GOING DEEP

NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Carter (co-author: Born to Believe, 2000) offers his take on the position’s growing importance to professional football and why it attracts and creates some of the game’s biggest personalities.

The evolution of the NFL has seen massive changes in the way the game is played, from old-time smash-mouth, running-based football to the modern, passing-oriented spectacle we see today. Along with these changes, cultural and financial shifts have changed the lives of players off the field as well. NFL stars, like most professional athletes these days, are often in the news, not always for their game-day accomplishments. Many of the larger-than-life football stars of this new era seem to be wide receivers, and Carter, who has become a well-known TV commentator in his post-playing days, sets out to explore why. What might seem to be a flimsy topic for a full-length book is filled out with Carter’s outspoken thoughts on his career and the careers, and controversies, of others who played, and still play, the position, including Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. Though Carter’s analysis offers nothing groundbreaking, and he occasionally has to stretch a bit to make his point, his candid style and insider knowledge will keep most readers entertained. The author does not hold back from expressing his opinions on the mistakes made by other players, but he applies the same lens to himself, speaking openly of his own problems with drugs and alcohol early in his career and offering advice to others on how to make the most of their talent.

A mix of autobiography, cautionary tale and football-geek analysis that will provide die-hards with some insight into one of the sport’s most prominent positions.