Publisher's Weekly Review
Former football player Jackson draws from six years of experience in the NFL to reveal the travails of strenuous training camps, road trips, injuries, and the overall precarious nature of the job. Jackson is a natural writer and he tells his story in an honest and highly absorbing way, exerting imaginative language with affable ease and never seeming bitter or petulant. He frequently relies on caveats: "Being able to actually relax in the NFL is rare," he writes. "The pressures are too great. And they are constant. The head coach is under siege at all times, and it trickles down to everyone else." He gives much attention to the topic of injury: "My mild hamstring strain' won't heal. Ice here, heat there, stretch here, rub there, inject here, pills there: nothing is helping . [the NFL is] a dangerous place to be a gimp." Jackson's story is one of hope laced with reality: "There is a football game to play. Then there is another. Always another. opportunity for glory." The product will appeal to football fans and general readers alike. Though Jackson's days playing pro-ball are over, his writing career is just taking off. Agent: Alice Martell, the Martell Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
An insightful memoir of an unlikely NFL career. Jackson is likely a much better athlete than nearly all of his readers, but in the National Football League, he was just average--and he knows as much. Every season, he fought simply to make the team, which he did. The author successfully navigated the nearly unimaginable leap from a tiny Division III college to a six-year career as a wide receiver and tight end with the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, with ill-fated training-camp experiences before and after his tenure in the Rockies and a season playing for NFL Europe in Germany. Jackson has an original voice, honed as a writer for a number of newspapers, magazines and websites, perhaps most frequently with Deadspin. The author is wry and smart and has a love-hate relationship with the sport that gave him so much but also took a great deal from him. Jackson's career was peppered with injuries: muscles torn from the bone, dislocations and sprains and the concomitant shots, pills and therapy sessions that would allow him to go back to the field. Jackson's greatest strength is his self-awareness. Every time one of his stories seems to be veering toward stereotypical athlete bluster, he takes an ironic swerve, usually making himself the butt of his own acerbic wit. That wit also manifests itself in a cynical approach to a host of issues ranging from tired sports-as-war metaphors to stadium naming rights. Ultimately, the injuries and the toll of the incredibly violent game got the best of him. Readers are the beneficiaries. Jackson was never a household name, but his memoir is better than any ghostwritten self-homage from a superstar.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Nate Jackson played six seasons for the NFL Denver Broncos. He was, at various times, an extra wide receiver, a third-string tight end, and a special-teams regular. He didn't get a contract that will support multiple generations of heirs; failed to assemble an adoring, self-interested posse; never signed an endorsement deal. But he lived his dream for six years, never quite sure if he'd survive the next cut until he didn't. Somewhere along the way he learned to write, not just link words together to form a coherent narrative, which would be more than enough for most sports bios, but really write. There is a bit of the artist in Nate Jackson. For anyone who wants to experience the NFL player experience, this is the book to read. The highs are here: scoring touchdowns (well, only a couple); moving from the practice squad to the game-day roster; those years (well, only a couple) when you felt kinda, sorta secure; and experiencing the camaraderie with teammates, a bittersweet pleasure given the uncertainty of who will be around tomorrow. Then there are the lows, led, of course, by injuries lord, the injuries the rehab, the pain, and the realization that one's body has been completely misaligned. And the tragedy that Jackson endured with the death of two teammates young, seemingly invincible warriors. This is Jackson's first book, but he's honed his skills at Slate, Deadspin, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. Don't miss this one; it could very well be the best book about pro football you will ever read.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Periodically, one of pro football's lumpen proletariat provides a perceptive insider's view of the NFL from the end of the bench. The lesser-light author in this case is a former Broncos receiver who caught just 27 passes in his six-year NFL career from 2003 to 2009 while missing dozens of games because of yearly injuries. Jackson draws a sharp picture of the rough camaraderie of the NFL fraternity with lots of good behind-the-scenes stories involving both players and coaches. The language is coarse and crude, and the author spends too much time on private sexual habits of no relevance or interest, as well as on the dry diagnostic details of his injuries, but he also effectively portrays the adhesive hold such a physically punishing and mentally stressful sport exerts on its players. VERDICT A flawed but interesting look at the NFL life for adult fans. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
