Zusammenfassung
From Booklist's Starred Review: "This is a book that transcends sports and captures the spirit and will of athletes."
The rousing stories of the often-overlooked players who give their blood, sweat, and tears in the hopes of seeing their dreams of playing professional football come true
Football fans may know all about the superstars of the NFL, but very few know anything at all about the players at the bottom of the rosters—the men just fighting for a spot on the team. Yet the struggles of these players represent what thousands have experienced, from the agony of being dropped to the practice squad to the elation of earning a starting job after years of toiling in anonymity.
In 53rd Man: Fighting to Make It in the NFL, John Vampatella shares stories from across the league of those men whose NFL journeys have taken numerous twists and turns, all in an effort to play the game they love at the highest level. The experiences of three men in particular—Geremy Davis, Matthew Slater, and Austin Carr—reveal behind-the-scenes details of what life is really like in the NFL, working day in and day out in the shadows of the superstars. Their stories uncover the anxiety and excitement of the draft, the challenge to get through camp and make an NFL team, and what it takes to survive and thrive in the league.
53rd Man is about football, but it’s also about much more than that. It’s about what it takes to succeed, how to overcome obstacles, how to deal with disappointment, how faith can shine a light in the dark and difficult times, and how to make a difference in the lives of others along the way.
Schlagworte
NFL Reserve professional football National Football League football biography College football NFL draft active roster Austin Carr 53rd Man Geremy Davis underdog making the cut roster training camp professional athlete Matthew Slater life after football athlete high school football inspiring football storyKeywords
sports football- 33–40 Chapter 5 Camp 33–40
- 111–116 Chapter 15 Hammies 111–116
- 147–154 Chapter 20 Serving 147–154
- 155–164 Chapter 21 Captain 155–164
- 165–172 Chapter 22 Platform 165–172
- 173–180 Chapter 23 Victories 173–180
- 181–186 Chapter 24 Done 181–186
- 187–190 Chapter 25 Giving Back 187–190
- 191–194 Chapter 26 Do Justice 191–194
- 201–214 Notes 201–214
- 215–216 About the Author 215–216
23 Treffer gefunden
- „... dog in me, and Benicia put the football IQ in me.”His freshman year of high school, he chose to play ...” „... one last year with Benicia rather than for his high school team. That was a decision that led to ...” „... the state play-offs to the number 8 seed, a defeat that still stings.His high school career began the ...”
- „... 9Chapter 2Like Father, Like SonWhen Geremy Davis was figuring out life as a Norcross High School ...” „... could play when he got to high school. But there were conditions. Namely, Jackie insisted that Matthew ...” „... brought Jackie on as an assistant. On the high school team, Jackie reverted to being a par-ent. Instead of ...”
- „... all loved football. The group entered their freshman year at Norcross High School with high hopes and ...” „... . Morales and Wright became high school football coaches, and DeShields got drafted by the Houston Astros in ...” „... the time Davis reached high school, the game became more com-plex. Teams started using zone defenses ...”
- „... high school football each year. Of those, just under thirty-six hundred receive any stars (one to five ...” „... football player in the history of the vast majority of high schools in the country. In most high school ...” „... Division 1 track and field program likely wouldn’t even give a high school runner a look if he can’t run ...”
- „... practice it than to start with high school foot-ball.’ Things I learned in terms of film, in terms of what ...” „... , and see his high school buddy, Max Garcia, succeed in the league. He led spiritually and mentored ...” „... than two thousand people, a mix of former players and coaches at both the high school and college ...”
- „... situation this way: “The jump from high school to big-time college football is a substantial one in terms of ...” „... to the National Football League. In college, you’re competing against boys fresh out of high school ...” „... typical high school offensive lineman is between fifteen and eighteen years of age and may not even have ...”
- „... has come from primarily white families. In Illinois, for example, high school football rosters are ...” „... . . . many high school football players are not concerned about the long-term effects of concussions and ...” „... concussion problem in the sport, football participation has dropped 6.6 percent in the past decade in high ...”
- „... par-ticipated in high school football. A total of 73,712 athletes played college An NFL Draft Prospect 31 ...” „... football at some level, meaning that just 7.3 percent of high school foot-ball players manage to play ...” „... (249 out of 254 in the 2019 draft), and of the million or so high school football players, just 2.9 ...”
- „... contact between large men running at incredible speeds. Watching a high school football game up close can ...” „... college football players, and even 21 percent of high school players.17 CTE is considered to be a major ...” „... 103Chapter 14Injuries and SetbacksFootball is an incredibly violent sport, designed for full ...”
- „... community. The foundation’s mission is to provide students from Wylie East High School—his alma mater—with ...” „... after high school. It’s a chance to change the course not only of Timmy’s life, but of future ...” „... 187Chapter 25Giving BackFor Marcell Ateman, there is still hope of playing.“I still love football ...”
- „... know, I want to do well.”Romo was an outstanding high school athlete, being an all-state football ...” „... player for Burlington High School in Burlington, Wisconsin, as well as being a terrific basketball player ...” „... , whether he was a young boy, a high school athlete, or a star in college, Geremy Davis rooted for Tony ...”
- „... -stars -rankings -high -school -football (19 Aug. 2022).8. “Geremy Davis,” 274sports, 2015, https: // 247 ...” „... . American Academy of Pediatrics, “Many High School Football Players Not Concerned about Concussions ...” „... -by -an -NFL -quarterback (17 Aug. 2022).6. Andrew Joseph, “High School Basketball Player Challenges ...”
- „... transition to life after football.When he entered the league as a rookie, he was the quintessential ...” „... , Matthew began to feel the urge to be about more than football.He started working in the community, a ...” „... 191Chapter 26Do JusticeFootball isn’t over yet for Matthew Slater. At thirty-seven years of age, in ...”
- „... studied the playbook more. He also made sure to stay in constant communication with high school buddy Max ...” „... quar-terback Gary Nova, who had set school records for touchdown passes and passing yards, was invited as a ...” „... snaps with the starters as well. He made numerous high-level plays—not superstar plays, but good enough ...”
- „... entire football career.“All my life I was never on good teams,” he says. “High school my senior year we ...” „... signed Anthony Dablé, a wide receiver from France. Dablé began playing football in France with the ...” „... Grenoble Centaures in 2007 and, after a few years there, joined the Berlin Rebels of the German Football ...”
- „... a 5-yard out?’ He said, ‘Tom, I can go down here and get the local high school quarterback to come ...” „... much higher than the median yearly pay for American workers, he had no idea how long it would last.“The ...” „... reality is, as a rookie, you’re doing well, don’t get me wrong, you’re in the National Football League ...”
- „... the school’s career receiving-yards list with 1,214—but his main contribution was on special teams ...” „... intercepted by Asante Samuel.“I didn’t jump high enough,” Samuel said. “Maybe if I’d jumped a little higher ...” „... , turned, and flung the ball forty yards downfield toward Tyree, who jumped high for the ball and managed ...”
- „... graduate level calculus class and high school algebra.4Ryan Wendell had played center at Fresno State, and ...” „... having the best team in football, the Patriots were primed to take out their revenge on the rest of the ...” „... football uniform, that perspective carried over.When it came time to perform on the field, Slater put every ...”
- „... experience through high school and college is much different than it was. He’s had to evolve in order to be ...” „... one-on-one conversations about things beyond football.”The years went by, and Matthew took on more and more ...” „... trade as a professional football player. The lessons he learned about hard work, dedication, commitment ...”
- „... time was limited. Nonetheless, he volunteered his non-football hours to come alongside Erica and help ...” „... time mentoring Luke, a baseball player, Randy, a football player, and others. These were guys 166 ...” „... base-ball or football games, and being a phone call or text away.”On September 16, 2018, the Cleveland ...”
- „... . Honestly, plays are the same everywhere. Terminology is different. I could show you a play in high school ...” „... the best teams in college football—runs. “My job of course is to come in here, work hard every day ...” „... 65Chapter 9The PlaybookKnowledge is power. This adage is true in football every bit as much as it ...”
- „... defense, a strong running game led by Alvin Kamara of Norcross High School, and a dynamic passing game ...” „... perform as a football player instead of a glorified—and highly paid—team manager.“On the scout team during ...” „... had dedicated himself to football excellence, and that required long hours at the facility, training ...”
- „... coach probably since high school that believed in me the way he did, and that was from the beginning ...” „... contend. That meant that all three phases of the game had to be high level, and that put a lot of ...” „... players. O’Brien knew that Matthew could be pushed to higher levels, and he began to work with him to ...”