A 5-Foot-8, 170-pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL
Not that I need it, but here's more proof that I could never make it in the NFL. I already knew about my lack of talent and athleticism. Also, I always figured that not liking to get hit by big men might be a problem too. But Stefan Fatsis' book about being a field goal kicker in NFL training camp makes me realize one other problem: I might be too stupid to play in the NFL.
I'm being facetious -- well, sort of. However, every time Fatsis started summarizing some play that the team was running, my mind would just gloss over. "And the funny thing is, people think we're pretty dumb," fullback Kyle Johnson says at one point while explaining what seems to me to be the world's most complex play.
I read this just in time for the NFL season, because, after all, I'm psyched for the upcoming season. Or maybe not. In actuality, I read the last 40 pages while the Redskins and Giants were starting the season, though I didn't even have the game on. It's a strange fan perhaps who chooses to read a book about the NFL instead of watching the opening game of the season.
In truth, while I enjoy football, I'm still a very casual fan. With this book, I was more psyched that Stefan Fatsis had written another book than I was at the start of another football season. "Word Freak," his book about joining the world of championship Scrabble, is one of my favorite books. It even inspired me to take up the game of Scrabble when I had never played it before. "A Few Seconds of Panic" isn't quite as good, if only because it hasn't inspired me to go out and kick field goals, but it's close.
I love participatory journalism like this, and Fatsis is really good at it. It was exciting to read about his attempts to kick field goals for the Denver Broncos, and all the stress that entailed. One of the most harrowing parts of the book is when Broncos Coach Mike Shanahan has Fatsis kick in front of all the players and tells the team that practice will end a half-hour early if Fatsis makes the field goal. And so, all the players line up to watch this writer kick a decisive field goal. Screw the Super Bowl. That's real pressure.
I've written in the past about stunt books, but I don't think I would consider Stefan Fatsis' books to be stunt books. "Word Freak" was more than a stunt book, since he actually became an expert-level Scrabble player. In this book, while Fatsis doesn't actually become an expert-level field goal kicker, he does manage to go behind the scenes and show us the life of players and coaches in a way we seldom get to see.
That may be Fatsis' strength. He shows us the real life of an NFL player which is far from glamorous. Most are just worried about making the team. They may be overpaid, but they also have a tough life. It's not just the injuries, but also the assembly line feel of the NFL where there's always another better player coming up. The players understand this and in fact usually seem more grounded than the fans. Surprisingly, NFL players seemed a whole lot more normal than the Scrabble players Fatsis profiled last time.
Strangely, I bought this at the same time as I bought George Plimpton's "Paper Lion," in which Plimpton wrote about playing with the Detroit Lions in the 1960s. It just happened to be on sale, and I never even considered the connection between the books when I brought them to the counter. And somehow, despite being more of a baseball guy, I also have two other football books in my pile of books to read. I'm not sure how that happened. Are you ready for some football reading? I guess I'll have to be.
Not that I need it, but here's more proof that I could never make it in the NFL. I already knew about my lack of talent and athleticism. Also, I always figured that not liking to get hit by big men might be a problem too. But Stefan Fatsis' book about being a field goal kicker in NFL training camp makes me realize one other problem: I might be too stupid to play in the NFL. I'm being facetious -- well, sort of. However, every time Fatsis started summarizing some play that the team was running, my mind would just gloss over. "And the funny thing is, people think we're pretty dumb," fullback Kyle Johnson says at one point while explaining what seems to me to be the world's most complex play.
I read this just in time for the NFL season, because, after all, I'm psyched for the upcoming season. Or maybe not. In actuality, I read the last 40 pages while the Redskins and Giants were starting the season, though I didn't even have the game on. It's a strange fan perhaps who chooses to read a book about the NFL instead of watching the opening game of the season.
In truth, while I enjoy football, I'm still a very casual fan. With this book, I was more psyched that Stefan Fatsis had written another book than I was at the start of another football season. "Word Freak," his book about joining the world of championship Scrabble, is one of my favorite books. It even inspired me to take up the game of Scrabble when I had never played it before. "A Few Seconds of Panic" isn't quite as good, if only because it hasn't inspired me to go out and kick field goals, but it's close.
I love participatory journalism like this, and Fatsis is really good at it. It was exciting to read about his attempts to kick field goals for the Denver Broncos, and all the stress that entailed. One of the most harrowing parts of the book is when Broncos Coach Mike Shanahan has Fatsis kick in front of all the players and tells the team that practice will end a half-hour early if Fatsis makes the field goal. And so, all the players line up to watch this writer kick a decisive field goal. Screw the Super Bowl. That's real pressure.
I've written in the past about stunt books, but I don't think I would consider Stefan Fatsis' books to be stunt books. "Word Freak" was more than a stunt book, since he actually became an expert-level Scrabble player. In this book, while Fatsis doesn't actually become an expert-level field goal kicker, he does manage to go behind the scenes and show us the life of players and coaches in a way we seldom get to see.
That may be Fatsis' strength. He shows us the real life of an NFL player which is far from glamorous. Most are just worried about making the team. They may be overpaid, but they also have a tough life. It's not just the injuries, but also the assembly line feel of the NFL where there's always another better player coming up. The players understand this and in fact usually seem more grounded than the fans. Surprisingly, NFL players seemed a whole lot more normal than the Scrabble players Fatsis profiled last time.
Strangely, I bought this at the same time as I bought George Plimpton's "Paper Lion," in which Plimpton wrote about playing with the Detroit Lions in the 1960s. It just happened to be on sale, and I never even considered the connection between the books when I brought them to the counter. And somehow, despite being more of a baseball guy, I also have two other football books in my pile of books to read. I'm not sure how that happened. Are you ready for some football reading? I guess I'll have to be.
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