Bloody Sundays: Inside the Rough-And-Tumble World of the NFL - Paperback

by Mike Freeman (Author)

An honest, uncensored look at the National Football League that captures the good, the bad, and the bloody. Award-winning sports reporter Michael Freeman goes were few civilians dare: inside the locker rooms, boardrooms, and everywhere in-between to offer an entertaining and provocative portrait of the National Football League.

In Bloody Sundays he dissects the NFL, spotlighting the personalities and the politics that shape the game on and off the field, exploring how the game has influenced American life and culture, and identifying the issues and challenges facing the game today--from violence on the field to the maniacal coaching methods of Super Bowl winner Jon Gruden, to physical injury and longevity, to race and labor relations. Here, too, are the legends, heroes, and plays that make the game what it is, including a groundbreaking exclusive interview with an active gay player.

Part investigative journalism, part critical analysis, and part tribute, Bloody Sundays uniquely captures the entirety of the league in all its greatness and ugliness.

Freeman's unprecedented access reveals the hidden truths of America's biggest sport:

• Locker Room Culture: A groundbreaking, exclusive interview with "Steven Thompson," the first active player to discuss his life as a gay man in the hyper-macho world of professional football.
• NFL Coaches: A profile of Jon Gruden, the obsessive, sleep-deprived "Coach Chucky" whose intensity defines the relentless pressure of the modern head coaching job.
• Behind the Scenes of the NFL: Go beyond the highlights to see how the league really works--from the politics of the boardroom to the blue-collar factory where every NFL football is made by hand.
• The Toll of Violence: An unflinching look at the physical cost of the game, from career-ending injuries and concussion studies to the crippled and demoralized state of many former players.

Back Jacket

Award-winning sportswriter Mike Freeman goes beyond day-to-day newspaper journalism and ESPN highlights to take us deep inside the game and reveal the NFL in ways that will surprise the most avid football fans. He travels to the sidelines and into the locker rooms to interview hundreds of players and coaches on their expertise. Breaking the game down to its essential elements -- coaching, offense, and defense -- Freeman profiles in depth three of today's football elite: Jon Gruden, head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Michael Strahan, defensive end for the New York Giants; and Emmitt Smith, the legendary running back.

Bloody Sundays goes behind the scenes of the "secret society" of gay players who play in fear of their lives and careers, studies how the violence of the game ravages the bodies of players, and takes us into the owners' offices to look at the darker side of the sport.

Part tribute, part exposé, Bloody Sundays is a vivid portrait of professional football that "gives you so much to think about that you might find yourself switching off a game to read" (New York Times Book Review).