Slow Getting Up

Starred review from November 25, 2013
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 âmild hamstring strain' won't heal. Ice here, heat there, stretch here, rub there, inject here, pills there: nothing is helping ⦠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.

August 1, 2013

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.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.