Rashad | Southern California Viking Club

 

This memoir is standard football fare, with the addition of material about Rashad\'s post-gridiron career on TV and his marriage to Bill Cosby\'s co-star Phylicia Rashad. With assistance from Tennis magazine contributing editor Bodo, Rashad demonstrates his expert knowledge of football and shows why he is one of the better analysts on the tube, but the writing in these passages is ponderous. The book is far more readable when the authors talk about Rashad\'s childhood, the mysterious skin disease that afflicted him and supposedly made him a more sensitive human being, and his pro career with St. Louis, Seattle (briefly), Buffalo and especially Minnesota. There are interesting observations about coaches Lou Saban and Bud Grant and players like Fran Tarkenton and, with measured candor, Rashad opines about racism in America and in sports.