Customer Reviews

Mike Singletary One-on-One: The Determination That Inspired Him to Give God His Very Best

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OK - I'm female and I like football. But that doesn't mean I completely understand it. So why would I (you) want to read a book written about football by a football player? The question was answered within the first couple pages of "Mike Singletary One-On-One". It's not just about football...it's about life. Oh, sure there's enough football stories...the hits, the plays to keep the average football fan happy. (Why you can practically smell the turf when reading this book.) But you combine Mike Singletary - one of the greats of football - with Jay Carty's humor and insights and you have winning combination. Here's an example: In the chapter entitled "High and Lonely", Mike talks about having a work ethic that put him at a different level than many of his teammates were willing to go. And that can make you lonely. "It would have been nice if I had been one of the guys, but that was not my way. I didn't know how to play any other way. Maybe if I'd had more talent I could have relaxed a bit, but I didn't. I was the guy who came from the ghetto, who was too small and who was dedicated to my family...yes, sometimes it was lonely at the top." It is this kind of honest reflection with Jay's commentary and spiritual perspective that makes a professional football player "human"... even downright relatable. This is a great book to give to a football fan...it's even a better book to give to someone who has to deal with the "hits" and the "daily playbook of Life." (I know that I will also be watching Sunday football with just a little more insight into the game.)

Author Jay Carty and linebacker Mike Singletary relate valuable lessons of life. A great read, especially in a section-a-day way, former L.A. Laker Carty and former Chicago Bear Singletary take turns relating stories, anecdotes and general tips on life to those who wish to learn from the best. Mike Singletary has been an inspiration to all as a man dedicated to working hard and never giving up, no matter the circumstances. Highly recommended!!

I'm no longer a gung-ho supporter of any professional football team. (Although I probably still lean a little toward the Miami Dolphins - my first gridiron love dating back to 1972 and their undefeated season.) But in 1984, I was a big fan of the Los Angeles Raiders (my hometown team) who were then the reigning Super Bowl champions, and I can still recall watching a game against the Chicago Bears on the lobotomizer (TV). To my utter amazement, four Raiders had to be assisted off the field that day. My jaw fell open! This was the sort of manhandling treatment that the OTHER teams customarily suffered when playing the men in (Silver And) Black. That was the day that I sat up and took notice of the new Monsters Of The Midway, and that wild-eyed linebacker wreaking havoc on everything over the middle - MIKE SINGLETARY.

To this day, Singletary (inducted into the Football Hall Of Fame in 1998) remains the best linebacker I've ever seen, and no football fan from my generation will ever forget those eyes under his helmet, wide open, huge, like two motherships scanning the terrain for something to zap into smithereens. And what an awesome force this man was on the field, flattening runningbacks and pulverizing quarterbacks and dealing similarly with any other fool who got in his way! Singletary was the indisputable leader of what came to be known as "The Junkyard Dog Defense." In this book, `MIKE SINGLETARY: ONE ON ONE', Jay Carty calls him "the most intense man I have ever met." Over two decades ago, a friend gave me the nickname, "Mister Intense", and although admittedly I have mellowed a little with age, I'm still occasionally called by that moniker. And it was Singletary's intensity and reputation as a good man that appealed to me even while I hated his '85 team - which I will confess is the greatest football team I've ever rooted against.....and better than any team I ever rooted for, too.

(Mike writes: "The huge amount of pressure was most intense on game day. I got really revved up. I would hyperventilate and build up a rapid heart rate. While everyone else listened to rock, rap and hip-hop to amp up, I would listen to Beethoven to try to calm down." Ha-Ha! Yeah, this dude was created for the game of football!)

`MIKE SINGLETARY: ONE ON ONE' is a book containing 60 Christian lessons (broken up into daily study) which ex-L.A. Laker and current minister, Jay Carty, based upon the reminiscences of Mike's playing days. On the left-hand page is a brief football-related story by Mike, and on the right-hand page is the Christian (usually Bible-based) insight that Jay associates with the story. Following his text, Carty includes a little prayer related to the theme and then gives some Bible passages for the reader to explore the idea more fully.

I found Carty's original prayers (and commentary) to be rather silly at times (and really, with the exception of a few Holy Spirit-filled prayers that one should memorize, effective prayer really needs to be spontaneous and come from the individual's heart - not from someone else's heart), and in a few of the lessons, I felt that Carty was really reaching to find a spiritual message based on what Singletary had to say. Even so, I found myself highlighting as much of Carty's text as Singletary's, and there is no question that Jay is a very sincere man who desires to live a Christ-like life.

There were less than flattering comments made about a couple of other players (e.g., Day 20, in which Singletary discusses William "The Refrigerator" Perry's lack of commitment and self-discipline) that probably weren't necessary, and probably don't belong in a book of this nature. But they were made more palatable by the honesty of both writers who did not shy away from pointing out times in their own lives when they too had gotten off the track.

`ONE ON ONE' contained many interesting stories: you'll learn who Singletary ranks as the best quarterbacks he ever played against and which two linemen hit him as hard as he hit others; you'll learn what qualities Mike and Jay believe constitutes a "real man"; and you'll learn about the "miraculous moment" when Singletary is sure that God intervened on his behalf, saving him from a possible career ending injury.

The book is informative, easy reading, and according to my own understanding, mostly Biblically sound. Also, I feel that God actually delivered a personal message to me through the lesson for Day 21 - what more could one ask for? `MIKE SINGLETARY: ONE ON ONE' would make an especially excellent gift for a young man who is involved in athletics and needs to see how a very motivated, competitive player can also be a good man and what being a good man really entails.

Mike Singletary is one of my all-time favorite athletes. His Mother believed that we must "let God be God." And for that reason, she ignored the advice of her doctors when they recommended that she have an abortion. Mike was born as a result of her letting God be God. I'm glad she did!

Having read several of Jay Carty's books now I have to say he is an incredibly inspiring writer and person to say the least. I am so excited each month as I check for new "stuff" from Jay Carty as it is always refreshing and different yet always connected to God with a three stranded cord. If you haven't been a reader of his books for long there are many to choose from and this writer never stops searching for Gods will in his daily efforts to continue to provide hearty reading material for all groups and all stages from salvation, and growth to a mature level of one's spiritual walk. I highly recommend anything he puts his hands on because I know the hand of God is on him. Some of what I have read and or listened to on tape are:"Discovering your natural talents", "Counter Attack: taking back ground lost to sin", "Playing with fire", "Something's fishy Getting rid of the carp in your life","Coach Wooden One on One", "Coach Wooden's Piramid of success", Darrell Waltrip - One on One, "Mike Singletary- One on One" all keeping me captivated from cover to cover!

Dora Wolfe - CA

As a life long Packer fan I must admit there were times when I didn't appreciate Mike Singletary's prowess on the gridiron. However, I have a new respect and admiration of him today. Having read other Jay Carty books, I knew I had to read this one and I was not disappointed. This is the sort of inspirational book that one can cycle through over and over and never cease to be inspired.

Whoever Jay Carty is - He's on to something special. This book is the second one I read. First John Wooden, now Mike Singletary. I loved UCLA basketball and I loved the '85 Bears. This book gives you tastes of both again, along with some nice balance to other things in life. Great read!

Mike Singletary and Jay Carty

While I read this book for Mike Singletary's insights, having read Jay Carty's book written with John Wooden I knew that I would enjoy his insights as well.

The format is consistent: Singletary's insights on the left page and Carty's on the right.

I also bought John Wooden One-on-One, another book in the series with Jay Carty, which is an exceptional book of warmth and wisdom.

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The book is not what I expected, rather dull and did not really cover football, the co-writer did not offer much.

Would buy again from this seller. Item arrived quickly, and in condition described.

Thanks so much!

I purchased this book from a friend he said this is a great book, and he enjoyed every single page, although im not a football/sports fan I may read this book for myself.