Intercepted
The Rise and Fall of NFL Cornerback Darryl Henley
Published on 1. October 2012
Book
Hardback
277 pages
978-0-8032-3849-7 (ISBN)
Description
Hailing from suburban Los Angeles, raised by supportive parents, and educated at a boys-only parochial school, Darryl Henley had it all. He earned a history degree from UCLA, became a first-team All American for the Bruins in 1988, and was a rising star as the starting cornerback for the LA Rams in the early nineties. How Henley, in the space of three short years, went from golden NFL role model to federal inmate is one of the most bizarre stories in the annals of sport-stars-turned-criminal.
The product of eight years of investigative research and over one hundred interviews, Intercepted takes us into Henley's fourth season in the NFL, when he met Rams cheerleader Tracy Donaho and bumped into a boyhood friend named Willie McGowan, a onetime youth-league standout who had since turned to drug trafficking. Henley, Donaho, and McGowan embark on a scheme to transport cocaine that lands Henley in federal prison, where he attempts to arrange a Mafia hit on the sentencing judge and Donaho, who had been the star witness against Henley at his trial. Detailing how one of the best and brightest of our professional athletes destroyed himself through temptation, arrogance, and anger at a justice system that he felt had failed him, Intercepted is also a cautionary tale about American culture, as disturbing as it is impossible to ignore.
The product of eight years of investigative research and over one hundred interviews, Intercepted takes us into Henley's fourth season in the NFL, when he met Rams cheerleader Tracy Donaho and bumped into a boyhood friend named Willie McGowan, a onetime youth-league standout who had since turned to drug trafficking. Henley, Donaho, and McGowan embark on a scheme to transport cocaine that lands Henley in federal prison, where he attempts to arrange a Mafia hit on the sentencing judge and Donaho, who had been the star witness against Henley at his trial. Detailing how one of the best and brightest of our professional athletes destroyed himself through temptation, arrogance, and anger at a justice system that he felt had failed him, Intercepted is also a cautionary tale about American culture, as disturbing as it is impossible to ignore.
Reviews / Votes
"Capturing the inner life of an NFL player is challenging enough. Revealing the torment, hubris, and shame that marked Darryl Henley's downfall is a task that only the bravest reporter could undertake."-Adam Schefter, NFL reporter for ESPN -- Adam Schefter "[Intercepted is] engrossing, heartbreaking, uplifting-and dynamic. A fantastic book."-Jeff Pearlman, author of the New York Times bestseller Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton -- Jeff Pearlman "Intercepted is riveting-the perfect pairing of saga and author. The twisted, tragic, stranger-than-fiction journey of Darryl Henley is sensational in the hands of Michael McKnight, a gifted storyteller who also happens to be one of America's best investigative journalists."-Austin Murphy, senior writer for Sports Illustrated and author of The Sweet Season -- Austin Murphy "Gritty and intimate, Intercepted is a mind-blowing account of an NFL star's fall from fame. McKnight is a first-rate reporter who masterfully tells a story that will leave readers unable to put the book down. The detail and the drama are breathtaking."-Jeff Benedict, Sports Illustrated contributor and author of Poisoned -- Jeff Benedict "This tormented tale of hubris and corruption, loaded with seedy characters, reads like a legal thriller. But McKnight's thorough examination of former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darryl Henley's sordid fall from grace is a cautionary all-too-real story of sex, drugs, and murder... Sports Illustrated writer McKnight's meticulous research and attention to detail nearly indicts the U.S. justice system and its own glaring flaws."-Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly "In the end what proved the fatal flaw of a man who looked as if he should have succeeded in the NFL and beyond? William Kopeny, an attorney who helped Henley's defense team, offered McKnight this explanation: 'Vanity and cool ... That's the only thing I can come up with. Vanity and cool.'"-Bill Littlefield, Boston Globe Boston Globe "A legal/mystery novel with a compelling tale of both justice and injustice of our legal system. There were definitely two sides to this story of Henley."-Gridiron Greats Book Review Gridiron Greats Book Review "[A] crime story page-turner."-Library Journal Library JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Lincoln
United States
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
10 photographs, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-8032-3849-7 (9780803238497)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
10/2014
University of Nebraska Press
€33.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2012
1st Edition
University of Nebraska Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Michael McKnight is a contributing writer at Sports Illustrated. Twitter: @McKnight_Mike_.
Content
[No TOC]