or so of those and have been working my way through them here and there.

This was the first George Plimpton writing I have ever read and he delivered the goods.

Essentially, the book is written out from a tape recording that Plimpton did with former Packers and Colts center Bill Curry during a car ride up from Georgia to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Curry was trying to make a comeback with the Packers. Curry played in the NFL from 1965 to 1974.

It's a nice look back at that era of the NFL as Curry talks about coaches he played under and superstar players that he went up against.

Good read for those interested in that period of NFL history.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rambling, dreamy book that captures the best parts of Paper Lion without Geo. Plimpton's more intrusive aesthete-in-the-woods asides. It's here that I realized Plimpton's real strength as a reporter was coaxing homespun brilliance out of wise ballplayers; Alex Karras in Paper Lion ("who would want to be a jockstrap athlete?") and now Curry (one of the game's most eloquent and players, whose coaching career was marred by disappointment...but he meant well, to be sure). An easy 2.5-hour read, and an excellent piece of a period in pro sports that is no more...and maybe never was at all. Who can say?

"Curious places, these football halls of fame. So little to put in them that gives a sense of the game. Dead men's voices...deflated footballs with the dates in white paint on them...old photographs...empty uniforms...ghostly places. The men just sucked out of those uniforms like vacuum cleaners had got to them."

[Paul Miller]

Did you ever have a book that you carried around for YEARS because you knew it would at some point it would be interesting to you? This is a paperback from 1978 - Bill Curry recounting to George Plimpton his career as an NFL center. So think Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Colts, Packers - AFL vs. NFL. For football historians, a fascinating period piece.

[Chris Wesseling · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most insightful football books I’ve read. It’s a special treat when an articulate athlete can explain every nuance of the game, the team, the skills, the rivalries, the personalities and the philosophies of the sport in vivid detail. Curry is his sport’s intellectual, in the vain of Ken Dryden in the hockey classic “The Game.”

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best book about American football that I've ever read.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a really great read. Just two men on a long car ride talking about football and life. Plimpton does a great job keeping the flow going and getting Curry to tell so many great stories.

Highly recommended, really was a joy to read.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meandering summer road trip with a football player trying for "one last shot" with an NFL team. Bill Curry was not a name I was familiar with, though he spent time playing with the Baltimore Colts. He seemed like a really interesting, eclectic, and in-depth guy, a man who could see that football was not the only thing in life, but who also found it incredibly difficult to resist the pull of the game. I liked this book because 1) I could never picture anything remotely like this happening today - everything is too corporate and structured, and 2) it displays how much the game has changed over the years, in terms of coaching, attitudes, safety, and other areas. A neat piece of NFL history.

[Joseph Connor Hurt]

200 pages of barely interesting anecdotes and peeks behind the 1960s/70s pro football curtain. Works stronger as a concept.