Everybody's All-American

By: Frank Deford

Narrated by: Frank Deford

Gavin Grey is everyone's All-American. A star running back at the University of North Carolina in the late 1950s, he graces the covers of Time and LIFE magazines and appears on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Everyone wants a piece of him or to be around him to bask in his glory, including his nephew Donny, who narrates the story and is Gavin's only real confidant.After college, Gavin goes on to the NFL where he has a solid career. As his playing days wind down and the cheering stops, however, he finds the adjustment to life as an ex-athlete difficult to accept. His wife "Babs" goes off to work, becomes the primary breadwinner for the family while Gavin continues to trade on his memories of old times, when he was everybody's All-American.

©1981 Frank Deford (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Better than the movie

I saw the movie with Dennis Quaid back in college. The book is much different. It is the story of a great football player who can’t deal with life once the crowd stops cheering. Unlike the movie where Gavin Grey is a star and wins a national title in 1954 at LSU on a fictional team that in reality had a losing record in the book he wins a national title in 1954 at UNC on a fictional team that in reality had a losing record. DeFord does a fair job reading it, but it would have been better with a pro. In the forward he says it was in fact pure fiction and not based on any UNC player. There had evidently been rumors it was based on Choo Choo Justice. He said he wanted it based in the south and his coverage of UNC basketball for Sports Illustrated made him familiar with the school and made his research easier. Listening, I couldn’t help but think he should have just used a fictional school. Covering UNC he got that they are called Carolina. However, he thought we refer to our state as Carolina as well. I’ve lived here all my life. I’ve never heard anyone do that. DeFord, like many Yankees, didn’t understand the use of y’all. It’s a plural. We never refer to a singular person as y’all. Why is that so hard for Yankees? The last thing is he several times referred to the legend that the Kenans had a restriction that the stadium could never be taller than the trees around it. There wasn’t such a restriction. But, since that was coming from the narrator and it is a common myth, that’s acceptable. Overall, it was an enjoyable book. Dennis Quaid was the perfect guy to play Gavin. Jessica Lange probably wasn’t the Babs of the book however.

Great story dead delivery.

I read the book years ago and when it showed up on Audible I thought I’d like hearing it. Reading was better. The author read this with as much enthusiasm as one reading last year’s obituaries. Too bad.