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Not for long : the life and career of the NFL athlete / Robert W. Turner, II.
The NFL is the most popular professional sports league in the United States. Its athletes receive multimillion-dollar contracts and almost endless media attention. The league's most important game, the Super Bowl, is practically a national holiday. Making it to the NFL, however, is not about the promised land of fame and fortune. Robert W. Turner II draws on his personal experience as a former professional football player as well as interviews with more than 140 current and former NFL players to reveal what it means to be an athlete in the NFL and explain why so many players struggle with life after football.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780199892907
- ISBN: 0199892903
- Physical Description: xxiv, 258 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
- Publisher: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018]
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [205]-246) and index. |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Prologue: NFL means Not For Long -- Preface: The athlete's journey through the National Football League -- Broke and broken -- The star, the journeyman, and the dedicated spectator -- The field of goals and dreams -- College football -- The totalizing institution -- Masking the pain in masculinity -- Making it to the Big Show -- Eye in the sky: discipline, control, and the black body -- The owner's playbook -- Billionaires versus millionaires: labor relations -- Forced out -- Preparing for, surviving, and thriving beyond the NFL. |
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Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Evergreen Indiana.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Co PL - Hanover Branch | 796.332 TURN (Text) | 39391100316916 | Nonfiction | Available | - |
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- Baker & Taylor
Discusses the difficulties professional football players have leaving the NFL, and offers a better way to help players transition successfully out of the sport. - Oxford University Press
The NFL is the most popular professional sports league in the United States. Its athletes receive multimillion-dollar contracts and almost endless media attention. The league's most important game, the Super Bowl, is practically a national holiday. Making it to the NFL, however, is not about the promised land of fame and fortune. Robert W. Turner II draws on his personal experience as a former professional football player as well as interviews with more than 140 current and former NFL players to reveal what it means to be an athlete in the NFL and explain why so many players struggle with life after football.
Without guaranteed contracts, the majority of players are forced out of the league after a few seasons. Over three-quarters of retirees experience bankruptcy or financial ruin, two-thirds live with chronic pain, and too many find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Robert W. Turner II argues that the fall from grace of so many players is no accident. The NFL, he contends, powerfully determines their experiences in and out of the league. The labor agreement provides little job security and few health and retirement benefits, and the owners refuse to share power with the players, making change difficult. And the process of becoming an elite football player--from high school to college and through the pros--leaves athletes with few marketable skills and little preparation for their first Sunday off the field.
With compassion and objectivity, Not for Long reveals the life and mind of high school, college, and NFL athletes, shedding light on what might best help players transition successfully out of the sport. - Oxford University Press
Drawing on personal experience as a former pro and interviews with over 140 current and former NFL players, Robert Turner gets behind the bravado to reveal what it means to be an athlete in the NFL and why so many players struggle with life after football.
