Based on dozens of interviews and covers such highlights of the legend's career as his 1978 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his 1964 performance in the Pro Bowl, and the remaining of the Packer practice grounds at Nitschke Field in 1997. Ray Nitschke was a rough and tough middle linebacker for the best team of the 1960s, the Green Bay Packers. Gruver, who wrote winningly on the Packers' glory years in The Ice Bowl, has done a nice job of blending familiar material about Nitschke with new interviews with Ray's teammates and contemporaries to create a compelling, coherent, and detailed portrait of a complex individual. Readers meet not only a Hall of Fame football player but also someone who underwent one of the most amazing life transformations imaginable, from an alcoholic, belligerent wild man to a sober, steady husband and father. Nitschke was a favorite for the way he played and for his habit of consistently making himself cheerfully available to fans. His entertaining autobiography, Mean on Sunday, was originally published in 1973, but this is the first biography of this legendary player. Recommended for all football collections. John Maxymuk, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Camden, NJ Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Gruver, who wrote winningluy on the Packers' glory years in The Ice bowl, has done a nice job of blending familiar material about Nitschke with new interviews with Ray's teammates and contemporaries to create a compelling, coherent, and detailed portrait of a complex individual. ― Library Journal It didn't take much convincing to get a Green Bay Packers fan to write a book about one of the team's all time greats. It (Nitschke) tells the story of gravel-voiced Ray Nitschke, who died in 1998 at the age of 61. The linebacker has been called the greatest hitter in NFL history by many football historians and players. No.66 instilled fear in opponents with his crushing blows, taunting and trademark, toothless sneer. -- Jean Peerenboom ― Green Bay Press Gazette Ray Nitschke (1936-1998) was the one player that Chicago Bears middle linebacker Dick Butkus admired above all others, the player that Dallas Cowboys running back Preston Pearson called the hardest-hitting in the NFL. "Number 66" influenced a generation of superstar middle linebackers, including Butkus, Tommy Nobis, Nick Buoniconti, Willie Lanier, and Jack Lambert. On the field, Nitschke covered himself with equal parts mud and glory as he helped transform the Green Bay Packers from a ragtag team of losers into a sports legend. Based on dozens of interviews, Nitschke covers such milestones as the loss of both his parents by age thirteen and subsequent rearing by a brother only eight years older; his early days as a star Univesrity of Illinios athlete; his MVP award in the 1962 NFL title game against the New York Giants; his performances in the 1964 Pro Bowl and the 1967 "Ice Bowl" (the legendary championship game played in subzero weather); his 1978 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame; the renaming of the Packer practice grounds as Nitschke Field in 1997; and his tragic dealth of a heart attack at age sixty-one and the ensuing memorials and tributes. Also included is a detailed year-by-year analysis of his astonishing fifteen-season career as a Packer, a tenure surpassed only by quarterback Bart Star. Nitschke is the first biography of a player whose very name conjurs up imagess of a magical time in NFL history, a time of championship wars waged in December cold and mud. Award-winning sportswriter Edward Gruver reveals a man and a team that captured the imagination of America's sporting public and remains a symbol of athletic excellence to this day. Edard Gruver has contributed to nearly every major sports periodical. Author of the best-selling Koufax (also available from Taylor Trade Publishing) and the critically acclaimed The Ice Bowl, he lives in Lancaster, PA. Used Book in Good Condition