Book Review: About Three Bricks Shy of A Full Load by Roy Blount, Jr.

I was directed to this book by one of the better articles on the state of professional football by a non-sports journalist. That essayist, Adam Gopnik, who writes in the long-established New Yorker style (intellectualized, precise, etc.), casually recommended Blount's book as one of the great works of non-fiction on the sport. About Three Bricks documents the 1973 season of the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you have read Gopnik, you can see the attraction: Blount does not indulge in strategy or jargon, and maintains the kind of bemused distance characteristic of, say, Joseph Mitchell's "Profiles" columns. There isn't a lot of penetrating reporting here, but there are great personality sketches and a refreshing take on the sport. (One of the weaknesses Gopnik points to is Blount's avoidance of the steroid innovation and use by the 1970s Steelers.)

Blount brings a perspective, a kind of popular sociology, to the professional football landscape. As I mentioned, the character sketches are great: Chuck Noll, Art Rooney, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, and even 1950s Steelers coach Buddy Parker are caught in unusual and fascinating lights. I also found Blount's observations on how race shaped the franchise and period refreshing. For instance, many of the players suspected each other of one expression of racism or another, with Bradshaw accusing Noll himself of favoring African American players. Of course, Noll's greatest asset was his unprejudiced eye for talent: he drafted Hall of Fame players from traditionally African American schools like Alabama A & M (John Stallworth), commuter schools like the North Texas State University (Joe Greene), and traditional football powers like USC (Lynn Swann) and Wisconsin (Mike Webster).

Apparently, the author of About Three Bricks was lucky in three ways that raise a book from curiosity piece to a vital read for any one interested in the sport's history. First, this book captures the sport and its management at a time when it was shifting into modernity. The antics of Parker are drawn in sharp contrast to the professionalism of Noll. Second, Blount chose the Steelers over the Rams and other teams for two seemingly arbitrary reasons: the 1973 Immaculate Reception (which he saw on live television) and the fact he shared his last name with the great cornerback Mel Blount. As it turned out, he drew a team that would win four Super Bowls over the next decade, gaining a loyal, nation-wide fan base in the process. The third reason that this book stands out as an important read is what might seem to be a weakness to some: Blount does not narrow his focus to the starters or to the coaching and ownership side of the organization. There are chapters on scouting and long passages about backup offensive linemen, that would not have found their way into other books on professional football in the period. (In hindsight, with scouting and management now featured on SportsCenter and debated at the water cooler, this is a great virtue.) But Blount's attraction to this aspect of the game is rooted in his fascination with the marginal talent, the guy with the great nickname and dazzling personality struggling to make a career of professional football, and not the celebrated stars. That sympathy raises this book finally to a terrific accomplishment in the genre.