Gridiron Glory: Genesis
In January 2015, I was doing what I do best, watching movies and reading when I all of a sudden went on a football binge. Frankly, in my mind its always football season as most of my friends know, but I had never done anything to this extreme before. Any football movie I could get my hands on, Friday Night Lights, Jerry Maguire, The Longest Yard, Any Given Sunday. I read the Friday Night Lights book, I read several behind the scenes NFL books as well.
The constant grind of bringing a roster of 53 grown men together to constantly clash in battle on a weekly basis is a serious challenge. Having to manage them physically, psychologically and socially, along with the strategic backdrop involving all the coaches who sometimes also have thier own grievences and personal goals (moving up from coordinator to Head Coach) is a big responsibility for a Head Coach. This isn't including the front office, the General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Director of Player Personell, scouting department and everyone undernearth them.
Underneath all of these people there are a ton of relationships, aspirations, contract clauses, families, anything you can think of, its there. I think more than anything, this is why I was so interested in the grind of a football season. Of course most of you know that I used to play football myself, in Highschool and college. I was more known for track and field in the end but I will tell you nothing challenges you more physically and psychologically then having to pull yourself through a long, grueling football season.
Anyway like I was saying, I was reading and watching everything looking into the background of professional football. From a fans perspective I think we all know how awesome Any Given Sunday was. We all loved Jerry Maguire and the big turn Tom Cruise's character made in the movie. Friday Night Lights was very touching and all, but what happend to the Permian Panthers next season?
This is how Gridiron Glory was born, because of that one question; what happened next?
I'll tell you first it was the movie Any Given Sunday that did it more than anything else. I can't tell you how many times me and my family watched that movie growing up. But really though, what the hell happend to Willie Beamen next season? Did he get the contract he wanted? Did he kill it on the field and take the Sharks deep into the playoffs? As you can see I still want to know!
This brings me to Gridiron Glory. First off, yes and no TJ Ripper was inspired by Jamie Foxx. The scrambling quarterback is one of the most polarizing position types in all of sports. To this day there are people who talk about Randal Cunninghams 30 TD almost 1000 rushing yard season in 1990, because that's how awesome it was. As an Eagles fan I know how awesome it was! If you want to bring it into the 2000s what about Colin Kapernick? Russell Wilson? Tim Tebow? Cam Newton? And of course the greatest of them all Micheal Vick! How many arguments have you had with your friends about the dropback passer vs. the scrambling quarterback and who is better? Ripper was originally created by me to get into the psyche of the scrambling quarterback, and watch him develop from a runner to a young man who can do both with balance. I can talk about scrambling QBs all day as you can see, I've done very detailed obsessive research (and it continues) about them but we'll save that for another post.
The other main characters in Gridiron Glory include Owner and General Manger of the New Jersey Spartans Jeremy Spears and Ripper's caring but struggling sports Agent Robert Shroud. There are a ton of characters that support just these three guys as the story goes on but basicly I wanted to get the pro football perspective of in my eyes were the most intersting positions; the star players, their agents and the GM/Owner who controls everything trying to create a money/competitive balance with thier franchise.
This is how Gridiron Glory was born. Because Hollywood is too busy making Marvel movies over and over again (Spider Man again, really?) to stop and think "maybe we should've made a sequel to Any Given Sunday?" They probably didn't think there was much of a market for it, and I think they are absolutely wrong. The challenge I've been facing is how to you create action in words? Well everyone knows the first thing in my mind to that question when I heard it was "challenge accepted!" Based on the reviews I've done a great job in the play by play in the book and if my new action-verb obsession has told me anything its that the books following will only get better. Yes there will be a Gridiron Glory II and beyond, I won't pull an Any Given Sunday on you guys! Actually as we speak I'm going through the final edits for the book now!
But to put it all in a nutshell, the Gridiron Glory series is a book series focused on the psychological apsects of pro football players. These things include contract negotiations, competition on the roster, injuries, personal romantic and family relationships, anything you can think of that those warriors in pads go through I'm doing the best I can to put it on a manuscript and describe it so you can look at it from thier perspective! I love this game, everything about it and I think if everyone knew it the way us football-crazy fans know it it would be even more loved then it is now! Wrap the psyche concept along with the Global Football League, hosting teams in cities like Sao Paulo Brazil and London and I think its a fresh look at what we will see in the future as the National Football League starts to go global.
Gridiron Glory is about passion, its about the physical grind, its about romance, it has something for everyone. Don't take my words for it, go on my site and start reading for yourself.
And yes if you haven't figured it out by now blog lovers, I'm back! For the new readers if I sound like an angry writer to you I'm not, I just like to keep things interesting.
Be About it,
Kevon
