Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look - Softcover

Kirwan, Pat; Seigerman, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1600783910 ISBN 13: 9781600783913

Publisher: Triumph Books, 2010

Synopsis

Today's NFL fans have more viewing options than ever before. Each and every week, football addicts plant themselves in front of big-screen, high-definition TVs and watch the game they love unfold via slow-motion replays and multiple camera angles, pausing and fast-forwarding the action on their DVRs as they please.
Yet while more and more football fans are watching the NFL each week, many of them don't know exactly what they should be watching. What does the offense's formation tell you about the play that's about to be run? When a quarterback throws a pass toward the sideline and the wide receiver cuts inside, which player is to blame? Why does a defensive end look like a Hall of Famer one week and a candidate for the practice squad the next?
These are the questions football fans ask during every game they watch, and for too long, they've lacked the kind of insight and information that courses through coaches' offices, locker rooms, and meetings throughout the NFL. Football fans are starving to learn more about the game they love, to appreciate the intricacies of their sport the way baseball fans do theirs. Now Pat Kirwan, popular analyst for NFL.com and Sirius NFL Radio and a veteran front office executive, and co-author David Seigerman present Take Your Eye Off the Ball, a book that takes you inside a coach's mind as he builds a roster or constructs a game plan, to the line of scrimmage with the quarterback, and deep into the perpetual chess match between offense and defense.
Take Your Eye Off the Ball is not a beginner's introduction to football, nor is it a technical manual for only the most studious of fans. Instead, it clearly and simply explains the intricacies and nuances that affect the outcomes of every NFL game. No more passively watching the action unfold with only the TV analyst's clichés to guide you, no more wondering why one player is on the field and not another. Take Your Eye Off the Ball:
* Explains the pros and cons of different personnel groups

* Tells you what to look for when projecting a college quarterback's success in the NFL

* Gives fans a simple, easy-to-remember checklist to help them understand the action on the field
Baseball claims to be America's national pastime, but football is its passion. Take Your Eye Off the Ball will make fans feel like they've got their own personal head coach by their side each and every Sunday, enhancing the fan experience by making football more accessible, colorful, and compelling than ever before.

About this title

About the Author

Pat Kirwan, one of the nation's most well-respected and popular NFL analysts, is the co-host of Movin' the Chains on Sirius NFL Radio and a featured columnist on NFL.com. Since 2003 he has been an editorial contributor to the NFL Today on CBS and makes frequent appearances on TV and radio programs across the country, including ESPN, the NFL Network, and Sporting News Radio. Prior to joining CNN/SI in 1998, Pat spent 25 years working in football, coaching at the high school and college levels before joining the New York Jets' staff as a defensive assistant coach. He eventually moved into the front office, becoming the team's Director of Player Administration. The father of three grown children, Pat lives in the New York area with his wife Janet.
David Seigerman is a veteran sports journalist whose writing career began in newspapers (Newsday, Jackson Sun) and moved on to magazines (College Sports Magazine). In 1996 he moved from print to broadcast media, becoming a field producer for CNN/SI and eventually the managing editor at College Sports Television. Since 2003, he has been a freelance writer and producer, and co-wrote and co-produced the feature-length documentary, The Warrior Ethos: The Experience and Tradition of Boxing at West Point. He lives in Larchmont, New York, with his wife Elizabeth and their two children.

Review

To have coached at the highest level and then moved into the administrative and management realm and know what you're talking about in both is relatively unique. Pat can 'talk the talk' to players but still speak the language of contracts and deals. Pat boils even the most complicated nuances of football down to the base elements so that everyone can understand it
Brad Childress --Head coach, Minnesota Vikings

I wish I had been coached as a player the way I've been coached by Pat as an analyst. He's expanded my knowledge and understanding of the big picture of the game. He's schooled at every position on both sides of the ball, and not just in terms of how to play the position; he also explains to you why things need to be done a certain way
Tim Ryan --Co-host, Movin' the Chains, Sirius NFL Radio

I wish I had been coached as a player the way I've been coached by Pat as an analyst. He's expanded my knowledge and understanding of the big picture of the game. He's schooled at every position on both sides of the ball, and not just in terms of how to play the position; he also explains to you why things need to be done a certain way
Tim Ryan --Co-host, Movin' the Chains, Sirius NFL Radio

About this edition

• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1600783910
• ISBN 13: 9781600783913
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 225