Friday Everything: Playing For Pizza

This John Grisham book is about a third string professional quarterback who gets called to play for a team in Italy’s version of the NFL. It is not literature, it is not thrilling, but it’s not a bad book.

Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Football I Learned From “Playing For Pizza”

The hardest part of my job is telling a player that it’s time to quit. You’ve played all your life, it’s all you know, all you dream about. No one is ever ready to quit. *** There is a moment or two in every game when a quarterback has a receiver open, a split second to throw the ball, and a massive roaring lineman charging the pocket unblocked. The quarterback has a choice. He can grit his teeth, sacrifice his body, put his team first, throw the ball, make the play and get crushed, or he can tuck it and run and pray he lives for another play. *** If a quarterback isn’t happy, then there will be many problems. *** The drudgery of practice is the same everywhere. From Iowa to Canada to Parma, and all those stops in between, the worst part of the game, in whatever language, is the numbing tedium of physical conditioning and the repetition of running play after play. *** We all quit at some point. *** I never got hurt on defense. *** During halftime, the first five minutes inside a locker room are dangerous. *** Football is a game of emotion, most of it grounded on fear, and every coach wants his team clamoring for violence. *** The Super Bowl takes two weeks to prepare for.