You are reading Books & Biceps #286!

Welcome to the 112 new sophisticated meatheads joining us this issue.

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Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage

BOOKS

Once a Giant: A Story of Victory, Tragedy and Life After Football by Gary Myers

If you’re a football fan you know Gary Myers. He’s a great sportswriter and an old school multimedia guy. You may have read his old column in the New York Daily News, grabbed one of his NY Times bestselling books or seen him on Inside the NFL.

It’s safe to say I’ve been reading Gary in column form or book form for most of my adult sports fan life and I recommended his book Brady vs. Manning back in my pre Books & Biceps days to every football fan I knew.

His new book, Once A Giant, came out in the fall and you don’t have to be a fan of the Giants (I can’t stand them) or even a football fan to enjoy this book.

Yes, if you grew up watching Lawrence Taylor demolish quarterbacks and Bill Parcells patrolling the sideline like General Patton, you’ll like the book more… but at its heart, this book is a human tale, filled with hilarious stories, heartbreak, hard truths and yeah, a ton of football.

As a special Super Bowl Sunday gift, I lined up an exclusive behind-the-book Q&A with Gary. We talk NFL pranks, LT, Bavaro, Parcells and finish on Bill Belichick’s legacy. You’re gonna love this one:

ONE

FINKEL: I know I’m in good hands with one of your books because you find the quirky, goofy stories away from the actual games that tell us so much about the player’s personalities. I think my favorite random tale from this book involves Fungi bartoli. Had me laughing out loud. Can you share a little about what that is here and why you included that story in the book?

Myers: You don’t want to be diagnosed with fungi bartoli. The goal of “Once A Giant” was to detail the challenges of life after football for the ’86 Giants. There is a lot of heartbreaking stories, including Mark Bavaro’s difficult battle with long Covid. But I didn’t want it to be 300 pages that would leave the reader depressed. So I was intent on finding out how this team became a brotherhood, how they goofed on each other, and how this bond remains strong today.

Phil McConkey and Bavaro were best friends and roommates on the road. McConkey liked to tease Bavaro and Bavaro was kind of gullible in those days. Bavaro had received a gift of chocolate macadamia nuts from former teammate Don Hasselbeck, which he brought with him on a road trip in 1986. When Bavaro opened the box in the hotel room and ate a few, McConkey noticed that some of chocolate had turned white, which was harmless.

Except McConkey decided it was infected with dreaded fungi bartoli, which he claimed would make Bavaro violently ill with stomach issues. Of course, that sent Bavaro into a panic. How was he going to explain to Parcells he couldn’t play because fungi bartoli had him doubled over in the bathroom? Bavaro called trainer Ronnie Barnes, who had already been given a heads-up by McConkey that he’d made it up. Barnes played along with it for awhile before pretty much telling Bavaro there was no such thing as fungi bartoli. McConkey couldn’t stop laughing, Bavaro realized he had been had and tossed one of McConkey’s possessions out the window. At least he didn’t toss McConkey out the window.

Including this anecdote and other pranks illustrated the fraternity atmosphere of the locker room, which was so important in the overall presentation in my book. Boys-will-be-boys.

TWO

Mark Bavaro went from puking on Bill Parcells during practice (great story) to becoming an All-Pro and part of the heart and soul of the Giants. What struck you most about his story?

I met with Mark for three hours at his house in Massachusetts and it was the best interview of my more than 40 years in the sports media business. We laughed and there was enough sad stories to make you want to cry. Bavaro throwing up on Parcells’s shoes following a heavy drinking night during training camp his rookie year is the funniest story in the book. It was not the image Bavaro portrayed during his career.

During his playing days, he was so quiet and reserved and almost never let his personality show. He had convinced people he actually didn’t have a personality. Either he was holding back or it just wasn’t the right time in his life because Bavaro was very open with me about some of the most sensitive things in his life. Bavaro had a mystique about him that endeared him to Giants fans. I told him if he was as forthcoming and personable in his playing days as he is now, he would have made a lot of money on Madison Avenue.

THREE

As someone who grew up not liking the Giants, but who still had the classic Costacos Brothers “LT - Terminator” poster in his room, your chapter titled L.T. and Lawrence was my favorite. You’d covered him for a long time before writing this book… and you saw him at rock bottom at his home in Upper Saddle River… What is most surprising to you about LT today considering how he lived his life when he played?

I met with Lawrence in the spring of 2022 after he played in Joe Namath’s golf tournament in Palm Beach in Florida. I’ve known Taylor since the day he was drafted in 1981 and always liked him although not condoning his behavior off the field. He got caught up in the wild times in the 1980s in New York as a young player who had a lot of money and was always looking to have fun. That led him to cocaine and a nearly 20-year addiction.

When I saw him in Florida, he looked happier and healthier than at any time I had seen him since he retired after the 1993 season. He told me he had not done drugs since the last time he got out of rehab in 1998. Former teammates have backed that up.

I wanted to believe him knowing there is no such thing as an addict who is cured. They are all recovering addicts. It’s day-to-days and his days recently have been good. He has gotten into plenty of trouble with alcohol and women even after he said he gave up cocaine, but he’s stayed out of the news for bad things for about five years now. As great a player as Taylor was, and I think he’s the best defensive player in NFL history, I believe he could have taken his game to another level if he lived a clean life.

FOUR

There’s a lot of heartbreak in this book about the post-career lives of many of these Giants. From battered bodies to disease to CTE. Even Phil Simms has had head-to-toe skin cancer. What one story or post-career difficulty seemed to hit this team hardest as they've aged?

Fortunately, just one player from the ’86 Giants has passed away. Wide receiver Stacy Robinson died from cancer in 2012. Harry Carson started a Go Fund Me page to help offensive tackle Brad Benson, who has been having financial difficulties. A lot of players were shocked to find out Bavaro considered suicide during the worst part of long Covid. Remember, Bavaro was the toughest guy on the team. He was virtually indestructible. When I interviewed Bavaro, the worst was over, but he was not 100 percent. I called a lot of his teammates, who then reached out to him.

Maybe the most surprising news I picked up was that Bill Parcells has loaned about $4 million total to about 20 of his former players who are in financial need. Parcells believes his former players sacrificed so much for him and helped make him a wealthy man that he feels obligated to help them out if they are having money problems. Parcells had a love-hate relationship with many of the Giants players, but now considers them all friends. Many players contact Parcells either with phone calls, text or cards on his birthday and Father’s Day.

I think every player from that generation of the NFL is worried about CTE. They played during an era when there was little information about the dangers of concussions and players routinely kept playing after getting their “bell rung.” If they got “dinged,” they would come to the sidelines and be quizzed by the medical staff. If they knew their name, day of the week and stadium they were playing in that day, they went back in the game. Players were petrified – and still are – about losing their job with the next man up business model in the NFL.

FIVE

I can’t let you go without a question about Bill Belichick. I didn’t know he was nicknamed “Doom” back on those Giants teams for being such a pessimist. Loved that. Seems like he and Parcells were the perfect combo for that team and that Belichick tried to emulate that with a variety of assistants on the Patriots. Why do you think Parcells’ coaching tree was more successful than BBs in the long run?

That’s an interesting question. Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Sean Payton are Parcells’s assistants who went on to win the Super Bowl on their own. Belichick’s most successful assistant was Nick Saban, but not in the NFL. Saban won seven national championships in college but was only 15-17 in two years coaching the Dolphins. Belichick’s NFL tree has included flops like Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge.

Parcells and Belichick each delegated to their assistants, which allowed them to develop. Here’s the difference: Belichick and Coughlin never tried to be like Parcells. They didn’t have the personality. Payton has come the closest. He has copied many of Parcells’s motivational tricks, but overall, I think he underachieved by winning only one Super Bowl in New Orleans with Drew Brees.

Belichick’s assistants, meanwhile, tried to be like him: controlling and secretive. The Belichick Way only works if you win, otherwise you come off as a cheap imitation. Too many of Belichick’s assistants tried to copy him from day one and it backfired. McDaniels lasted less than two seasons as the head coach in Denver and Las Vegas. Judge lasted two years with the Giants, Eric Mangini three years with the Jets, Patricia three years with the Lions.

Belichick lasted 24 seasons with the Patriots but is now out of a job with his eight Super Bowl rings—six as the Patriots head coach and two as the Giants defensive coordinator.

If you enjoyed this interview, you should 100% buy Once a Giant here.

BICEPS

The beauty of social media and building communities like this one is that when you post features and columns on the things you’re passionate about (lifting, reading, training, sports, motivation, etc…) the online universe has a funny way of bringing likeminded people into your orbit. And even better, those people become friends.

In this case, I’m talking about my buddy Ed Latimore. Ed is a 13-1-1 heavyweight boxer who is one of my favorite modern writers. I use the term “modern writer” because I don’t read Ed in a newspaper or magazine regularly… I read him on Twitter and in his awesome newsletter, Stoic Street Smarts (you should sign up). He’s a unique thinker on a ton of topics and I even interviewed him about Mike Tyson’s psyche for my book, 1996: A Biography.

He’s also got a new book out called The Fighter’s Mindset: Boxing Lessons on Grit, Resilience, and Antifragility.

Here are a few of the things Ed covers:

• Pain is temporary, quitting is forever.

• Acting like prey is the surest way to get treated like it.

• Pain is part of the process

• Defense and offense are inseparable

• Your enemy is your best teacher

• The only thing square in boxing is the ring

Ed sums up the book like this: “Learn how to develop the mindset of a fighter, from a fighter, so you can win the battles you face.”

I loved it. And since Ed’s been in the Books & Biceps crew from the beginning, he’s giving you The Fighter’s Mindset FREE RIGHT HERE. This is an absolute steal. Go download it now.

Exercise of the Week: Slow Medicine Ball Split Squats with a Twist. Shout out to my coach Jeremy for putting me through the paces:

QUICK FLEXES

It’s Friday morning. The Super Bowl is 2 days away. You’re either hosting a party, going to a party, or preparing a feast to watch the game at home. If you want to win the food Super Bowl (you know, the unofficial “I brought the best dish to the game” contest) then I have your back.

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Pounds of meat and cheese and glorious gluttony goodness. Click on this, make the bomb and become a legend:

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We lost a Books & Biceps Legend last week with the passing of Carl Weathers. He was an amazing man. If you’d like to learn more about his incredible road to Rocky, here’s my column:

How to Honor Our Meathead Agreement

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STRONG LINKS:

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Thank you all for reading.

Have a great weekend! - Jon

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PPS: Hey Gus and Mallory! Thanks for reading the whole thing! No skimming!