Happy 100th Birthday (Early) to Marv Levy !

 by Jeffrey J. Miller  

  Marv Levy turns 100 on August 3.  Tributes will pour in from all corners of the football world when the momentous day comes.  If you are a regular reader of the Pro Football Journal, I will pay you the respect of assuming that you are fully aware of Coach Levy’s history and accomplishments.  To be sure, I could fill this article listing the many things he has done, but since every major sports media outlet will be publishing them, I think to do so here would be an exercise in redundancy.*  Instead, I’d like to relate the story of how, back in 2009, I had the honor of writing a book with the oldest living member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

   I had recently written Rockin’ The Rockpile and was looking for a new project when I began reading The 50 Greatest Plays in New York Giants Football History by my friend John Maxymuk.  I thoroughly enjoyed not only John’s excellent authorship but also the format.  After doing a little research, I found out that the publisher, Triumph Books of Chicago, was doing a series of 50 Greatest books, which also included versions for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. 

   Duly inspired, I fired off an email to Triumph’s acquisition department informing them of my previous work and my desire to write a Buffalo Bills version of 50 Greatest.  To my surprise, I received a positive response from Adam Motin, Development Editor at Triumph Books, just a few days later in which he expressed their interest in my proposal.  There was one catch, however.  Triumph had some sort of commitment to do a book with Marv Levy.  Would I mind collaborating with the Hall-of-Famer and greatest coach in Buffalo Bills history?

   Pregnant pause.

   Well, I cannot remember my exact response, but I am sure it went something like “No freakin’ way!”  Not really.  It was probably more of a restrained “yeah, sure!” as I tried to mask the excitement of being offered a chance to work with someone of Coach Levy’s stature. Sure, I was confident in my ability, but at this point, I had only written two football books (Buffalo’s Forgotten Champions and Rocking the Rockpile), so this was a huge step.  But one I welcomed gleefully!

   A couple of days later, I came home from work and saw the little red light flashing on my answering machine.  I pushed the button and the first message that sprang forth went something like this … “Hello Jeff, this is Marv Levy.  I understand we are going to be writing a book together.  Please give me a call at (his private number) and we can discuss the particulars.”

   For a solid week I played that message for anyone who happened to drop by the house for a visit.  Come on ... who wouldn't?        

   I returned Marv’s call straight away.  We had a nice chat in which he expressed excitement at writing this book with me.  He informed me that he had a heavy schedule of commitments that will limit his availability and that I will “have to play quarterback” for this project and let him know what particular plays from the team’s history I wanted him to write about, and proofread the chapters he sends to me.  Not a problem!

   The initial idea was, as stated above, to produce a book consistent with Triumph’s 50 Greatest series.  Within a very short time, Marv and I were corresponding daily via email, phone and fax (this was the dark ages of 2009, after all).  We eventually compiled a tentative list of the plays we planned to cover.  We agreed that Marv would write about the plays that occurred during his time as the Bills’ head coach, while I would tackle any of the selected plays that happened before or after his tenure.  Marv even sent me a few hand-drawn sketches of some of the plays we intended to feature in the book.  Thank goodness I saved those faxes!

   Here are a few ...

Fax received from Marv February 6, 2009,

indicating some of the plays he had sent. 

Marv's hand-drawn diagram of the play known 

as the "Kelly Keeper" that defeated the 

Miami Dolphins in the 1989 season opener.

Marv's sketch of the play known infamously to Bills fans as 

"The Drop" in which halfback Ronnie Harmon dropped a 

last-ditch pass in the end zone in the Bills' 34-30 loss

to the Cleveland Browns in the 1989 Divisional Playoff.

   However, after just a few weeks, we were notified that Triumph was shifting gears and was going to be discontinuing the 50 Greatest series in favor of a new series called Game Changers:  The Greatest Plays in (insert team name here) Football History.  The good news was that Marv and I would still be collaborating.  The unhappy news was that it would not be the style of book I had envisioned.  But that was not really a big deal.    

   Though we never met face-to-face during the writing portion of this book, we corresponded several times each week, even several times in a day in some stretches.  Marv would send me his chapters and ask my opinion or that I go through and check for typos, etc.  In some cases, his chapters were very long and I had the responsibility of having to whittle away some content to make it fit into the available space.  My friend Jeff Mason (my former high school history teacher who has proofread nearly everything I have ever written over the years) proofread the finished manuscript for any misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, and so on.      

   Our book was officially published in October 2009.  In all, we included 36 plays or events from Buffalo Bills history.  The hard-bound book was lavishly illustrated and presented as a nice coffee table style book for die-hard Bills fans.

Game Changers, pub. 2009 by Triumph Books

   Triumph did a nice job promoting this book, too, hiring a publicist who set up several signing events in which Marv and I appeared side-by-side in front of large numbers of fans.  Admittedly, 90 percent were there to meet Marv.  Clearly, he was a bit of a sex symbol, as many middle-aged ladies pushed their way behind the signers’ table to have a picture taken with the man.  In some cases, I was pushed aside by women wanting just them and Marv in the shot.  Some would run their fingers through his hair!  It was like being on stage with Tom Jones!  They were unaware (or maybe just unconcerned?) that Marv’s wife Fran was present during some of these events, sitting not more than ten feet off to the side. 

Book signing event at the Buffalo Bills 

Quarterback Club.

   One particular incident sticks out that underscores just what a gentleman and decent human being Marv is.  We were doing a signing event at the local Barnes & Noble Bookseller, starting at 7:00 on a Friday evening.  The store manager was kind enough to let some members of my family in a bit early to get their copies signed, just in case the supply ran out.  I dutifully introduced Marv to my wife and son, nieces and nephews, sisters and brothers, including my brother Joe.  Soon came the throng of Bills fans, lined up down aisles and snaking out into the parking lot!  We signed over 400 books that night.  The signing was scheduled to go until 9:00, but we did not finish until after 9:30 … two and a half hours.  As we were walking out, my brother Joe was standing by the exit and said goodbye and thanks to Marv.  Without missing a beat, Marv turned to him and said, “Same to you Joe.  It was nice meeting you.” 

Book signing event at Barnes & Noble in Amherst, NY.
That's my seven-year-old son Benjamin in front.

   Wow … after more the two and a half hours, hundreds of fans and 400 books signed, Marv remembered my brother’s name!  That, I thought, was very impressive.

   I will always cherish this episode in my writing career.  Working with Marv Levy was quite a thrill!  I was honored when he agreed to write the foreword for my next book (“100 Things Bills Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die”), which affirmed for me that he enjoyed the collaboration as well. 

   HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Coach Levy! 

* Some of Levy's career highlights and awards:

• Two-time Grey Cup (CFL) Champion with Montreal Alouettes (1974, 1977)
• Four-time Super Bowl participant with Buffalo Bills (1990-93)
• Three-time AFC Coach of the Year (1988, 1993, 1995)
• NFL Coach of the Year (1988)
• Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame (class of 2001)
• Elected to Canadian Football Hall of Fame (class of 2021, becoming one of only three men who have been enshrined in both the PFHoF and the CFHoF, the others being Bud Grant and Warren Moon)