Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent Remembering Pete Gent, Who Wrote ‘North Dallas Forty’ Pete Gent was able to express in words what many players feel about pro football, both good and bad. While his writing left its mark on the game, it’s equally clear that the game left its mark on him. Gent died Friday from a pulmonary illness at his home in Bangor, Mich. He was 69. A few thoughts: In the early 1970s, as pro football was becoming the nation’s most popular spectator sport, a group of ex-players exposed, through both their words and their actions, the game’s seamy underside. A novel by Pete Gent, “North Dallas Forty,” based on his five years with the Cowboys, graphically depicted the pain and anguish the public couldn’t feel or see on their television screens. Yet, despite the broken bones and sleepless nights, most of the players wished it could go on forever. Many, like Gent himself, remembered their football days as some of the best times of their lives. Gent starred in basketball, not football, at Michigan State. He was selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the 14th round of the 1964 N.B.A. draft. After trying out for the Cowboys on a whim, Gent was offered a free-agent contract and reported to training camp that summer at Thousand Oaks, Calif. It wasn’t the first time Dallas had added a player with no football experience after high school. Two years earlier, the Cowboys had signed Cornell Green, a basketball player from Utah State. Green made the team and quickly became a starter on his way to a 13-year career at cornerback and strong safety. He made first-team All-Pro three times and was selected to play in five Pro Bowls. “One of the things I did was go after great athletes,” said the Cowboys’ president and general manager, Tex Schramm. “I especially wanted a star basketball player who fell in the gray area of not being tall enough to make it as a forward in the N.B.A. and not being quick enough to be a guard.” (Ed Housewright, “100 Things Cowboy Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die”, Triumph Books, 2008) Dallas also drafted Lou Hudson on the 20th round in 1966 and Pat Riley on the 11th round in 1967. As with Green, the Cowboys tried Gent at defensive back, but at 6-4 and about 210 pounds, he wasn’t compact enough to execute the quick turns and pivots required to play in the secondary. The coaches decided that Gent’s best chance was at . There, he made enough of an impression, particularly with his soft hands, to earn a roster spot. Taking advantage of having the future Hall of Famer on the other side of the field, Gent had his best year in 1966, with 27 receptions for 474 yards (17.6 yards per catch). Defenses were so respectful of Hayes’s speed that they rotated their 3-deep zone, the standard coverage of the day, toward him, with the cornerback having help over the top from the safety. That provided opportunities in the passing game for the flanker, Gent, and the , . Dallas won the Eastern Division that year with a 10-3-1 record and made its first of many postseason appearances. In 1967, Gent moved to tight end when the Cowboys acquired Lance Rentzel from the Vikings. After the 1968 season, Gent was traded to the Giants. When he was cut in training camp the following summer, he returned to Dallas, his football career over. His attempts at becoming a disc jockey and a television sportscaster failed. Like so many players, Gent had difficulty putting the game behind him and starting a normal life. He wrote about his fears during this transition period many years later: Anybody who has made it as a professional football player has survived the horror of real violence, facing the monster that lives in his heart – these men were true gods in ruins. Whether he stays a man is still a question of fate because the monster is always straining to be loosed again. (Foreword to the 30th anniversary edition of “North Dallas Forty”, Sports Media Publishing, 2003) Eventually, Gent turned to writing. His controversial first novel, “North Dallas Forty,” was published in 1973. Its critique was consistent with others of that time, like Cardinal linebacker Dave Meggyesy’s “Out of Their League.” It was a story of violence, drugs, racism, commercialism and hypocrisy. In 1970, a promising young Oakland linebacker, Chip Oliver, after only two seasons, retired and joined a Berkeley commune. The next year, George Sauer of the Jets quit at age 27. Pro football had dehumanized them, they said. Something about the game, however, brought them all back. Meggyesy worked for the players association. Oliver attempted to return to the Raiders. Sauer resumed his career three years later as a receiver for the New York Stars of the . They found out that once you leave the huddle, life is never the same. Gent expressed it well in the new foreword to the 30th anniversary edition of “North Dallas Forty”: I still remember vividly the struggle to nourish desperate desires to be alive as a man can be – to live each day as if it were the last – feeling life pumping through us with the hammering of our hearts. It was a great life. A lot of scary high wire work, too many injuries, and lots of pain. But I felt more in one Sunday afternoon than I did later on in whole years – writing is the only thing I have done that comes close to being as terrifying as being a football player. Pete Gent called his time in pro football “a hard, violent, and painful life.” But he never regretted it. “They were great years,” he wrote in 2003. “Terrifying. Thrilling. Happy. Sad. Most of all, they were ultimately satisfying.” North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Cloudflare Ray ID: 6600ab56582505ed • Your IP : 116.202.236.252 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 6600ab564e20145a • Your IP : 116.202.236.252 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. North Dallas Forty by Peter Gent. Wednesday, November 19, 2003 Health is more important than Money. On Friday, in conjunction with "ESPN's Reel Classics" feature (7 p.m. ET, Sunday), North Dallas Forty author Peter Gent made a special visit to take your questions. Peter Gent turned to writing after a five-year career with the . He is the author of seven books, including the novels The Franchise (1983) and The Conquering Heroes (1993). His most recent book was The Last Magic Summer: A Season with My Son (1996). Mac Davis plays fun-loving quarterback Seth Maxwell in "North Dallas Forty." In 1973, Gent set the sports world on its ear with the publication of his groundbreaking novel North Dallas Forty, the story of eight harrowing days in the life of a football player. Gent, once a receiver for the Cowboys, told the devastating truth about the world of a player in the - a world of drugs, pain, sex and incredible savagery. North Dallas Forty has sold more than 75,000 copies in its first printing and was made into a major Hollywood movie. The new edition features an updated forward by the author. Critical acclaim for the first edition of North Dallas Forty came swiftly and unanimously. ESPN's called it "one of the best sports novels ever," and continued, "Every pro football fan should keep a copy next to his TV so he realizes what he's watching." The New York Times called it "a remarkable novel" with "devastating impact." Nick Nolte and Mac Davis star in ESPN Classic's presentation of the movie version of North Dallas Forty on Sunday, November 26 at 9 p.m. ET. The following is an edited transcript from Gent's Nov. 24 chat: Peter Gent Hi everyone. I spent yesterday with my son watching the Cowboys. Thanksgiving has never been a holiday for me. It was strange. In college, I played basketball and with the Cowboys, we always played that day. So Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been like work days for me. Connor from espn.com at 1:08pm ET Peter, When you look back at your time with the Cowboys, what's your feelings now after some time has passed? Thanks. Peter Gent at 1:13pm ET I never lost my love of playing. It was a marvelous feeling to go out and be in front of 80,000 at the Cotton Bowl. Th noise makes your skeleton vibrate. I will always miss that instant gratification. U knew u were involved in something close to the Roman Coliseum. We were the war heros. Guys I grew up with fought in wars, in World War II for example. My uncle came back and was never the same. He didn't live very long, drank himself to death. Those were my heroes. I had to do six physicals. It was tough going to the mail box every day. The biggest year I had was $22,000. That was the most we made. Now, these huge salaries. Everyone is confusing money with health. These guys sell their health for dollars. I watched Troy Aikman, to me the best quarterback playing today. U can't tell me he needs the money. He is playing after nine concussions. When u wake up and can remember every hit and it takes two hours to get out of bed, it's difficult. has had hips replaced. is advertising heart medicine. scribe from espn.com at 1:13pm ET Pete: Enjoy your work, including "The Franchise." Was Landry really as cold as his image? Peter Gent at 1:17pm ET That's a difficult question. Tom was in a difficult position. He was there striking point between players and management. U have to hold the team together to win Sunday's and hold yourself together. You can't take anything too personally. Tom fascinated me, he's probably the most brilliant man I ever met. When he did something that didn't make sense and him talking about the Bible and such, I would argue with him. We'd have a meeting every week, and he told me I needed to change my attitude. He told me the most difficult thing he had to do was not get close to people. U have teammates who could be gone any day or take your job any day. With Tom, everybody could cost him his job. This is something Tom cried about. I finally saw his emotional side. We got to be good friends later. I ran into him at a Mavericks game. I asked him how it was to be out of football. He said it wasn't bad. And I told him that I could have told you that. And he said to me, I think you tried too. Brian from proxy.aol.com at 1:17pm ET What's harder to worry about: writing or getting ready for games on sundays when you used to play? Peter Gent at 1:22pm ET Writing is harder because it's longer. Sunday is more terrifying. But once you get out there, you live your whole life in two and a half hours. You have either done what you were supposed to do or you haven't. I usually came out feeling good about my performance. If not, it was a long week. Monday was like a depression day. You didn't get ready for Sunday till Wednesday. That's when cocaine became a problem for athletes. Guys I played with were drinkers. You drank on Monday. Bobby Lang was a perfect example. He got the whole Lions team together for this on Monday. Wednesday you started focusing. I finally figured out why guys started using cocaine. They were using it for after games so they wouldn't get depressed after games. Writing is a constant anxiety. You never get away from it. I have screen plays I have to do and another novel I am going to start. It's a very heavy responsibility. The new novel is set in the '60s, the early days of the Cowboys. A bunch of us lived in one apartment building. Airline stewardesses and pilots were the only other ones who lived there so it was an interesting place. 1964 was a tough year for me. I came back in '65 to come back mean. Don Talbert was my roommate and taught me how to be that way. He was a great teacher. HokieFan from mids.com at 1:23pm ET Honestly, I'm young and have never read your book or seen the movie based on your book. In a sentence or two, why should I read it? Peter Gent at 1:28pm ET If you would like to understand the deviant psychology going into football and if u are planning to play football, u will see the risks and chances u are taking with your life. I never let my son play. He played basketball and baseball. Like the guys who went to Vietnam, they have a closeness we can't understand. I have that with other pro football players. It doesn't get u out of bed in the morning. It doesn't pay your bills. What is streaming thru the television tube is to trade your health for money. We'll destroy our planet for money when our planet is the reason we are here. The only guys who get to tell u the stories are the guys who come out of it who can tell u the stories. The announcers are talking like it's the greatest thing a man can do, destroy yourself for a game. Football is a working man's sport. In the '60s, the end zones of the Cotton Bowl were always full and they always came, win or lose. They knew what we were doing. The only way out of life was to get yourself killed. Society wasn't going to let you out. Spaulding Smeals from espn.com at 1:29pm ET Which book are you most proud of? Peter Gent at 1:31pm ET North Dallas Forty is like my first love but The Franchise is the one I think I approached as a better writer. North Dallas Forty dealt with my deamons. The Franchise projects what sports is going to become. That's why I think we are going to make it into a TV series hopefully on ABC 20 years after it was published. The Last Magic Summer was my hardest one to write because it was so personal, my failures as a father and you watch your children suffer for the decisions you made. I was friends with Mickey Mantle and one of the last things he told me was that he wishes he could have been a better father. We all do. Danny Noonan at 1:32pm ET How did you feel about your book becoming a movie? Do you think Hollywood did a good job? Peter Gent at 1:33pm ET That's tough. I think they did a really good job. So much of it was just blind luck. I got to write every day. I was thinking about what it would be for a movie for six years. Mac Davis was a perfect choice for QB. I had a great director. I got 80 percent of what I was trying to get. I think we got the most important plot lines. Lacy Underalls from espn.com at 1:34pm ET Was the league mad at you for writing the book? Peter Gent at 1:36pm ET It's interesting. At a certain level, mid-management level and below, they were furious. Guys like Pete Rozelle and Clint Murchison, Jr., the Cowboys owner, respected the fact I could do that. Clint loved the team and didn't interfere in my life. Pajich at 1:36pm ET The players of the past seem to have more personality. more vices like partying and drinking and drugging. players now seem to be a bit uptight. Do you think you would want to hang out and party with the new players? Peter Gent at 1:39pm ET Not at my age. I think players are players. It's a faster game now. I was the first guy in the NFL to come out with a communications degree. These guys now are planning to play professionally since young ages. Colleges only get kids for a couple years now. Players now become businessmen. That's the danger. What they are trading is their health and real wealth (their bodies) for money. As long as u have your health, u can do anything. I am 58, can't climb upstairs, can't sleep comfortably sometimes. It's more of a show now. If I was on the worst defense in the league, like Dallas, which I watched yesterday, and then they go out and celebrate after a good play. I would have run back into the huddle instead of celebrate for a good play when I am on the worst defensive team in the league. Jamie Weber at 1:40pm ET Was your nickname really "poot" and where did it originate? I ask because that's what my dad calls me. (He loves N.D-40) Peter Gent at 1:42pm ET Poot was actually Buddy Dials nickname. He came from too. It's a Texas nickname. It means fart. That was part of Mac Davis' ad libbing in the movie, he is from Lubbock, it was perfect. That's the magic that can happen. The madness got up on the screen. The first time I heard it was from Buddy and Meredith. It's a Texas thing. deportes from espn.com at 1:42pm ET How different would North Dallas Forties be if it was written today? Peter Gent at 1:44pm ET I think what would change is only that they literally buy you. You can't complain about your money. I think people are greedier. You could get 20 million dollars in debt these days. Back then, you couldn't get into so much debt. That's the only real difference. It's a speedier game now. Guys back then played for more of the love of it than money. Guys today love the game but you still have to go out and beat the crap out of each other. Turf has made it faster. Bill at 1:45pm ET Where did you get most of your information about The boys from Junction? I thought it was very, very good. Peter Gent at 1:45pm ET I had just been through there. I have been in every place in Texas at one point or another. t-webb from lima.da.wcoil.com at 1:46pm ET What do you think the next Texas expansion team will do in the next five years? And what do you think about the XFL? Peter Gent at 1:48pm ET It interests me because we are trying to make The Franchise on ABC. I have no idea about the XFL. I think Arena football is really strange. In terms of the expansion team, I don't know how they will do with talent. But there are plenty of football fans in Texas. I think the problem is, I asked , and he said 75 percent of QBs who played in the 50s or 60s were Hall of Famers, now only 25 percent make it. So the talent has thinned out a bit. You were almost always playing against Hall of Fame quarterbacks in those days. Bob Putman Joe at 4:32pm ET at 1:49pm ET What is your impressions of "On Any Given Sunday." Peter Gent at 1:53pm ET There was no story. The idea that the head coach didn't realize the QB was changing the plays is a little absurd. The coach would know the next play if it was being changed. That's why Staubach quit. Landry wouldn't let him call the plays. Roger and Landry fought as much as Landry and I did. Roger was the perfect QB for Tom. Roger came out of the Naval Academy, drafted the same year I went to Dallas. Roger went to Vietnam, came back four or five years later. He took his orders but hated it. He wanted to call the plays. Meredith demanded it. Meredith was calling the plays in 1965 and '66. He gave in a little later to Landry. You get the best info. from the guys on the field. You have to know from the players what is happening. Only the guys playing can tell you that. I thought there were some great film technique and graphics in "On Any Given Sunday." But it wasn't really about football. It was Oliver Stone making a movie. Dr. Beeper from espn.com at 1:53pm ET Do you think the crazy stuff that you wrote about still goes on in the NFL? Peter Gent at 1:55pm ET Oh yes. I am sure it does. I am sure it's crazier. The stuff we did in the '60s were misdemeanors. Now, it would be on television. I knew people that were pointing guns at each other. Today, a lot of kids come from the ghetto. They don't come socialized in the game. The Cowboys gave psychological tests. The union got those stopped. They have never been socialized and told stuff like you can't bring your nine millimeter into the locker room. Pajich Joe at 4:32pm ET at 1:56pm ET Who was the craziest player you played for or against? Peter Gent at 1:58pm ET That's tough. Me. I was just crazy. I know that. They all acted like me. They were bigger and tougher. Butkus was crazy. I saw him try to bite Bobby Hayes thru his face mask. Butkus said he wanted to see a helmet rolling across the field with a head in it. I don't know if he was any crazier. He was just bigger. Jake Jacobson, a quarterback in 1964, said he played in a high school league where there were players carrying guns and knives onto the field. Peter Gent at 2:00pm ET Thanks everyone. I hope everyone gets to see the movie on Sunday. Keep in mind, it's still the old gladiators. It's bread and circuses, to keep people's minds off the problems of the real world. Pro football shows u where your culture is coming apart. Money is not wealth. Your health is your wealth in football. Aikman is unconscious most of the time and he's been the greatest quarterback in the '80s and '90s. Look at him now, though, he has been destroyed physically. Thanks for having me and thanks to ESPN for showing the movie. I hope everyone enjoys it. NORTH DALLAS FORTY. The very least you can say about Peter Gent's all tough book about pro football is that it's like a cold slow bum and you'll be glad this former Dallas Cowboy has found a longer term career -- he can write. Even if he knocks the teeth out of the illusion that a professional athlete has to be in condition since you'll soon be wondering what kind -- high on grass, amphetamines or just fear -- an intensive, everpresent fear -- even when you're numbed with codeine. Philip J. Elliott, on the receding end of his clays with a Texas team, tells the story which is his as well as that of some of his teammates, particularly Maxwell, a flawless quarterback, probably as good as Joe Namath. And before you're through with the shattering finale, there has been as much assaultive, multiphasic sex as you're likely to read anywhere. A rough book which shafts the whole ugly business -- the equivalent of a strongside blitz, visceral and potent. It is expected to do very well.