Marv Levy - Between the Lies

by
Marv Levy

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Marv writes like he coacheddetailed and thorough, entertaining and successful. He produced a winner on the field in Buffalo and has produced another winner on the pages of this book.

Rick Gosselin, NFL Columnist
Dallas Morning News

Having covered Marv Levy for all of his 12 seasons as coach of the Buffalo Bills, I came to know him not only as a tremendous coach, but also as a superb wordsmith. His considerable writing talent shines through on every page of his highly entertaining book. Although this story is the product of Marvs imagination, it contains a great deal of actual, behind-the-scenes perspective that readers will find fascinating as they follow the drama and humor in the telling of his fifth Super Bowl experience.

Vic Carucci,
New York Times Best-Selling Author & Senior Columnist, NFL.com

Marv Levy brings his Hall of Fame experience as a coach and general manager to Between the Lies. He also brings his Hall of Fame sense of humor and literary ability to this book. For the first time, the average fan (and reader) will experience why it was so much fun to work with Marv on a day-to-day basis. Between the Lies will teach you football and keep you laughing. Marv does in this book what he did every day of his career.

Bill Polian,
Six-time NFL Executive of the Year

The beauty of Marv Levy is that he was much more than a Hall of Fame football coach. His kindness, perception, sense of humor, and overall keen mind combined to make Marv one of my favorite all-time people. Now, hes combined all of this by putting pen to paper to create Between the Lies. Its a perfect combination, whether or not you remember his Super Bowl Buffalo Bills teams. He even has a bunch of nicknames that, of course, make me chuckle!

Chris Berman,
Senior ESPN Analyst

Marv Levys fertile mind and imagination, cultivated by his experience as a 4-time Super Bowl coach, provide readers with a rich and plausible adventure through the often sordid world of sports, business, media and politics.

Fred Mitchell,
Sports Columnist, Chicago Tribune

Who better to pen a fictional tale about football than Marv Levy, a Hall of Fame coach with a masters degree from Harvard? Levy once famously intoned to his team, where else would you rather be than right here, right now? Readers will feel that way reading Between the Lies entertained and informed and ultimately wondering: could this really happen in the NFL?

Andrea Kremer,
Emmy Award Winning Sports Correspondent

Marv Levy is not only a Hall of Fame football coach, but he is also a Hall of Fame communicator. His book, Between the Lies, will give readers a real behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional football. Marv spent four decades in professional football, and he shares insights from those experiences in a fun, fast-paced, and interesting way.

Tony Dungy,
Super Bowl Winning Coach

Coach Levy has been my mentor and my friend. The lessons I have learned from him on and off the field have proven to be invaluable. Not only has he taught me how to be successful on the gridiron, but he has taught me how to be successful in the most important game of all... The game of life.

Bruce Smith,
Hall of Fame Defensive End and All-Time Sack Leader

One thing everyone knows about Marv Levy is that he is a Harvard graduate. If you Google his name the first item that shows up is Marv Levy Quotes. Thats because Marv has a way with words and Between the Lies is a true testament to that statement. This must-read book doesnt focus solely on football; it touches on relationships, characterization and most importantly a strong moral theme, and that is: Play hard! Play clean! Play to win! But win or lose, honor the game. That is an actual theme that Marv brought to our locker room and a life lesson that can be applied by any person in any situation. The book is also filled with humor and drama and I particularly took a liking to quarterback, Kelly Jamesgo figure!

Jim Kelly,
Hall of Fame Quarterback

Copyright 2011 by Marv Levy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission should be addressed to:

Ascend Books, LLC, Attn: Rights and Permission Department

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-0-9830619-3-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publications Data Available Upon Request

Editors: Lee Stuart and Cindy Ratcliff
Publication Coordinator: Christine Drummond
Editorial Contributions: Eric Tangye
Design: Cheryl Johnson, S&Co. Design

The NFL and The Super Bowl are registered trademarks of the National Football League.

Publishers Note:

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, and locales are intended solely to enhance the fictional story, provide a historical perspective, and give the book a sense of reality and authenticity.

All main characters, events, dialogue, and incidents in the novel are the creation of the authors imagination.

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To all those coaches, journalists, and general managers (Bill Polian, John Butler, Jim Schaaf) with whom I have worked (and argued) during my forty-nine years in the game. Wasnt it fun?

No one else knew it yet not even his wife, Frannie but when Mel Herberts outdated Chevy Corvette pulled into the reserved-for-media parking lot on the first day of training camp for the National Football Leagues Los Angeles Leopards, only the person sitting in the passenger seat knew that this would be Mels final season on the job. Thats because Mel was the person sitting in that seat. Someone else was driving his car.

Mel originally had thought about retiring six years earlier when he grudgingly acknowledged that not just his bad knee, but several other crackling body parts, too, made it too painful for him to meet the rigors of maneuvering his vehicle in the heavy Los Angeles traffic or even of being able, while wrestling with his steering wheel, to deliver a middle finger flip to some of those head-bobbing, boom-box-listening, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing L.A. Raiders goofball fans who always seemed to be on the freeway whenever he was.

Those retirement plans short-circuited, however, when he shared a dinner out one evening with his old friend, Joe Skoronski. Mel had known Joe since they met in Chicago back in 1972 when Mel was working the sports beat for the Chicago Sun-Times and Joe was employed as an assistant to the equipment manager with the Chicago Bears.

As their friendship developed during the ensuing years in Chicago, they enjoyed numerous dinners out together. Mel often came away from those evenings with some valuable inside information and frequently in a state of near exhaustion brought on by a mix of too many calories, too many sips, too many cigars, and some outrageous pronouncements from Malaprop Joe.