Men of Sunday by Curtis Eichelberger

Men of Sunday by Curtis Eichelberger is a real look at football and faith in the NFL. It focuses on the how the coaches, players, and families involved in it deal with the temptations that the NFL brings with it, and faith.

Book Description

“Step into the locker rooms and living rooms of NFL players and personnel to see how a close relationship with God guides football’s biggest stars.

Compiled from dozens of interviews, Men of Sunday marks the intersection of two Sunday traditions: faith and football. Inspired by the league's "systemic shift" toward embracing Christianity, Bloomberg writer Curtis Eichelberger shows how God is a source of comfort when facing the unique challenges of life in the NFL and the everyday challenges of maintaining strong families and building character. Hear in their own words how the NFL’s greatest rely on their faith to overcome drug abuse, family crises, injuries, and temptations resulting from fame and fortune.

 Featured personalities include

·         New York Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson

·         Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

·         Former Chicago Bears middle linebacker Mike Singletary

·         Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis

·         Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy

·         San Diego Chargers pastor Shawn Mitchell

·         Danisha Rolle, wife of former Tennessee and Baltimore defensive back Samari Rolle

·         And many more

Men of Sunday's readers—"normal folks . . . who go to church on Sunday, come home to root for their team, and who live a righteous life . . . most days"—will learn to tackle their own obstacles by trusting the Lord.” – Men of Sunday

My Thoughts

Men of Sunday isn’t a simple book about football and faith. It does obviously focus on how the people involved within the NFL use faith as a tool to keep them grounded and away from temptations thrown at them, but it also shows how faith can help people involved in any professional sport to stay grounded.

Football is a violent sport, and many people wonder how someone with such faith could be in such a sport. This book takes a look at that, in a way you may not expect. The players become celebrities and role models, even though they are just playing a game that they love. Often players that don’t have faith or ones that are too tempted by groupies, riches, and drugs, stray very far off of their moral path along the way. Faith can be intercepted back into their lives though, and make for some amazing last-minute touchdown transformations.

There are inspiring and uplifting stories in the book, and also heartbreaking ones. Each story featured in the book is worth reading and will give you a new outlook on the NFL. I highly recommend this book for fans of the NFL.

 

* Thank you to the publisher of Men of Sunday, Thomas Nelson, for providing me with a copy of this book for review as part of their Book Sneeze program. All opinions expressed are my own.