CNN
—
Over the years, cameras have caught NFL players doing memorable non-football things on the sidelines of games. Tom Brady once threw a tablet computer out of frustration. Three members of the Seattle Seahawks were fined for eating hot dogs during a preseason game in 1995.
On Sunday night in Philadelphia, with the Eagles hosting a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, wide receiver AJ Brown did something even more intriguing.
He sat down and opened a book.
As the Eagles rolled to their 22-10 victory, cameras showed Brown on a sideline, studying a well-worn paperback book. One of the Fox Sports anchors laughed. “I haven’t seen many people reading books (during a game),” he said.
The book is called “Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life.” It was written by Jim Murphy, a former professional baseball player and self-described “performance coach” who helps athletes build mental toughness.
Brown is one of the Eagles’ best players. Only three passes went his way on Sunday, and he only caught one, for just 10 yards. Yet when he answered questions after the game, he was cheerful.
It was perhaps the first time he read on camera. But he said it wasn’t the first time he’d read the book during a game.
“It’s a book I bring to every game,” Brown said, adding that “my teammates call it ‘The Recipe’.”
Certain passages have been underlined and highlighted. Naturally, viewers were curious. The Eagles have a lot of fans and the book quickly climbed the charts. As of Monday afternoon, it was No. 1 on Amazon’s best-seller list.
“As an outfielder in the Chicago Cubs organization, my sense of worth and identity revolved around my performance, primarily my batting average,” Murphy writes in the book’s introduction. “When I hit well, I walked big and I felt good. When I hit poorly, my shoulders sagged and my eyes looked dark. Life was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was a slave to results and it was stifling my performance. I was afraid of failure and this fear made me think about the past and the future.
“When I started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, I saw this time and time again: athletes had lost their joy and passion for life as they struggled under the pressure to perform. The fear of failure has taken over their lives.
The book helped propel athletes to higher levels of performance, even when they were filled with doubt, Murphy writes. “But even more,” he adds, “you will learn to live with deep contentment, joy and confidence in your daily life. »
Brown told reporters that the book helps him refocus after every practice, “no matter if I score a touchdown or drop a pass.” He’ll get more opportunities next Sunday, when the Eagles host another playoff game.
A Sports Illustrated reporter contacted Murphy by phone Sunday evening, as his book was suddenly going viral. Murphy said of Brown: “It’s truly an honor to be a part of his life and to have a meaningful place in everyone’s lives. »
As of Monday afternoon, the book had at least one new five-star Amazon review, written by a user named Todd. The title of the magazine read “Go Birds”. The full text of the review read: “AJ Brown recommended this book, so I look forward to reading it. Fly, the eagles fly.
At least 1,044 people found Todd’s review helpful.
