Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I just finished reading They're playing My game by Hank Stram.

I found this a rather odd book in that it starts off a forward by Len Dawson followed by two tributes one from Lamar Hunt and the other Dale Stram which is fairly normal. What follows is a biography written by Lou Sahadi. Which reminded me of the biographies written in the Punt, Pass and Kick series. This is followed by the autobiography by Stram which repeats but fortunately expands upon what Sahadi wrote. This seemed a bit strange to me.

As for what Stram wrote it is very entertaining and enjoyable but brief. I really don't understand why the AFL's most successful head coach does not have a more extensive autobiography/biography. The Stram portion is well written and touches on the highlights but does not really get into the lean last years in Kansas City nor does it spend too much time on the 2yrs in New Orleanes. Overall this was an enjoyable read but I don't understand what purpose the Sahadi biography served other than being filler. The publisher is Triumph so that may explain the way the book is put together. All in all since I purchased this used via Amazon I shouldn't complain but I just wish Coach Stram had a larger more informative bio.

Thanks for the write-up. I'm going to try and post here when I finish a book too. I like reading reviews.

According to the book, Stram was not a huge fan of Jack Steadman.
I felt Steadman was the one who got rid of Abner Haynes for his involvement in the 64 AFL Boycott of the All-Star game in New Orleans. He probably persuaded Hunt to fire Stram and Levy as well. The Chiefs were pathetic until Peterson and Schottenheimer stopped the bleeding in 1989. There are probably fans of Steadman on this site but I am not one of them ...

I remember reading in Marv Levy's autobiography that he and Steadman didn't exactly see eye to eye.