Nick Nolte, Charles Durning and Mac Davis in the Ted Kotcheff movie ‘North Dallas Forty’

For as long as I can remember, the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States has included the playing of the gridiron style of football born in North America. A tradition throughout that time has included a game being hosted in Detroit, Michigan by the Detroit Lions and another in Dallas, Texas hosted by the Dallas Cowboys. With the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, we take a look at a fictionalized version of the Cowboys‘ team from the 1960s. Presented as satire was the Ted Kotcheff directed movie called North Dallas Forty (1979).

(From left, Nick Nolte as Phil Elliott and Savannah Smith Boucher as Joanne Rodney in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).

The movie was based on Peter Gent‘s 1973 bestselling book named North Dallas Forty. Gent, of Bangor, Michigan, was presented as receiver Phil Elliott of the North Dallas Bulls, with Nick Nolte portraying him in the movie. The movie aims to offer a somewhat simplified version of the portrait within the book for the way of life in professional football in general and for the Dallas Cowboys as coached by Tom Landry when Gent played there. Within the film, Landry translated to B.A. Strothers, as portrayed by G.D. Spradlin.

(From left, G.D. Spradlin as B.A. Strothers and Charles Durning as Coach Johnson in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).

Elliott as a player is presented as having really good hands, which means that he is better than most at catching passes thrown his direction. Seth Maxwell throws the passes for the Bulls as the quarterback. Maxwell, as portrayed by Mac Davis, and Elliott both are shown to enjoy parties that include drugs, alcohol and access women willing to enjoy time with professional athletes. Seth Maxwell is modeled on former Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Elliott is shown to simply wish to play the game and then retire to a horse farm with his girlfriend Charlotte Caulder. Caulder was portrayed by Dayle Haddon.

(From left, Mac Davis as Seth Maxwell, Tommy Reamon as Delma Huddle and Nick Nolte as Phil Elliott in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).

The film focuses on the gritty realism of the game through the perspective of the players. The blind eye to the realities of what players experienced simply to get onto the field from practice to practice and game to game were big points of emphasis for the film. Rookie receiver Delma Huddle and the veteran Phil Elliott were central to a storyline about the approaches to injuries, pain management and the use of painkillers. The grading system for every player by coach B.A. Strothers furthered the narrative of a process out-of-touch with the humanity of the players. An emotional eruption between player O.W. Shaddock and Coach Johnson provides further evidence of this. Charles Durning portrayed Coach Johnson as John Matuszak portrayed O.W. Shaddock. Tommy Reamon portrayed Delma Huddle.

(From left, Bo Svenson as Joe Bob Priddy, Mac Davis as Seth Maxwell and John Matuszak as O.W. Shaddock in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).

The movie deals further in satire specifically in bringing the human factor into the way the grading system was used, in addition to the means for how Phil Elliott separates from the North Dallas Bulls. Factors that run counter to Elliott’s desire to play and contribute sours the player to the way the process worked, pointing out that the human factor colors perceptions of fairness, appropriateness and why individuals wish to participate at all. With all the suffering underpinning the game of professional football, the message of whether the sacrifice is worth it comes to bear.

(Grant Kilpatrick as Monsignor in the Ted Kotcheff movie North Dallas Forty).

I particularly enjoyed North Dallas Forty as a movie exploring the realism for how physically and emotionally difficult the sport is. I appreciate that the movie explored notions of the humanity of the people playing and coaching the sport, regardless of whether I feel that the book itself gave a balanced accounting of the leadership perspectives shown to be lacking. I rate North Dallas Forty as directed by Ted Kotcheff 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 23, 2022

David Maraniss and the book ‘When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi’

The writing of David Maraniss has offered enjoyment and knowledge to me over the years; the decision to return to a biography of football coach, husband and father Vince Lombardi proved pretty easy. First published in 1999, Maraniss‘ book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi offers a clear and informative narrative of the man, his times, what shaped his life and the life of his family.

(Vince Lombardi played football at Fordham University in the Bronx, where he was part of the so-called ‘Seven Blocks of Granite’. Lombardi later became an assistant football coach at Fordham).

Family and his Roman Catholic faith were early influences over the work ethic and philosophy that would inform the man Vince Lombardi would become. Having grown up in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, the decision to attend Fordham University in the Bronx came rather naturally as a place to keep those ties and play football. Discipline and playing through pain and hardship were highlights of many early experiences shared in the Maraniss biography, along with the mythmaking and writing styles for how reports of college football were written of at the time. That Lombardi needed to work to break the lineup, and the feeling of contributing to a goal larger than himself, were early lessons that informed the coach Lombardi would become.

(Vince Lombardi was an assistant coach at West Point from 1949-1953).

Lombardi‘s path into coaching football was not a given, having been born in 1913 and coming of age during the Great Depression. The steps Lombardi took into coaching and teaching at Roman Catholic schools, with decisions around if and when to move into the high school ranks not always being straightforward. A degree of discipline and honoring of commitments factored into when not to move on, though the influences of his playing days and the underpinnings of those early teaching experiences where Lombardi led and developed a philosophy for how to speak to his chosen audience influenced his landing work at the West Point, a military academy of the United States based in New York state.

(David Maraniss wrote When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, which was first published in 1999).

What Lombardi knew about football landed him work at West Point. Beyond affirming a sense of the organized development and motivation of men, Lombardi‘s time there offered an insight into dedicated documentation of film to review the tendencies of each individual player on plays. Lombardi further took a sense of how to simplify game plans down to the core points of emphasis, rather than focusing his players on understanding the full scope of the playbook. The academic cheating scandal revealed in 1951, during the time Lombardi coached at West Point, would influence the erstwhile coach later in his career despite Lombardi reportedly having no knowledge of the scheme at the point it occurred.

(From left, Vince Lombardi, his daughter Susan, his wife Marie and his son Vincent. Lombardi and Marie had married in August of 1940).

There was some degree of unease for Lombardi following his time in the college ranks, with his first advance into the NFL (National Football League) being as an assistant coach for the New York Giants from 1954 to 1958. Tom Landry would be an assistant coach for the Giants beside Lombardi, with Lombardi leaving in February 1959 to become the General Manager and head coach of the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

(From left, Green Bay Packer quarterbacks Paul Hornung and Bart Starr were significant to the success of the Packers during Vince Lombardi‘s tenure from 1959 to 1967).

Lombardi had complicated relationships with his wife and children as he began transforming the Packers into a team that won five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls in his final two seasons as Packers coach. Many of the principles learned earlier in his career led to the grueling approach to coaching the team, though all who could withstand that rigor reportedly responded to Lombardi with loyalty and success. A gambling scandal in part led to the transition from Paul Hornung to Bart Starr as Packers quarterback during Lombardi‘s tenure. Both players would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Lombardi‘s career would finish with the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) in Washington, DC.

(Vince Lombardi was celebrated with and by players of the Green Bay Packers at what became known as Super Bowl I in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California on January 15, 1967).

The rough outlines of the life and career of Vince Lombardi are hinted at with the above details from the biography written by David Maraniss. The Maraniss thoughtfulness, thoroughness and engaging detail offer clear perspectives about the cultural place of pride for Lombardi and the football people who followed his lead. This notion applied for Lombardi and his family as well, though the relationships there were a bit more complicated, with a sense of who Vince and Marie Lombardi were to each other and their kids showing up over time, including at the time of Vince Lombardi‘s death in September 1970. I grant When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi as written by David Maraniss 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Monday, November 14, 2022