Review of "Leonard Marshall: The End of the Line," by Leonard Marshall and Dave Klein

 Review of

Leonard Marshall: The End of the Line, by Leonard Marshall and Dave Klein, ISBN 0453995764

Four out of five stars

History, with a bit of tell-all

 This book was written in 1987, when the New York Giants were at their monster best. They won the Super Bowl in 1987, totally dominating the Denver Broncos. It is part autobiography, part recent history of the New York Giants and there is a bit of tell-all dirt about other members of the team.

 Marshall is clearly a very intelligent man in that he was already planning for life after football while he was still in his prime. He was developing business interests while playing, sound investments that will provide for him and his family after he hangs up the football uniform.

 There are times when Marshall is critical of his teammates, openly stating that while they must get along while in the locker room and on the field, other than that he has little to do with some of them. He even goes to the point where he explicitly states that he doesn’t really like them. Even the all-time great Lawrence Taylor is not exempt from some criticism.

 Modern pro football is an extremely complex business masquerading as a game. Much of that comes through in this book. There is also a demonstration that the members of a team are individuals, with their various idiosyncrasies. Some of which are complementary, while others tend to aggravate.