Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City
This uplifting story of a boys' football team shines light on the under-appreciated virtues that can bloom in impoverished neighborhoods, even as nearby communities exclude them from economic progress.

Never Ran, Never Will tells the story of the working-class, mostly black neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn; its proud youth football team, the Mo Better Jaguars; and the young boys who are often at the center of both. Oomz, Gio, Hart, and their charismatic, vulnerable friends, come together on a dusty football field. All around them their community is threatened by violence, poverty, and the specter of losing their homes to gentrification. Their passionate, unpaid coaches teach hard lessons about surviving American life with little help from the outside world, cultivating in their players the perseverance and courage to make it.

Football isn't everybody's ideal way to find the American dream, but for some kids it's the surest road there is. The Mo Better Jaguars team offers a refuge from the gang feuding that consumes much of the streets and a ticket to a better future in a country where football talent remains an exceptionally valuable commodity. If the team can make the regional championships, prestigious high schools and colleges might open their doors to the players.

Never Ran, Never Will is a complex, humane story that reveals the changing world of an American inner city and a group of unforgettable boys in the middle of it all.
1127834445
Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City
This uplifting story of a boys' football team shines light on the under-appreciated virtues that can bloom in impoverished neighborhoods, even as nearby communities exclude them from economic progress.

Never Ran, Never Will tells the story of the working-class, mostly black neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn; its proud youth football team, the Mo Better Jaguars; and the young boys who are often at the center of both. Oomz, Gio, Hart, and their charismatic, vulnerable friends, come together on a dusty football field. All around them their community is threatened by violence, poverty, and the specter of losing their homes to gentrification. Their passionate, unpaid coaches teach hard lessons about surviving American life with little help from the outside world, cultivating in their players the perseverance and courage to make it.

Football isn't everybody's ideal way to find the American dream, but for some kids it's the surest road there is. The Mo Better Jaguars team offers a refuge from the gang feuding that consumes much of the streets and a ticket to a better future in a country where football talent remains an exceptionally valuable commodity. If the team can make the regional championships, prestigious high schools and colleges might open their doors to the players.

Never Ran, Never Will is a complex, humane story that reveals the changing world of an American inner city and a group of unforgettable boys in the middle of it all.
16.99 In Stock
Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City

Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City

by Albert Samaha
Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City

Never Ran, Never Will: Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City

by Albert Samaha

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Overview

This uplifting story of a boys' football team shines light on the under-appreciated virtues that can bloom in impoverished neighborhoods, even as nearby communities exclude them from economic progress.

Never Ran, Never Will tells the story of the working-class, mostly black neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn; its proud youth football team, the Mo Better Jaguars; and the young boys who are often at the center of both. Oomz, Gio, Hart, and their charismatic, vulnerable friends, come together on a dusty football field. All around them their community is threatened by violence, poverty, and the specter of losing their homes to gentrification. Their passionate, unpaid coaches teach hard lessons about surviving American life with little help from the outside world, cultivating in their players the perseverance and courage to make it.

Football isn't everybody's ideal way to find the American dream, but for some kids it's the surest road there is. The Mo Better Jaguars team offers a refuge from the gang feuding that consumes much of the streets and a ticket to a better future in a country where football talent remains an exceptionally valuable commodity. If the team can make the regional championships, prestigious high schools and colleges might open their doors to the players.

Never Ran, Never Will is a complex, humane story that reveals the changing world of an American inner city and a group of unforgettable boys in the middle of it all.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781541767867
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication date: 09/04/2018
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
File size: 26 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Albert Samaha is a criminal justice reporter at BuzzFeed. He has worked at the Village Voice, San Francisco Weekly, the San Francisco Examiner, and the New York Observer. His stories have won awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, and others. He is a graduate of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

List of Characters xi

Author's Note xiii

Part I Boyhood

1 Gio's Arrival, July 2013 3

2 Looking for These Better Days, August 2013 13

3 Directed Toward Decay, September 2013 25

4 The Fundamentals of Life, September-November 2013 51

5 Crossroads, January 2014 73

6 Pressure Chamber, March-April 2014 83

7 Between Saviors and a Dead End, April 2014 99

8 What's Best for Isaiah, May 2014 119

9 Goodbyes, June 2014 133

Part II Football

10 The Days and Nights of Summer, June-July 2014 141

11 On the Horizon, July-August 2014 163

12 Hell Week, August 2014 175

13 Stop Dancin' and Run Somebody Over, August-September 2014 191

14 What They've Been Waiting For, Early to mid-September 2014 205

15 East Orange, Mid-September 2014 223

16 To Make It in the Jungle, Late September 2014 239

17 Brick City, Late September 2014 253

18 None of Y'all Gon' Die Tonight, Mid to late October 2014 275

19 The Rematch, Late October 2014 297

20 Blessings, December 2017 307

Acknowledgments 321

Bibliography 323

Index 329

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