Colorado University Athletics
Kordell's Book Not 'Just Another Football Book'
April 14, 2016 | Football, Alumni C Club, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Kordell Stewart didn't need the money. He didn't need the fame. He has plenty of both, and is living a very comfortable life after his retirement from football.
So why why, at this point in his life, did the former Colorado and Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback write a book?
The answer is simple. To set the record straight. To tell his story through the eyes of the only person who knows the whole story: Kordell Stewart.
“I thought it was important to take the opportunity to be heard,” said Stewart, who will be in Colorado on Saturday for a pair of book signings. “When people are talking about you, when people are writing about you, saying things about you — you don't want that to be the final word. You don't want to let someone else be your mouthpiece. You want to tell your story, take the things that you've done — good, bad or indifferent — and use it in a proper way and give them perspective.”
Thus the evolution of “Truth: The Kordell Stewart Story.”
Naturally, the book centers around Stewart's football career. It includes several chapters covering his time at Colorado, where he became one of the most successful and memorable quarterbacks in CU history, including a detailed account of the “Miracle at Michigan.”
It also closely chronicles his NFL career, an 11-year stint that saw him begin as “Slash,” and one that included a Super Bowl appearance and three AFC Championship games with the Steelers.
But, Stewart is quick to note, “It's not a football book.” Rather, it is a book with football as a prism, one through which the reader can see a young man's growth, how he dealt with a variety of adverse situations during that growth process — and how he turned that adversity into an opportunity to become stronger.
“I wanted to give people the opportunity to read an inspiring story,” Stewart said. “Sometimes in life, when difficult times happen, we want to play the role of victim. If you do that, you can't be understood in the proper way.
“Those difficult times in life made me dig deeper within myself and understand that life is bigger than football. I learned to put everything in perspective, push those things to the side and focus on the task at hand — whether it was football, family or being a father.”
Stewart doesn't dodge any of the “celebrity” issues that followed his football life. He writes frankly about the rumors of his sexuality that followed him in his career. He discusses in detail the loss of close family members — from his mother to cancer he was young, to his sister, to his father, who became a guiding figure throughout his life. He talks about his much-publicized divorce from Porsha Williams and her role in “Real Housewives of Atlanta” — and how he dealt with each of those situations.
“I wanted to connect with people from a base of transparency,” Stewart said. “I think we have a tendency to misunderstand public figures, based on what's written in newspapers and magazines. Part of the transparency process is to write about everything and give people the opportunity to understand that even though I'm an athlete and have experienced a ton of great things, there's still part of the person who had to learn how to deal with situations.
“The book isn't about pointing fingers at people, or me being upset and mad at anyone. I don't attack people in the book. It's about telling a story, how I handled myself in all those different situations and how I learned that the one thing you can always control is how you react in any situation.”
A true dual-threat quarterback at Colorado, Stewart is still the only Buff ever to throw for 200 yards and rush for 100 in the same game, and he's still the only quarterback in CU history to have three 2,000 yard passing seasons. In his last game as a Buff, he was named the Offensive MVP of the Fiesta Bowl in Colorado's 41-24 win over Notre Dame.
In the book he recounts his CU career in detail — from his first look at Boulder (“I was in awe!”) to his thoughts as his stay in Boulder came to an end: “I had just experienced four of the most incredible years in my life — alongside talented players, some of the most knowledgeable coaches, and the best of friends.”
He also addresses an up-and-down career in Pittsburgh, one that saw him start as a quarterback/wide receiver (thus the nickname “Slash”) before becoming a full-time quarterback and one of the league's first true dual-threat players at the position. Stewart finished his career with four seasons with at least 400 yards rushing to go with 14,746 yards passing.
“Kordell Stewart was really the first dual-threat quarterback of the new era,” says former Steelers teammate Jerome Bettis in a foreword to the book. “He had an amazing gift of speed coupled with a great football IQ.”
Stewart also delves deeply into the complicated relationship he had with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher — the coach who made Stewart a starting quarterback, but then spent several years trying to find a replacement, only to return to Stewart at each juncture.
Stewart, though, does not trash Cowher in the book. Instead, he notes that when Cowher's Steelers finally won a Super Bowl with Ben Roethlisberger (a player Cowher would later say was similar to Stewart), Stewart made sure to call Cowher and personally congratulate him.
“Whereas there was definitely some conflict in Pittsburgh, I appreciated Coach Cowher giving me the chance to do everything I had always dreamed of doing as a professional on the football field,” Stewart writes in the book. “My experiences in Pittsburgh — every one of the — made me better. … The positive things reminded me to thank God for His kindness. The negative things made me a better person for God. How can you lose?”
BOOK SIGNINGS: Stewart will be in Colorado for two book signings on Saturday.
The first will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bender's Bar & Grill in Westminster (10710 Westminster Blvd.), located just to the northwest of the Westin Hotel and connected to the Ice Center at the Westminster Promenade. The restaurant's main proprietor also happens to be former Denver Post writer and columnist Jim Armstrong; there will be books available for purchase at Bender's until supplies run out.
Stewart's Hall of Fame college coach, Bill McCartney, will be on hand at Bender's to introduce his one-time quarterback, who compiled a 27-5-1 record as a starter, the second-most wins but the top winning percentage (83.3) by a CU signal caller.
The second signing will be from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in Glendale (960 S. Colorado Blvd.).
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
