George Allen was a coach in the NFL for 20 years – moving from college to an assistant role with the Los Angelese Rams, then the Chicago Bears, before returning to the Rams in 1966 as head coach. In five seasons with the Rams he took them to the playoffs twice and was named Coach of the Year in 1967.
He took the award for a second time in 1971, as head coach of the Washington Redskins, where he spent seven seasons. During that period he took them to the playoffs five times, including a defeat in Super Bowl VII at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. Sacked from Washington after the 1977 season, he returned to the Rams but was sacked during the 1978 preseason, with players chafing at his disciplinarian style.
That stern approach was evident in his home life too, as Fifth Quarter reveals. Jennifer Allen, George’s only daughter, writes about growing up with three brothers and feeling obliged to compete for her father’s love and attention.
The book also covers the challenges the family faced as Allen’s job changes forced relocations, as well as the relationships they formed with his players in Washington and Los Angeles. Interestingly, Allen’s children, Roman and Deacon, share first names with two of her father’s star Rams players: Roman Gabriel and Deacon Jones.
THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Allen is an author and American football commentator.
REVIEWS
Her descriptions of dinner table conversation make it clear that the household was not easy to survive in; George tried to rule the family in military fashion, with strict rules and regulations; when it came to the TV, he would watch a video replay of a game over and over while his family looked on in silence. Jennifer recalls some perks, however, such as having a limo take her to school and meeting some famous people. In this touching and often unsentimental story, George Allen emerges as a self-centered man who chose to sacrifice a normal family life for the sake of his career.
Publishers Weekly
Her tone is lighthearted and rarely probes below the surface. The most evocative section occurs on the final pages, when Allen describes what led her to write the book. In some of her father’s papers, he wrote at the end of his N.F.L. career that he was disappointed that he had not been admitted to the Hall of Fame. Jennifer had also felt unwanted, and reading about her father’s struggles made her feel connected to him and ”more complete.” Unfortunately she offers little insight into her father’s interior life, or her own, making her book feel more like a highlight film than a memoir.
Diane Scharper, New York Times
This one was duty and then some, but to my complete surprise it turned out to be a lovely book, self-revealing without being self-pitying and–this is the real surprise–a persuasive advocate for the case that George Allen was actually a nice guy. Sort of. In his fashion.
Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
In a poignant memoir of her growing up with one of the NFL’s most successful and paranoid coaches, Allen beautifully writes about her life within the Allen football family fishbowl.
Chris Willis, Pro Football Journal
Photo: Cheddar
