The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Tim Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

An eight-year veteran of the Atlanta Falcons shares an inside view of pro-football, telling his own story, offering general knowledge about the best and worst places to play, and covering issues facing the game, including racism, steroid use, gambling, and AIDS. Simultaneous.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tim Green is proof that all football players aren't meat-headed Neanderthals. Green, an ex-player who has made his mark as a commentator on National Public Radio and the Fox Network, shows both his love of the game and his insights into its problems in this collection of some 70 essays on his experience in the National Football League. From the physical brutality of the sport -- he suffered 12 concussions as a player -- to the use of performance enhancing drugs, to the sport's connections with the mob, Green writes clearly and evenly about the dilemmas and deals the most professional football fans know nothing about -- the dark side to America's favorite pastime. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

A former player for the Atlanta Falcons and now a TV broadcaster on the Fox network, Green (Titans) has an enduring love for football, but that does not prevent his seeing the unlovelier aspects of the sport. Chief among them are the physical tolls the game exacts: every player, he stresses, suffers discomfort in every game of every season. The injuries are usually temporary but are sometimes permanently disabling, including concussions (Green had 12 during his career). There are the hardships of training camps and exhibition games, which sap athletes' energies even before the regular season starts, violent players and team doctors who urge even wounded players to stay on the field. Enemies may be teammates, since offensive and defensive units each have special bonds. Other obstacles include performance drugs, artificial turf, rowdy fans and the media, resented because reporters have never played pro football and, in Green's view, don't know what they are writing about. The author also provides insights into good and bad venues, superstitions, agents and the realities of play: "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'." Eye-opening for grid fans. Available as a Time Warner AudioBook.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Hachette Audio (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570424128
• ISBN-13: 978-1570424120
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,887,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim is the NY TIMES BESTSELLING author of fourteen highly successful suspense novels, including soon-to-be-released FALSE CONVICTIONS and national bestseller ABOVE THE LAW, as well the non-fiction New York Times Bestseller, THE DARK SIDE OF THE GAME which was featured on CBS's 60 Minutes. His last five novels have all been national bestsellers hitting the charts between #22 and #30 on the NY Times Bestseller list. While his first five novels used professional football as their backdrop, his most recent works have drawn more on his experiences as a lawyer exploring the themes of ambition and revenge.

Tim is also the author of a memoir entitled A MAN AND HIS MOTHER: AN ADOPTED SON'S SEARCH which was featured in PEOPLE magazine, Entertainment Tonight, and ABC's Prime Time.
His writing career began at Syracuse University where he was a Rossman Scholar for Humanities, a Syracuse Scholar, an NCAA Top Six Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, and co-valedictorian of his class. While studying English Literature, Tim became acquainted with the renowned minimalist Raymond Carver, and had the opportunity to study under the award-winning writer and professor Tobias Wolff.

During his studies, Tim also played football for the Syracuse Orangemen with a career that included a consensus All-American honors as well as his recent induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1986, he was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons where he was a star defensive end for eight years. During his NFL career, Green began his thirteen year career as a commentator for National Public Radio, wrote columns for USA Today, and received his law degree with honors at Syracuse University. Because of his accomplishments both Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Times have called Tim Green the "Renaissance Man" of sports. After his playing career, Tim spent eleven years as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and recently hosted FOX's nationally syndicated news magazine, A Current Affair. His other broadcast experiences have included ABC Good Morning America's legal commentator, Court TV's Pros and Cons, host of FOX Sports Net's Emmy nominated show NFL TOTAL ACCESS, and Comedy Central's Battlebots. Recently, Tim hosted the ABC Prime Time reality show, FIND MY FAMILY.
In 2007, Tim wrote FOOTBALL GENIUS, his first novel for young readers, and an instant NY Times Bestseller. The success and enjoyment of working with his own kids on the project resulted in FOOTBALL HERO, which was released in 2008. In both novels, Tim models the main characters after his own children, submerging them into a suspenseful world that blends adolescent life and sports with the visceral realm of the NFL. FOOTBALL HERO was selected as a Junior Library Guild choice and a GMA summer page turner for young adults. Most recently he released BASEBALL GREAT, another NY Times Bestseller, as well as FOOTBALL CHAMP. Tim's newest young reader novel, RIVALS, will be released in stores in March 2010.
Tim lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. More information about Tim can be found at his Web site www.timgreenbooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The View from the Broadcasting Booth by an Ex-NFLer, May 5, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL (Mass Market Paperback)

Tim Green was an unusual defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons. He read books in the locker room and during team meetings. He went to law school in his spare time. He had a hard time gaining weight and keeping it on. He left the game with his body and his brain relatively unscrambled (despite many concussions and stingers), and took up a new career as a broadcaster for Fox. His book is a series of mini-essays on everything you always wanted to know about pro football, but never wanted to experience. It is a gripping tale of pain, broken bodies, shattered lives, and electric moments that will remain with you for the rest of your life. I would have graded the book higher, but he did seem to skirt some of the obvious problems that professional football players experience such as groupies and deliberate attempt to maim. On the other hand, I found the book more revealing and better balanced than the "hero" biographies and the "broken life" tales that pro players usually produce. It is the most enjoyable book I have read by a retired NFLer. If Mr. Green had also been retired from broadcasting when he wrote this, he probably could have been more candid. Perhaps an updated version will appear in the future.

For those who are interested in Deion Sanders, the book has a very interesting portrait of the man which will add to your appreciation of his remarkable career and his character.

Many of the most valuable parts of the book describe all of the things that teams do that create failure. Correctly, Mr. Green pinpoints the ultimate cause of these problems as being the owner. You have to have a coach and a general manager who want to have the same style of play. Only the owner can ensure that will happen.

Two things were very new to me. First, the players find the game far more exciting than I would have ever imagined. Some of the descriptions are very vivid. Going into the stadium during the introductions is apparently way beyond an adrenaline rush. It is a feeling that most of us will never experience in our lives. Second, I was surprised by how much pain permeates the lives of the players. There's even a section encouraging you not to squeeze a player's or ex-player's hand hard in a handshake, because of the on-going pain they have from hand injuries. On television, the players all seem to unaffected by pain. That's apparently an act. In reality, they wallow in pain.

Because the book is broken up into different topics, you can skip to the subjects that interest you. But check out some that don't sound very interesting as well. Mr. Green has many valuable things to say. He is both intelligent and articulate. He also cares about improving the game.

If you have sons, read the section about whether or not you should encourage them to play football. I don't buy his argument, however, that soccer causes more injuries than football. My experience as a soccer coach was just the opposite with the children and teenagers I knew.

He obviously sympathizes with the players, which most fans do also. But he praises the praiseworthy wherever he finds them, and attacks many of the villains.

After you read this book, I suggest that you think about how you could change your work to make it more exciting and valuable.

If you don't like things as they are, change them!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Green should have punted., November 30, 1997

By 

Crosstie Walker (Morgantown, WV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL (Hardcover)

I've been waiting for a dry-eyed look at the current state of the NFL, its players, coaches, front offices and officials.

Unfortunately, this book isn't the one. The title entices us with a promise of a "look behind the scenes," but most chapters (in reality, many are 1-2 pages long [!?]) contain information that could be easily obtained from the local newspaper or USA Today.

A typical chapter might begin, "People always ask me what it's like to [insert activity here] in the NFL. In reality, it's no different from any other job." Well, if that's the case, why write a chapter, let alone a book? I understand that Green is trying to demystify the league and its players, but it's difficult, if not impossible, to praise and criticize the league simultaneously. Say what you want about Howard Cosell, but he didn't flinch when it came time to lower the boom on pro football, a sport that he loved and covered for so many years. Green pulls way too many punches in this book.

Green keeps too many people anonymous in his "exposes" of incidents involving former teammates, coaches, or front office types. Nobody likes sour grapes, but after a while all the shadowy figures start to look the same. How 'bout a name or two to help us visualize, Tim?

Most humorous is the (unintentional) contradiction drawn by Green himself between the book's title and his introduction, in which he states, "I have no agenda here." Seems to me that the subtitle of the book would dictate that Green address directly problems like steroid use and 'name names.' I read passages like "it's a problem, the league knows about it, and there's no easy solution" too often for my taste.

I'm not laying all the blame at Green's feet for the lukewarm nature of this book. He has a TV job, his friendship with former teammates and coaches, and future books to protect, and I understand that he's not willing to jeopardize all or even some of that. However, a look at the "dark side" has to go beyond how to skip 3 weeks of training camp.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An anti-romantic, insider's point of view, May 3, 2000

By 

michael huff - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dark Side of the Game: My Life in the NFL (Mass Market Paperback)

Very refreshing. Not the rah-rah, market-driven NFL mythology that you get from so many other commentators. Green takes a very matter-of-fact, no-nonsense approach. The Steve-Young-vs-Joe-Montana essay alone is worth the price of admission.