Sunday, January 31, 2016

The NFL: The Truth is Out There

NFL Confidential – True Confessions from the Gutter of Football – Johnny Anonymous (Dey Street Books)

Under the leadership of Commissioner Roger Goodell the National Football League has transformed into the NFL…the No Fun League; a tightly controlled, ridiculously choreographed spectacle of public relations spin. While most of the time it runs like a German train system, there have been a number of glaring and often epic fails; see Ray Rice for a prime example.

So what is it like to be in the NFL; the real story, not some public relations maven’s version of reality, but the real deal? Well fans and detractors alike may have a nose under the tent dose of reality in the form of NFL Confidential – True Confessions from the Gutter of Football by an author using the pen name Johnny Anonymous who claims to be a real, live NFL backup.


Not just any back up mind you, but a guy who lays claim to the desire to be The Best NFL Backup Ever a phase he claims to have trademarked; though I have my doubts. Anonymous claims he is among the tiny fraction of players who are in the NFL, the highest peak you can plant your flag in the sport of football, who actually hates the NFL and all the bullshit that goes along with it.

Along the way Anonymous serves up credible insight into the players and coaches, the mind games and the physical abuse these guys subject themselves just to be a part of their chosen profession. He pulls no punches when stripping away the carefully varnished image the NFL wants to project publicly about things like the Ray Rice video and what the players truly think about rainbow flag poster child Michael Sam.

Snarky, acerbic and often laugh out loud funny, who ever this guy is (not surprisingly there’s no shortage of speculation of the web on that subject) NFL Confidential is a truly entertaining read even if you’re not a football fan. So when his dream to be the Best NFL Backup Ever reaches its inevitable conclusion, he’s got a good head start on his next career path.

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