Won for All

After losing three of the first four games in the 2001-2002 season, the New England Patriots roared back to finish the year with an 11-5 record and completed the surprising turnaround by beating the St. Louis Rams in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in NFL history. Johnson, who played linebacker for 13 years, joined New England as an unpaid liaison in 2000 and was the inside linebackers' coach during the championship season. Although Johnson does reminisce about his playing days (particularly his years with the New York Giants), he gives a first-rate account of the Patriots' transformation from a 5-11 team in 2000 to Super Bowl champs the following season. Johnson, writing with Gutman (Parcells: A Biography), picks up the story at the end the 2001-2002 season, then backtracks readers from training camp through the Super Bowl. Along the way, he describes how head coach Bill Belichick created a winning team by weeding out players who did not fit his playing style. Johnson does a terrific job of bringing readers into the Patriots' locker room as he discusses strategy about each game while also providing an insider's perspective on various members of the team; an especially compelling chapter deals with a week in the life of an NFL coach, illustrating the pressures coaches face each week in the season. Patriot fans will no doubt enjoy this recap of the Super Bowl run, as will fans who want a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in professional football. (Nov.)