NFL Unplugged

Behind every glittering NFL game on television is a world of happy pain for a hundred men. "NFL Unplugged" lets you see that world through the eyes of the pros who live and sweat in it--including firsthand accounts of more than thirty players and coaches from teams across the NFL, including Mark Schlereth, Bill Romanowski, Kevin Long, Kyle Turley, Jon Gruden, Hugh Douglas, Jon Runyan, and Michael Strahan. Here are the places the cameras and microphones don't go, places where you'll discover:

What really happens in huddles and pile-ups

How coaches' speeches can inspire players or deflate them

Why every NFL player dreads training camp--and loves it, too

What "the dark place" is and why players go there during games

How a player can be crippled six days a week and play football on the seventh

How far some players and coaches will go to win

Why so many players end up broke after years of huge salaries

"Very rarely--once a decade maybe--do we get the chance to peer behind the NFL curtain and experience the lives of players. Anthony Gargano has done that here, and we're lucky to get such an unvarnished view."
--Peter King, senior writer, "Sports Illustrated"

"He may ooze of South Philly on his wildly successful radio show, but the Anthony Gargano I know also is a brilliant writer and reporter who was made to do a book that rips open the NFL and presents it on a transparent, compelling platter."
--Jay Mariotti, national columnist, "AOL FanHouse" and daily panelist on ESPN's "Around the Horn"

"Gargano gives you a front-row seat to the agony and ecstasy of the NFL. From packed stadiums and glory to the icy reality of pain and injury, you won't be able to put this book down."
--Mike Mayock, analyst, NFL Network