Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter

by Jennifer Allen

Book Overview

George Allen was a top-ranked NFL coach throughout the sixties and seventies, coaching in turn the Chicago Bears, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Washington Redskins. Raised in a home dominated by her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679452028
• ISBN13: 9780679452027
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

The Personal Football Book

As an avid football fan, George Allen is one of the greatest NFL Coaches of all time. Throughout the book, Jennifer Allen describes they storybook life of an NFL coach from a footbal and personal perspective. George's rough-and-tough attitude made two winningless teams, the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins, into champions. However, his personality as a coach effected his role as a father, which created tension between him and his children. As the his only daughter, Jennifer tries to win her father's affection as she struggles of being a product of an NFL coach and well-known celebrity.

Your dad would be proud

Yes, I'm an old Redskin fan and was mildly curious about the George Allen era. I was not prepared for this powerful story of George Allen the father and his arms length relationship with his daughter, Jennifer. Yes, the mother Etty and the sons, George, Bruce, and Gregory, are in here too, but Jennifer you finally have the starring role in the George Allen Story. This is a sometimes gripping and often humorous story of a daughter's search for self. My only criticism is of the title which suggests a sports book. It is not worthy of this well-told story about a daughter's search for meaning in her life and, coincidentally, her dad's struggle to make sense of his own life too.

Jennifer Allen Scores an Emotional Touchdown ...

This is a terrific yet heartbreaking story, one that should be read by any work-obsessed and preoccupied parent. You see a tale of public success (football coach) blended with private failure (distracted father). What price public success? It is at once a funny yet pathetic portrayal of a man who sacrificed everything on the altar of football glory. I wonder if, in those final lucid moments before the veil descended, George Allen wondered if he should have spent yet more time on football or more time with family? No one has ever been quoted on their deathbed as saying, "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." Even if you never played football or watched it, this is a cautionary tale of one man's career obsession and the poignant struggle of a daughter trying to win Daddy's love in an ultra-macho culture

Beyond Football

I read this book in one sitting, I literally couldn't put it down. George Allen is one of my all time favorite heroes, but this book is so much more than football. I cried at the end but I laughed a lot throughout, especially when the author talked about her homelife with her three wild and crazy brothers and her magnificent mother Etty. In fact, you should read this book just to meet Mrs. George Allen, obviously the glue that held everything together and the real power and inspiration for George Allen. Jennifer Allen puts her heart in this and the love she has for her family is real and unsentimental. I'm giving this book for Christmas to people who don't even like football.

Life Without Father

A painful and poetic tribute to the late football coach George Allen, this book started me laughing on page 1 and left me crying on page 238. Wives, give this book to your football-loving husbands for Christmas. Daughters, give this book to your workaholic fathers for Father's Day (or sooner). If you think you remember George Allen and the Redskins, you need to revisit the glory days with this 5th grade daughter waiting after the game in an empty stadium and read what happened after the last touchdown. It's beautiful.