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Deceptive Speed: Eddie Lee Ivery’s Run Through Tech, Titletown, and Temptation

Deceptive Speed: Eddie Lee Ivery’s Run Through Tech, Titletown, and Temptation
By author: Jerry Gentry
Product Code: P724
ISBN: 9780881469844
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DECEPTIVE SPEED vividly tells the compelling, inspiring story of Eddie Lee Ivery's journey from a tiny ramshackle home with no plumbing, to a prestigious engineering university, to an NFL storied franchise--where he played for the team's venerated former superstar Bart Starr, who struggled to field a winning team as head coach. After two devastating injuries to the same knee, how did Ivery will his way to a 9-year NFL career? How did he become homeless? How did he climb out of his self-destructive drug addiction? Ivery broke almost every Georgia Tech rushing record, including his spectacular NCAA-record-breaking single-game 356 yards. His fingers were so cold they burned, the fierce wind whipped frigid air across frozen ground, and--nauseous throughout the game--he was the sickest he had ever been yet rushed for more yards than any collegian in history. In 1979, the Green Bay Packers picked Ivery in the first round and expected him to help restore glory to Titletown. One veteran said, "We couldn't believe how good he was." Living an exhilarating star athlete life, Ivery lied to and manipulated family and friends for years. The addiction program where he finally became clean began with a counselor saying of Ivery's many gridiron accomplishments, "Eddie Lee, we don't care who you were before." Only then did true recovery begin.
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Reviews

Review by: Drew Jubera, award-winning journalist and author of MUST WIN - June 2, 2025
"DECEPTIVE SPEED is a beautifully detailed, unflinchingly reported account of Eddie Lee Ivery's remarkable journey on and off the football field. Author Jerry Gentry unspools this roller coaster story, from a house without indoor plumbing in small-town Georgia to pro football's pinnacle in Green Bay to the struggles and redemption that followed, with a sure hand and empathetic eye. Humanity shines through on each page. Both inspirational and cautionary, this is a tale for everyone."
Review by: Ken Sugiura, Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist and former Georgia Tech beat reporter - June 2, 2025
"What stands out most about DECEPTIVE SPEED, beyond the remarkable story itself, is how committed Jerry Gentry was to getting the full story. Often, sports biographers merely let the subject tell the story as they remember it. Gentry's including so many people who have known Eddie Lee Ivery gives readers an in-depth, warts-and-all portrait of the rise, fall, and recovery of an All-American football star. It's a great football story, but virtually anyone will be intrigued by the story of a person who grew up destitute, had football fame thrust upon him as a teenager, endured a heated recruiting battle, achieved college football glory, experienced a heartbreaking NFL career, lost everything to cocaine, then picked up the pieces. Racism, poverty, the South, celebrity, wealth, addiction, family, faith, courage--there's so much more than just football. It's the tale of a fascinating and unique life."
Review by: Ben Utt, 8-year NFL offensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts - June 2, 2025
"DECEPTIVE SPEED, a remarkable intimate look at college and professional football, tells a story of pride, struggle and triumph, perseverance, and great comebacks. As a former Tech lineman who blocked for Eddie Lee Ivery, I saw how his talent and relentless work ethic propelled him to the top, but even as an NFL first-round draft pick, it's hard to make it. The incredible expectations make it even harder to stay there. It takes so much dedication and sacrifice that it stops being 'what you do' and becomes 'who you are'—and that's a trap. Jerry Gentry takes us through it all: the gifts, grind, injuries, distractions, fall from grace, rehab and redemption, and a family that never stopped praying for Ivery. Gentry has us rooting for the good guy even when he's doing bad things."

Goodreads reviews