The King of Sports: Football's Impact on America
College and professional football generates billions of dollars annually in revenue. Easterbrook, the author of ESPN’s popular column Tuesday Morning Quarterback, looks beyond the dollar signs, examining many of the sport’s darker issues. Among them: the public dollars used to finance the stadiums used by NFL teams when, simultaneously, the same local governments reduce money allocated to education, public infrastructure, and aid to the needy. The book opens with a look at Virginia Tech football, where the graduation rates are high and players learn through the positive reinforcement of head coach Frank Beamer and his staff. Easterbrook then moves to the rest of college football, which mostly exploits the players for the enrichment of the university, the athletic administrators, and the coaching staffs. Another chapter looks at the long-term financial health of NFL players; one organization reports 70 percent of NFL players declare bankruptcy within 10 years of retirement. Despite the wealth of negative content here, Easterbrook still professes to enjoy the game and offers a series of reforms for football at all levels. A valuable analysis that will significantly alter the ways that readers view football. --Wes Lukowsky