Out of Their League
Reviewed by Rus Bradburd, New Mexico State University
FEBRUARY 2, 2006 archive
David Meggyesy, one-time linebacker for the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals, walked away from pro football at the peak of his career. When his memoir, Out of Their League, was released in 1970, it was perhaps the most controversial sports book ever written. The book has been out of print but has remained a cult favorite among astute athletes. The University of Nebraska Press deserves a high-five for re-releasing this classic.
The explosion of pro football's popularity in the late 1960s was triggered by the first Super Bowls, and national television coverage propelled the game to the forefront of the American consciousness. The league was enjoying its honeymoon - no steroids, free agents, legal problems, stadium swindles.
Yet, there was an underbelly to American sports, both college and professional, with which Meggyesy slowly became disenchanted. Nobody had ever openly criticized the game, but Meggyesy eventually confronted the system with striking courage. The mindless military mindset of the coaches, the players who responded without hesitation, the systematic racism - "stacking" black players at one position, segregating dorms at training camp, all-white dinner parties - were hung out for all to see like soiled sheets. Meggyesy even named the racist players and coaches. The book, ironically, was an act of self-sacrifice that football coaches dream of. But this one wasn't a mid-field cross block on a kickoff. Instead, it was the author's football hari kari, ruining his career - including any chance at endorsements, playing time, or career opportunities.
Meggyesy is the perfect narrator because of his humility and endearing self-examination. He grew up in poverty in small-town Ohio, and there are heartbreaking tales of empty refrigerators, lack of preppy button-downs, last-minute football failures, and comically corrupt college coaches. Meggyesy was not certain of anything, only in search of an inner peace that he ultimately found by quitting the game.
Against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement and rising objections to the American invasion of Viet Nam, Meggyesy's memoir stands tall. Perhaps the book's best section recounts Meggyesy's locker room activism, collecting signatures from dozens of Cardinals to protest the war. When the petition became public, the author took the blame - and the coaches' revenge. The book was an important milestone - innocent, then angry, but always fearless - and its sheer honesty exposes other sports books of that era as cheerleading fluff.
The final irony is that for the last ten years, Meggyesy's underground reputation for unflinching veracity landed him a job in pro football: as the athlete's advocate with the NFL players' union. Note of Interest: Mr. Meggyesy will be the keynote speaker at this year's Sport Literature Conference in Arcata, California.
Meggyesy, David. Out of Their League. University of Nebraska Press, 2005
(rep.), 257 pages, $17.95.
Copyright © 2006 by Rus Bradburd.