Synopses & Reviews
In 1967, when Jerry Kramer was a thirty-one-year-old Green Bay Packers offensive lineman, in his tenth year with the team, he decided to keep a diary of the season. "Perhaps, by setting down my daily thoughts and observations," he wrote, "I'll be able to understand precisely what it is that draws me back to professional football."
Working with the renowned journalist Dick Schaap, Kramer recorded his day-to-day experiences as a player with perception, honesty, humor, and startling sensitivity. Little did Kramer know that the 1967 season would be one of the most remarkable in the history of pro football, culminating with the legendary championship game against Dallas now known as the "Ice Bowl," in which Kramer would play a central role. Nor could he have anticipated that his diary would evolve into a book titled Instant Replay, first published in 1968, that would become a multimillion-copy bestseller and be celebrated by reviewers everywhere, including the Washington Post's Jonathan Yardley, who calls it "to this day, the best inside account of pro football, indeed the best book ever written about that sport and that league."
This groundbreaking look inside the world of professional football is one of the first books ever to take readers into the locker room and reveal the inner workings of a professional sports franchise. From training camp, through the historic Ice Bowl, then into the locker room of Super Bowl II, Kramer provides a captivating player's perspective on pro football when the game was all blood, grit, and tears. He also offers a rare and insightful view of the team's storied leader, Coach Vince Lombardi.
Bringing the book back into print for the first time in more than a decade, this new edition of Instant Replay retains the classic look of the original and includes a foreword by Jonathan Yardley and additional rarely seen photos from the celebrated "Lombardi era." As vivid and engaging as it was when it was first published, Instant Replay is an irreplaceable reminder of the glory days of pro football.
Review
"A classic when it was published and a classic still today." David Halberstam
Review
"[A] peek into the guts of professional football that 40 years later remains one of the most essential sports books of all time....[F]or the first time, Kramer took us through the intolerable grind of training camp, waxing rhapsodic about how good one sliver of ice tastes after a morning of grass drills." Charles P. Pierce, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
Instant Replay spent thirty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list when it was published in 1968. The perceptive and highly entertaining diary of the 1967 season by Jerry Kramer, a Packer offensive guard, it remains the most beloved and highly regarded portrait of life on a pro football team back when the game was all blood, grit, and tears. This new hardcover edition features classic photos of both the team and its unforgettable coach, Vince Lombardi, and a foreword in which Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley calls the diary "the best inside account of pro football, indeed the best book ever written about that sport and that league." Instant Replay is a must-read for all fans, an irreplaceable reminder of the glory days of pro football.
About the Author
Jerry Kramer was a right guard for the Green Bay Packers from 1958 to 1968. During his time with the team, the Packers won five National Championships and Super Bowls I and II. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame in 1977, and his jersey has been retired. He lives in Boise, Idaho.
Dick Schaap (19342002), a sportswriter, broadcaster, and author or coauthor of thirty-three books, reported for NBC Nightly News, the Today show, ABC World News Tonight, 20/20, and ESPN and was the recipient of five Emmy Awards.