RASHAD: Vikes, Mikes, and Something on the Backside

by Ahmad with Peter Bodo Rashad ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 17, 1988

A purposefully frank but ingratiating sports/show-biz memoir whose fast cuts and flashbacks make it the literary equivalent of a highlights film. Rashad (Bobby Currey before his conversion to Islam) was a standout high-school athlete in Tacoma, Wash. Later, at the Univ. of Oregon, he attracted national attention as an elusive runner and pass catcher on some notably inconsistent Ducks' football teams during the late 1960's. Drafted in the first round by the Cardinals (then of St. Louis), Rashad had an unhappy time while with this unsuccessful NFL franchise, torn by racial dissension. Moving on, the author eventually achieved All-Pro status in Minnesota, where he spent seven productive seasons for winning Vike clubs quarter-backed mainly by Fran Tarkenton. Long aware that gridiron stardom is at best ""a temporary income opportunity,"" Rashad carefully schooled himself to gain a broadcasting job once his football days ended (in 1982). Currently, he's a glib, visible, and well-paid role player on NBC's NFL Live show. To date, his TV career is most memorable for the on-air proposal that won him the hand of wife Phylicia (co-star of The Cosby Show). While Rashad offers candid comments on fellow sports and entertainment figures, he tends to glide quickly past his own off-the-field antics during the fast-track pre-Phylicia years, which included a couple of failed marriages. Nor does Rashad provide an altogether logical explanation of his religious convictions, let alone square them with either a break with the Pentecostal faith of his parents or an ebullient resolve to celebrate a traditional Christmas with all the trimmings when his infant daughter gets older. These quibbles apart, a winning entry from an enthusiastic, generally thoughtful man who seems still to be growing. The lively text includes an assortment of family-album and sports-page photographs.

Pub Date: Nov. 17, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION