Quarterback

November 1, 2018

Quarterbacks in the National Football League (NFL) are not just on-the-field captains; they also embody a team's identity, for better or worse. The wrong pick in an NFL draft can haunt a franchise for years. The right pick can make an ordinary team perennially elite. Within the time frame of the 2017 NFL season, eminent sportswriter Feinstein (A Season on the Brink) embedded himself with five successful quarterbacks{amp}mdash;four current and one retired. As the season unfolds, Feinstein deconstructs the inexact science of the annual NFL draft, chronicles injuries and health concerns, and takes readers from one breathtaking finish to another. VERDICT With a critical eye and unsurpassed sense of sports history and culture, Feinstein examines qualities of leadership, the politics and drama within locker rooms and league offices, and the unrelenting pressure that can either crush a quarterback or turn him into a legend. Stellar research and storytelling that make this an essential read for NFL fans and sports enthusiasts.{amp}mdash;Janet Davis, Darien P.L., CT

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2018
A QB-centric look at how football works, on and off the field.Quarterbacks are vital to any gridiron contest. You know that, writes sports journalist and commentator Feinstein (The First Major: The Inside Story of the 2016 Ryder Cup, 2017, etc.), "because there are two people the media must listen to after a game: the head coach and the quarterback." Quarterbacks usually take their time giving the media their piece of the story, but in the author's opening vignette, Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco is quick to get to the microphones following a charged division game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in October 2017. Asked to explain the Ravens' loss, Flacco said, "I sucked. We sucked as an offense, and I'm the quarterback, so I'm responsible. It's pretty simple." Well, yes and no: Some of the QBs Feinstein mentions in this leisurely stroll down the field are a little less quick to fall on their swords, while others are exemplary in many ways. One of the author's chief subjects, for instance, is Doug Williams, a rarity in his day, the first African-American quarterback to bring home the Super Bowl; if racism figured in the 1970s, it certainly hasn't gone away in the decades since. Neither has the tendency of some clubs to treat players as cogs in the big moneymaking machine, as with Ryan Fitzpatrick, asked to take a pay cut following a career-best throwing season for the Buffalo Bills, then axed for failures not of his own making--save that he was the captain on the field. "When things go well, everyone loves you," he tells Feinstein. "When they don't, people fall out of love in a hurry." The author ably gets to the heart of the game, and if little of what he writes will come as news to discerning fans, there are some fine set pieces featuring battle-weary players and devious front-office types.A worthy offering for fans of the modern, increasingly embattled game.

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Starred review from October 15, 2018
Being a starting quarterback in the NFL is arguably the most challenging position in all of professional sports; too much credit for wins, too much blame for losses. In this exploration of what it means to be an NFL quarterback today, Feinstein, New York Times best-selling author of A Good Walk Spoiled? (1995) and numerous other in-depth analyses of various sports, focuses on five current or former quarterbacks: Alex Smith, Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco, Doug Williams, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. The five have had very different careers, but, taken together in Feinstein's telling, they reveal much about the game and the position of quarterback. Smith was a number-one overall draft pick and has had a solid career. Fitzpatrick, a Harvard grad, was almost the last pick in the same draft and has been a journeyman, playing for seven teams since 2006. Flacco won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, and Williams overcame a long-held prejudice against African American quarterbacks to become a Super Bowl MVP. Fitzpatrick's career, thought the least distinguished, may be the most interesting. He's been a successful starter, but he also went three seasons without ever getting into a game. As Feinstein relates the five careers, he also touches on the larger, league-wide issues of player health, substance abuse, racism, and, of course, team management, both good and bad. Another must-read from a master of long-form sports journalism. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Feinstein is one of the few sportswriters with a permanent seat at the best-seller table. He won't be forfeiting that spot anytime soon.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)