When one adds up other books written about Joe Namath, whether about his football career, his famous off-the-field lifestyle or maybe even hearing about these from television, there isn’t a lot about him that hasn’t already been revealed. Nevertheless, Namath decided to tell his story in this memoir.

However, “memoir” might not be the best way to categorize this book as it really has no category. The book’s setting is Namath’s living room in which he is watching a replay of the game that made him famous to many Americans, Super Bowl III. Namath weaves tales of his childhood in western Pennsylvania and his college days at Alabama playing for coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. (I particularly liked his story about his admission to having a drink to Bryant and his subsequent suspension off the team. It was good to illustrate both Namath’s honesty – a trait he often mentions throughout the book – and Bryant’s consistency in enforcing rules. There are other stories about his teammates and football career as well as other stories about his life in between memories of the game.

There really is no structure or order to these stories – they are simply written as Namath thinks of them. Some of them are pretty obscure and some of them are famous, such as when he guaranteed that the Jets would win the Super Bowl even though they were eighteen point underdogs. Another moment discussed is one for which he apologizes and states that was when he realized that he had a drinking problem. That was the infamous interview with ESPN football reporter Suzy Kolbert in which Namath wanted to kiss her when he was intoxicated.

While these anecdotes seem to have no structure, they are certainly entertaining and enjoyable to read. Fans who are old enough to remember Super Bowl III will particularly enjoy the snippets of the game shared by Namath. I say “snippets” because like Namath’s life stories, not every play is remembered by Namath, even when he is “watching” the game with the reader.

This is a book that fans of Namath will certainly enjoy, but in no way is it a comprehensive look at his life or even Super Bowl III. Mark Kreigle’s book on Namath is that complete picture and this one is a nice conversation Namath has with the reader over a day of watching football – even if that football game is 50 years old.

I wish to thank Little, Brown and Company for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an absolutely delightful memoir of a whole life. No, not an autobiography, but a true memoir, but it did cover his whole life. I loved the way Namath used the quarters of SuperBowl III to launch each section into different areas and memories of his life. I also thought it particularly notable that he credited so many people – citing specific incidents - with his success. He did not gloss over his own failings, but owned up to each one, telling what he learned from that mistake.

The past couple of years I’ve read a lot of memoirs/autobiographies. Most of them were simply ego trips. This was not the case here.

In reading other reviews several people have noted that he jumped around in his memories and/or wrote/spoke in a stream of consciousness making it difficult to stay on track. Personally, I appreciated that because it showed how indebted he felt to various mentors and influences in his life.

I received this ebook as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Little Brown, in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it heartily.

f there was ever a review-proof book, "All the Way" is it.

Those who grew up watching - and perhaps idolizing - Joe Namath fling footballs around football stadiums in the Sixties and Seventies no doubt already have run, and not walked, to the nearest bookstore or on-line ordering outlet to pick up a copy of his second autobiography. The first book, "I Can't Wait Until Tomrrow ... 'cause I Get Better Looking Every Day" came out soon after the Super Bowl III in on January 12, 1969.

Namath and his New York Jets won that game more than 50 years ago, and the win might have been the most important game in modern pro football history. The huge upset drew a great deal of attention, and helped the NFL become the biggest sports league in North America.

Namath already was world-class "cool" before that game. He came out of Alabama and signed a legendary $400,000-plus contract with the Jets of the American Football League. Namath had style on and off the field, a rebel with his white football shoes and love of the nightlife. Muhammad Ali was out of the same mold, but Namath was a bit more acceptable to large portions of America. Now the ex-quarterback looks back on portions of his life - and his now aging fans no doubt will revel his the stories.

The book comes with a warning at this point, though: If you like your books structured, then you may have come to the wrong place.

The guiding premise is quite simple, and appropriate. Namath sat down at the computer screen and watched a video of that winning Super Bowl - something he had never needed to do before. It's sort of like having Joe at your side while the two of you are in the living room, watching it on YouTube. He's tough on himself, still feeling angry when he doesn't connect on an easy pass. Namath also learned some lessons about the game, along the lines of "I didn't know Unitas came into play that early."

You may come to one conclusion reading about the details of the game: Namath might not have been the most valuable player of the game. On one hand, that may be a reflection of the fact that Joe is pretty tough on himself here at times. On the other, he threw no touchdown passes in a game where the Jets only scored one TD (to go with three field goals), and he never threw a pass in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, he did engineer the Jets to score enough points to beat the Colts, who were considered one of the great teams in NFL history until the day after the game.

But from there, Namath goes off on tangents. And more tangents. There's no order or warning about what's coming next; it is simply a matter of what enters Joe's mind. The basics are covered - something about his school days, recruitment and playing in Alabama, signing with the Jets, finishing his career with the Rams, the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and what his life is like now.

In case you are wondering, the famous 2003 Suzy Kolber incident - "I just want to kiss you" during an on-field interview with ESPN - comes up. Namath says it was something of a turning point in his life, as he realized he needed help with an alcohol problem - prompted by his 2000 divorce. It sounds like Joe is having a happy ending to his life, thanks in part to a clean lifestyle and knees that give him a lot less trouble now than they did in his football days.

Even so, there's not much flow here, and there are large portions of Namath's life that don't get any attention here. Characters come and go without much introduction. Namath is described at the back of the book as a "reluctant author," and the text certainly comes across that way. Having two co-authors is often a sign that it was a struggle to get the story correct on paper; I have no idea whether that was the case here.

Still, the voice in these pages is authentic, and that probably is enough for most people. The book has been well received so far, so apparently the lack of organization wasn't much of a problem for other readers.

That's fine. I liked Mark Kriegel's biography, "Namath," more than "All the Way." But it sounds like readers want to hang out with Joe for a while through this book. Who am I to disagree? They'll have a good time - I guarantee it.