Review of "Football Stars of 1969," by Larry Borstein

Review of

Football Stars of 1969, by Larry Borstein 

Four out of five stars

 Given the title, this is clearly a look back into the history of pro football, it features some of the players considered stars of the day. There is no great detail given about the players, the descriptions are two to three pages long.

 What is most interesting about the discussion of the players are the statistics. For example, Joe Namath is featured as a star quarterback, yet his completion percentages for the years 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968 are .482, .493, .525 and .492 respectively (lifetime an even .500). Earl Morrall does a  bit better with a lifetime completion percentage of .511. While rule changes have made higher completion percentages possible, this is a demonstration of how the levels of performance have changed over the years. Pro quarterbacks that complete fifty percent of their passes now get benched.

 Another telling statistic is about defensive tackle Merlin Olsen. He is described as being 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, a bulk in the middle of the defensive line. By modern standards, where most linemen are over 300 pounds, this is now considered too light.

 Pro football is still all about blocking and tackling and that will never change. However, some things are now much different than they were in 1969, specifically the size of the players and the levels of offensive performance.