Big Game

The NFL in Dangerous Times

De: Mark Leibovich

Narrado por: Joe Barrett

“A raucous, smash-mouth, first-person takedown of the National Football League." —Wall Street Journal

The New York Times bestseller

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Town, an equally merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force, pro football, at a moment of peak success and high anxiety

Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life tuned into pro football than he'd care to admit. Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up on a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is, until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most ruthlessly efficient and polarizing sports dynasty of the modern NFL, and its fans the most irritating in all of Pigskin America. Leibovich kept his obsession quiet, making a nice career for himself covering that other playground for rich and overgrown children, American politics. Still, every now and then Leibovich would reach out to Tom Brady to gauge his willingness to subject himself to a profile. He figured that the chances of Brady agreeing were a Hail Mary at best, but Brady returned Mark's call in summer 2014 and kept on returning his calls through epic Patriots Super Bowl victory and defeat, and a scandal involving Brady--Deflategate--whose grip on sports media was as profound as its true significance was ridiculous.

So began a four-year odyssey that took Mark Leibovich deeper inside the NFL than anyone has gone before. From the owners' meeting to the draft to the sidelines of crucial games, he takes in the show at the elbow of everyone from Brady to big-name owners to the cordially despised NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Ultimately, BIG GAME is a chronicle of "peak football"--the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the time when the dark side began to show. It is an era of explosive revenue growth, but also one of creeping existential fear. Players have long joked that NFL stands for "not for long," but as the true impact of concussions becomes inescapable background noise, it's increasingly difficult to enjoy the simple glory of football without the buzz-kill of its obvious consequences.

And that was before Donald Trump. In 2016, Mark's day job caught up with him, and the NFL slammed headlong into America's culture wars. Big Game is a journey through an epic storm. Through it all, Leibovich always keeps one eye on Tom Brady and his beloved Patriots, through to the 2018 Super Bowl. Pro football, this hilarious and enthralling book proves, may not be the sport America needs, but it is most definitely the sport we deserve.

Not exactly what I expected, but an ok listen

Was interesting but seemed more about the authors relationship with Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Oblivious Narrator

First time I have ever criticized a narrator, but this was absolutely the wrong choice. Anyone who has ever heard an interview with Leibovich knows he drips with sarcasm, disdain, and irony - so they got the most earnest narrator possible for his book, who just reads its straight off he page. Very disappointing, Leibovich should have read.

Excellent insider view of the NFL

This is a great look of the power and strife within the NFL In particular the patriots and the owners of the NFL teams lots of fun good reporting and a lot of tongue in cheek fun nuggets.

Interesting but just short of great

Interesting look into the NFL but wish I had known the author was a Patriots fan beforehand. Books is very Patriots-centric and if there is one team whose media coverage has reached over saturation, it's them.

Not my favorite narrator either.

Great read; funny and sarcastic

Gives us a peek behind the curtain of the NFL, told with a love of the game and a disdain for the league. Mostly about football as a business, with a lot of time spent on Tom Brady. A lot like This Town, a book on the Washington D.C. political scene by the same author. Except the author loves football while thinking much less of D.C. The same narrator for both books too, which is great because he performs with a dry humor and deep sarcasm befitting the subject.