Ruffians: A Novel [Hardcover]

Tim Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

A young first-round-draft pick NFL rookie confronts the realities of the world of professional football, in a firsthand, insider's fictional study of the pressures, corruption, and win-at-all-costs attitude of high-level sports. A first novel. 50,000 first printing. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Green is uniquely qualified to write a novel about the inner workings of pro football. A former All-American at Syracuse, he is a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons, a columnist for the Syracuse Herald-Journal and a commentator for National Public Radio. Indeed, this may be the first novel about pro football ever written by an active player. It is unlikely that the league will be thrilled by what Green has penned, however, since he depicts pro football as an obsessively violent game whose players often are under the influence of steroids and amphetamines. Clay Blackwell is big, strong and naturally gifted. He is drafted by the Birmingham Ruffians, the NFL's worst team, whose owner is vicious and unscrupulous and whose coach is a borderline psycho, an egomaniac seething with rage. Like his teammates, Clay is expected to use a mysterious steroid-and-amphetamine compound if he wants to play. When this nefarious policy leads to tragedy, Clay finally rebels. Though Green obviously knows the football world quite well, his portrait of the NFL is melodramatic and exaggerated. On the other hand, he excels in making the interplay between teammates both believable and entertaining. An uneven debut, but one that suggests that Green might develop into a good comic writer about pro sports.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Clay Blackwell is the first-round draft pick of the Birmingham Ruffians, an NFL expansion team owned by an unprincipled businessman. Blackwell soon finds himself under pressure to go along with the head coach's program, which includes violent practice sessions, psychological manipulation, and black-market steroids. In his first novel, Green--a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons--writes exciting, crisply drawn football scenes whose action even a newcomer to the sport can easily follow. His visually oriented writing style defines people solely through their behavior, a tactic that makes the villains particularly one-dimensional; Blackwell is the most fully realized character. Sprinkled with a lot of football violence and some nongraphic sex, this book will appeal to older YA readers and football fans of any age.
- Terry Madden, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Turner Pub; 1st edition (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878685783
• ISBN-13: 978-1878685780
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,617,037 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 3-D Football Ride!, October 1, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Granada Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruffians: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I watched my 17 yr. old football playing son read this book. He kept trying to put it down and turn on the TV - Boob tube lost, book won. He read it in one day then passed it on to his father. Dad read it in one day because he couldn't put it down. A week later, son Chad is reading this book cover to cover again! Chad then insists that I have to read it and by gosh, I couldn't put it down either. Good thing I was on a coast to coast flight because there would have been no work done that day! Tim Green's characters are real and full of flavor - good guys and bad. Great Read!!! The book offers real people who happen to play football, not just the Monday Night Football versions of the athletes who play America's favorite sport.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as later works (The Letter of the Law & Outlaws), July 10, 2001

By 

"lvalanwb" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruffians: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading the above two books and hearing how great Ruffians was, I tried it. I really enjoyed reading it initially; however as the story progressed, the ending was very predictable and the repetitveness of booze and screwing around became boring. Also, this book is very similar to the movie North Dallas Forty (even though I don't know which came first). Read Outlaws and Letter of the Law which in my opinion are better Tim Green stories.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a solid first novel for Tim Green, July 9, 2003

By 

mackattack9988 "mackattack9988" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ruffians: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps familiar for his NFL service as a defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, a game commentator for Fox Sports, or as the author of the nonfiction book The Dark Side of the Game, Tim Green is becoming an entertaining fiction writer as well. In Ruffians, he begins a formula of focusing on a star NFL player who must make tough choices when facing corruption and scandal involving his NFL team. In this book the player is a highly drafted rookie (a defensive lineman no less) who gets caught between a rock and a hard place when his new franchise is led by an owner who pushes illegal performance-enhancing drugs and a coach who simply wants the players who are performing on the field to get the playing time.