Peter Gent dies at 69; ex-wide receiver wrote ‘North Dallas Forty’
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 ()
Notable music deaths of 2011 (Paul Hawthorne / Getty Images)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (Harold Matosian / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (King Features Syndicate)
Notable music deaths of 2011 (File photo)
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (AFP / Getty Image)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (Diamond Images / Getty Images)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (John Redman / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Louis Sahagun / Los Angeles Times)
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable sports deaths of 2011 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Lawrence Lucier / Steinway & Sons via Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Jim Dyson / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Handout photo)
Notable deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mike Groll / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Bill Sikes / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (File photos)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Marilyn Newton / Reno Gazette-Journal)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Joseph Lederer)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Benjamin Stone)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (National Air and Space Museum)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Joe Brier / McClatchy-Tribune)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Michael Ochs Archives)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Public Library)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Wayne Risher / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (John Gwillim / Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Universal / Lorimar)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Stephan Agostini / AFP/Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Nick Ut / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Anna Moore Butzner / Grand Rapids Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Christophe Ena / Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Universal Pictures)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Hillery Smith Garrison / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Gilles Petard / Redferns)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 ()
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (CBS)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mischa Richter)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 ()
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 ()
Notable deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 ()
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (MGM)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Mustafa Quraishi / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Tom Hindman)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Roald Berit / AFP/Getty Images)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 ()
Notable deaths of 2010 (Eddie Adams / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Charles Dharapak / Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Michael Manning)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable deaths of 2010 ()
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (CERN)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty Images)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Columbia)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Kevin Parry, Paley Center for Media)
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable deaths of 2010 ()
Notable deaths of 2010 (Associated Press)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (File photo)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Columbia Pictures)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Dave Hogan / Getty Images)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (United Artists)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Joey Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Joshua Prezan t/ Washington Post)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2010 (Los Angeles Times)
Notable film and television deaths of 2011 (Universal Television)
Peter Gent, who turned his vivid memories of a five-year career as a wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys into the blisteringly candid bestselling novel “North Dallas Forty,” has died. He was 69.
Gent, a standout basketball player at Michigan State University in the early 1960s, died Friday at his home in Bangor, Mich., of complications from pulmonary disease, according to the D.L. Miller Funeral Home in Bangor.
Despite being drafted by the old Baltimore Bullets of the NBA, Gent chose football over basketball after college. Signed as a free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, he played flanker from 1964 through 1968. At age 27, his NFL career was over. But he wasn’t done with football.
In 1973 Gent published his first novel, “North Dallas Forty,” which exposed a side of professional football few fans had seen before, as Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” had done for baseball three years earlier. Players experienced excruciating pain that endured long after the game’s final whistle; they blew off steam afterward in raucous parties fueled by drugs, alcohol and sex; and management ruthlessly treated athletes as commodities, mere equipment to be used as long as possible and then discarded when they wore out.
While the book’s narrative might have been fresh — eight days in the life of a pro football player — the characters were familiar. The narrator, Phil Elliott, is a maverick wide receiver for the North Dallas Bulls, stand-ins for the Dallas Cowboys. Elliott’s buddy Seth Maxwell appears to be modeled on good-time Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith. The steely coach, B.A. Strothers, is strikingly reminiscent of legendary Dallas coach Tom Landry. Readers had no problem connecting the dots.
By his account, Gent cracked vertebrae, broke ribs, fractured a leg, dislocated an ankle, broke or dislocated every finger and broke his nose multiple times while playing for the Cowboys.
In the book, he used frank language to describe the piercing, intense pain that accompanies the game —- from injuries that wracked the body to the dehumanizing toll on one’s psyche:
“Don’t worry about health; after all, the body belongs to the club. Deal in pain thresholds and analgesics, amphetamines and anesthesia. Short-circuit that bothersome equipment that communicates pain, numb it, bind it, but get the property back to work.”
The novel was made into a 1979 film starring Nick Nolte as Elliott, Mac Davis as Maxwell and G.D. Spradlin as the aloof coach. Gent wrote the screenplay along with producer Frank Yablans and director Ted Kotcheff.
Gent went on to write several more books, including “Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot,” “The Franchise,” “The Conquering Heroes,” “The Last Magic Summer” and “North Dallas After Forty,” but none approached the success of his debut novel.
George Davis Peter Gent (pronounced Jent) was born Aug. 23, 1942, the second of three sons who grew up in the western Michigan town of Bangor. His father, Charles, was a mailman and his mother, Elizabeth, worked for the local school district. At Michigan State, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Gent was a forward and center on the basketball team. He majored in communications and graduated with honors in 1964.
Gent’s survivors include son Carter of Kalamazoo, Mich.; daughter Holly Gent Palmo of Austin, Texas; four grandchildren; and a brother.
Although he couldn’t shed the searingly painful memories of football, Gent retained his love for the game.
“Don’t misunderstand,” he told The Times in 1973. “The best thing in my life was sports. Just the excitement of running out on the field at the beginning of the game, not to mention the thrill of catching a long pass, made me happy for days. But when you realize how the money guys have distorted it, taken the joy out of it, and turned it into dollars and cents, it makes me sad.”
Must-read stories from the L.A. Times
Get all the day's most vital news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
-
After serving in Johnson’s Cabinet, Clark set up a private law practice in New York in which he championed civil rights and fought the death penalty.
-
Born Earl Simmons, the New York-based rapper and actor was hospitalized after having a heart attack following a drug overdose.
-
The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, was the undisputed master of the British royal household for more than seven decades.
-
Later created cult sitcom ‘Square Pegs’