Role of a Lifetime: Reflections on Faith, Family, and Significant Living [Hardcover]

James Brown (Author), Tony Dungy (Foreword), Nathan Whitaker (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 2009

We live in a world that all too often operates under the overriding template of self-promotion, embracing a "hooray for me" attitude, and which measures success in increasingly small timeframes dotted with markers of temporal value.

Millions of viewers know James Brown as a sports commentator and former athlete. With ROLE OF A LIFETIME, James reveals a different side of his character. Brown rose from a middle-class home to earn a scholarship to Harvard and a chance at a professional sports career before moving on to broadcast journalism. Part memoir and part self-help, this book draws on James's lessons from his faith and life experiences to guide readers to find fulfillment and significance. He offers values and encouragement to others of all generations, assisting them in their search for meaning in navigating a world that increasingly promotes transient values, if any at all. His message that shortcuts and gimmicks are counterproductive to a person's success provides hope that there is a God who cares about them and their futures.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Media personalities tend to have big egos. Brown, a sports broadcaster and host of The NFL Today, does not fit this mold. The author presents his life story, warts and all, hoping to inspire readers to embrace a fulfilling life. In college, Brown had a promising NBA career ahead of him, but his admitted complacency ushered him off the Atlanta Hawks' squad in the early '70s. When he recovered from grieving the death of his life dream, he committed himself to achievement and fulfilling his adult responsibilities even in the face of racism and the often cutthroat world of television. At times, Brown's attempt to glean life lessons from organized sports becomes clichéd. The most genuine passages are those in which Brown writes from his heart about the partnership he cherishes with his wife, his faith life and the pride he feels about his daughter. For all his success, it is clear that Brown's primary motivation in life is to be a constructive role model. One need not be a professional sports fan to appreciate and even share this desire. (Sept. 24)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

'Media personalities tend to have big egos. Brown, a sports broadcaster and host of The NFL Today, does not fit this mold. The author presents his life story, warts and all, hoping to inspire readers to embrace a fulfilling life. In college, Brown had a promising NBA career ahead of him, but his admitted complacency ushered him off the Atlanta Hawks' squad in the early 70s. When he recovered from grieving the death of his life dream, he committed himself to achievement and fulfilling his adult responsibilities even in the face of racism and the often cutthroat world of television. At times, Brown's attempt to glean life lessons from organized sports becomes cliched. The most genuine passages are those in which Brown writes from his heart about the partnership he cherishes with his wife, his faith life and the pride he feels about his daughter. For all his success, it is clear that Brown's primary motivation in life is to be a constructive role model. One need not be a professional sports fan to appreciate and even share this desire' - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (September 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446541176
• ISBN-13: 978-0446541176
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Sports Broadcasting
  • #80 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > Television Performers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational as well as motivational September 16, 2009

By Holly VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I freely admit that I am not a television viewer. While there was a time in my life where I was up on sports and knew everything that was going on with my two favorite NFL teams, that time is not now. And, while I was aware that James Brown was a sports show analyst and commentator, I knew nothing about the man himself.

Honestly, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I thought it would simply be entertaining. I didn't expect to be moved, much less inspired.

James Brown writes candidly about his life and his ups and downs and successes and failures. Being drafted into the NBA was his dream come true. Being released after training camp was a defeat. He's honest and open and never once do you think that he's feeling sorry for himself. On the contrary, this is a book about finding the role that you were born to live, and the role that God wants for you.

I appreciated James' view that we maximize our own potential as much by building others up and letting them shine, as we do on our own. James speaks openly about finding his faith and living it. His faith and family are important to him and he is who he is, in part, because of his mother's example of goodness. In his eyes, success is making a difference in the lives of others, and we can only do that with God's help. He's very quick to give credit to those people who've made a difference in his life and who've taught him and helped him get to where he is today.

If I have any complaints at all with the book, it's that I felt it needed a good edit. But, that's just me. I know a book is good when I want to high-light passages for future reference, and there were several here where I did just that. I'd love to hear James speak in person. I think his message would be both inspirational and motivational.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brown's Charisma Shines Through This Well-Written Book October 6, 2009

By Nancy French

Format:Hardcover

I'm not a huge football fan, but I've always enjoyed the television demeanor of James Brown. He always seems so kind and well-versed in all that's going on in the studio -- had a certain spirit in him that emanated all the way to me, a wife who never understood the sport and caught his segments while popping popcorn and serving pizza to the real sports fans in our house.

How happy I was to pick up this book recently in Lexington, Kentucky -- home of the University of Kentucky, who I learned offered Brown a basketball scholarship. (He "settled" for Harvard instead... a momentary lack of judgment!) Brown is the type of guy who's so athletic (and surrounded by athletes) that he wrote, "I'm only 6'5"....

But the true heart of the book is not sports at all. Rather, it's a simplicity that comes from hard work, gratitude, family, and lessons learned. His love for various people in his life (his mom, dad, and a former coach) is palpable. As I read the book, I realized that people don't talk about honor and "keeping your word" like his parents did. it's refreshing to read a book by a man who's "old school" in the ways that matter, who is just as kind to the elevator operator as he is to a Supreme Court Justice.

Wonderful read -- buy it for the sports fans in your life... and even the pizza-servers!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Autobiography December 31, 2009

By C. Baker VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is part autobiography and part testimonial to a Christian way of life. Maybe, in some ways, people could see it as a self-help book, but that's not exactly a good description of this work.

Here Brown talks about his life growing up in a modest Washington, D.C. neighborhood and being the first member of his family to go to college, and Harvard at that. He went on a basketball scholarship and had dreams of playing in the NBA. Once he got to the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks his dreams were soon dashed.

His strong family and values is what pulled him through a tough time and thrust him into the business world, where he was successful, but ultimately found himself staying in the sports world and calling games. He slowly climbed the ladder to where he is today, one of the most respected sports broadcasters.

There is quite a bit of advice on how to live life and maintain a strong value base, which helped Brown deal with many of the tough decisions in his life. They also helped him thrive in a tough profession.

While this may not be everyone's cup of tea, Brown has lead and interesting life and has some valuable insight into how a strong family (he especially extols his mother in this book) and good decisions based on firm values can lead to a happy and successful life. Nice guys don't always finish last.