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Nothing Comes Easy: My Life in Football (Y. A. Titte)
- Co-author by Kristine Setting Clark
Sept 12 2009OCt 15 2009

When it comes to football, we are all biased. Most of us will even readily admit this bias. We favor our team, we exaggerate the strength of our team's players, and the likelihood of success in a given game, season or even the draft. This is why no fan in their right mind should draft a fantasy team that contains their favorite players - it's bound to lead to a horrid fantasy season. What I don't think we realize though, is how bias we are to an era.

I believe Joe Montana was the best quarterback to ever play the game. Steve Young ranks up there too. I recognize my team bias here. And though Joe was a heck of a quarterback, it is my 'era' bias that prevents me from pitting him fairly against the likes of say ... Joe Namath.

I recently finished reading a book, Nothing Comes Easy, by Y.A. Tittle. It was this book that made me realize how sheltered an experience we fans have - who enjoy the game, mainly in a given era. Extending our love of the game into its history, by watching old tape, or reading books like this, is a great way to gain appreciation for the game, and the foundation it has been built on.

Nothing Comes Easy sheds light on Tittle's career, and focuses a great deal on his time with the 49ers. The book has given me a new understanding of how football has evolved, and helped me draw a conclusion. The NFL places a great deal of emphasis on the history of the game, or so it would appear. Throwback merchandise is just one example. I think though, that the NFL needs to take this to the next level, and I propose an annual event. Thanksgiving week would seem appropriate given the emphasis on throwbacks during this week already. Each year, the NFL should pick a different era (by decade sequence) and tailor one week's worth of games to that era.

There would be considerable obstacles in terms of adjusting the rules of the game to balance the era with the players safety, but imagine the excitement this effort would bring to the game. I would love to see team's play with offensive linemen who cannot use their hands in blocking, or with quarterbacks who had to call their own plays. It would change the game for the better. It would also change the way team's drafted and prepared for that weeks event. It may be a far stretch, or leap to get the NFL to implement something like this during the regular season - as awesome as that might be - and I do understand that, but at the very least, the Pro Bowl could be used as this tribute game. Gosh knows the all star game could use the ratings boost.

Tittle's book was thoroughly enjoyable. A swift read, and a nice trip through history. I certainly recommend it, and encourage you all to read it. It is available via the 49ers Paradise bookstore, and linked below.



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