Gridiron hero to 9/11 fallout

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2004 | by Deirdre Donahue

Namath: A Biography

By Mark Kriegel, read by Scott Brick; Penguin Audio; cassettes, unabridged, $44.95.

This extensively researched biography contains everything fans want to know about Broadway Joe. Kriegel takes the listener from Namath's difficult boyhood in a Pennsylvania mill town to the University of Alabama, where Namath played football for the legendary Paul "Bear" Bryant, to his becoming a media darling during his career in the NFL, during which he became as famous for his late nights and beautiful dates as for his skills as a quarterback. The author also illuminates why Namath's rebel persona resonated with so many people. In the end, though, Namath's family (his parents, brothers and, eventually, two daughters) proved to be the most important thing in his...