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    Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times
    Unavailable
    Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times
    Unavailable
    Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times
    Audiobook11 hours

    Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times

    Written by Mark Leibovich

    Narrated by Joe Barrett

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Town, an equally merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force, pro football, at a moment of peak success and high anxiety

    Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life tuned into pro football than he'd care to admit. Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up on a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is, until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most ruthlessly efficient and polarizing sports dynasty of the modern NFL, and its fans the most irritating in all of Pigskin America. Leibovich kept his obsession quiet, making a nice career for himself covering that other playground for rich and overgrown children, American politics. Still, every now and then Leibovich would reach out to Tom Brady to gauge his willingness to subject himself to a profile. He figured that the chances of Brady agreeing were a Hail Mary at best, but Brady returned Mark's call in summer 2014 and kept on returning his calls through epic Patriots Super Bowl victory and defeat, and a scandal involving Brady—Deflategate—whose grip on sports media was as profound as its true significance was ridiculous.

    So began a four-year odyssey that took Mark Leibovich deeper inside the NFL than anyone has gone before. From the owners' meeting to the draft to the sidelines of crucial games, he takes in the show at the elbow of everyone from Brady to big-name owners to the cordially despised NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Ultimately, Big Game is a chronicle of "peak football"—the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the time when the dark side began to show. It is an era of explosive revenue growth, but also one of creeping existential fear. Players have long joked that NFL stands for "not for long," but as the true impact of concussions becomes inescapable background noise, it's increasingly difficult to enjoy the simple glory of football without the buzz-kill of its obvious consequences.

    And that was before Donald Trump. In 2016, Mark's day job caught up with him, and the NFL slammed headlong into America's culture wars. Big Game is a journey through an epic storm. Through it all, Leibovich always keeps one eye on Tom Brady and his beloved Patriots, through to the 2018 Super Bowl. Pro football, this hilarious and enthralling book proves, may not be the sport America needs, but it is most definitely the sport we deserve.

    Editor's Note

    Get the inside scoop…

    A funny inside scoop on how the NFL has bumbled into one controversy after another. Journalist and New England Patriots fan Mark Leibovich spent four years with some of the most powerful people running the league — including quarterback Tom Brady and commissioner Roger Goodell.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 4, 2018
    ISBN9780525627265
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Big Game

    4/5

    15 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      To be honest, finishing this book was a bit of a struggle. A great deal of this book was about the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and various NFL owners and management. This book had very little about on the field activities or even locker room talk. It dealt mostly with the business of pro football and its current status as the number one sport in America. I was hoping for more details or stories about the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl win but it was barely covered in the last chapter.

      This was more of a sports management book than anything else. Leibovich did cover some of the controversy around concussions suffered by players. He describes talking to Tony Dorsett who has trouble remembering things. He also brought up a few other players including Mike Webster and Junior Seau who suffered horribly after their playing days were over.

      This is not a feel-good book. I'd say the NFL's long-term prospects are dimmed by the concussion issues and the declining interests of high school and younger players to participate in football.
    • 3/5
      Great writer!
      Frightening insights.
      Patriots fandom.
      Inspiring me to watch more college games.
    • 2/5
      Some interesting nuggets about what the "Membership" (NFL Owners) are like, but mostly this book is just a dreary march through tailgates, stadiums, owners meetings, and parties.