GROWING UP COLT

God and the gridiron define the young life of the winningest quarterback in NCAA Division I football history.

No one knows for sure what kind of NFL QB former Texas Longhorn signal-caller Colt McCoy will turn out to be. The youngster looked promising in limited work with the Cleveland Browns during his rookie season last year, but it wasn’t nearly enough to start drawing comparisons to Browns legend Bernie Kosar. Still, as anyone with even a passing interest in the game knows, just getting to the NFL is a stunning achievement. Handing off the narrative to each other as they march downfield, McCoy and his father Brad offer a glimpse into how a small-town Texan was able to realize his big-league ambitions in this intimate look at how one football-obsessed family has successfully navigated their way to the NFL. Sure, it helped that Brad was a respected high-school football coach, but his 24-year-old Evangelical Christian son would have readers believe that it was the Almighty who really pushed him across the goal line. That fact should be understood at the outset—the fiercely devout McCoys are on a mission and proselytizing. The younger McCoy never misses an opportunity to sling a Bible verse at readers. If that kind of thing turns you off, look elsewhere. But if you’re down with the program, or just want to know more about the new hope of the Cleveland Browns offense, then this conversational account of Colt’s rise to the top should suffice.