Description
Book SynopsisThe NFL is the most popular professional sports league in the United States. Its athletes receive multi-million dollar contracts and almost endless media attention. The league''s most important game, the Super Bowl, is practically a national holiday. Making it to the NFL, however, is not about the promised land of fame and fortune. Robert Turner draws on his personal experience as a former pro and interviews with over 120 current and former NFL players to get behind the bravado and reveal what it means to be an athlete in the NFL and why so many players struggle with life after football. Without guaranteed contracts, the majority of players are forced out of the league after a few seasons. Over three-quarters of retirees experience bankruptcy or financial ruin, two-thirds live with chronic pain, and too many find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Robert Turner argues that the fall from grace of so many players is no accident. The NFL, he contends, is a total institution, powerfu
Table of ContentsPrologue: NFL Means Not For Long Preface: The Athletes' Journey through the National Football League Chapter One: Broke and Broken Chapter Two: The Star, the Journeyman, and the Dedicated Spectator Chapter Three: The Field of Goals and Dreams Chapter Four: College Football Chapter Five: The Totalizing Institution Chapter Six: Masking the Pain Chapter Seven: Making it to the Big Show Chapter Eight: Eye in the Sky Chapter Nine: The Owner's Playbook Chapter Ten: Billionaires vs. Millionaires Chapter Eleven: Forced Out Chapter Twelve: Preparing for, Surviving and Thriving beyond the NFL
