From the Publisher
Mike Florio is masterful at getting to the crux of any story. Playmakers is a grand tour of the modern-day NFL. And he pulls no punches, which makes every entry even more riveting. Front to back, this is one terrific read.”—Al Michaels
“Playmakers looks at the NFL from all angles, and definitely from the player’s perspective. It will help fans understand how the League works, and what it means to play pro football in today’s NFL.”—Dak Prescott
“I have been a fan of Pro Football Talk since Mike launched the site and was thus delighted to learn that he had written a book. I anticipated that it would be packed with fascinating insights and intriguing analysis, and it is. Anyone interested in League history, League business, and League controversy should read Playmakers.”—Amy Trask, CBS Sports
“Mike Florio is one of our top three favorite writers at Pro Football Talk, and he is our favorite host of PFT Live. We thought this book was going to be about the ESPN show. It’s not, but it’s still good. If you have to read a book, this would be a good choice.”—Big Cat and PFT Commenter, hosts of Pardon My Take
“[An] entertaining look beyond the gridiron.”—Kirkus
"When it comes to the NFL, Mike Florio has long been a source of both credible information and insightful opinions. Playmakers provides both the essential background and an informed take on just about every NFL issue and controversy."
—Bob Costas
“[A] highly informative, entertaining, and provocative examination of what makes the NFL work and why at times it doesn’t work… Florio explores some very well-known incidents, issues, or personalities. He revisits scandals both on and off the field, sometimes solving mysteries and correcting public misunderstanding. Owners, players, and coaches come under his microscope with praise for some and dismissal for others.”—New York Journal of Books
Kirkus Reviews
2022-01-21
An insider’s guide to the hidden workings of pro football.
“The NFL loves to say, ‘Football is family.’ Football isn’t family. Football is business, and it’s good for business to say, ‘Football is family.’ ” So writes sportscaster and journalist Florio, creator and owner of ProFootballTalk.com, in one of a burst of mostly short essays that touch on single points, sometimes in a contrarian manner. Was Deflategate a real thing? Yes and no, writes Florio. Though in an incriminating email a Patriots employee called himself the “deflator,” Florio reveals that about half the footballs measured in pro games in 2015 during an NFL investigation had “air pressures below 12.5 psi at halftime of games played in cold conditions,” which was outside the permitted range. The NFL “gathered and deleted” that information. Why? Because it deflated a satisfying narrative about the Patriots and their iconic quarterback, Tom Brady. The money is huge, especially for owners, though being a billionaire, as Florio archly notes, doesn’t mean one knows anything about the game. The commissioner does, and Commissioner Roger Goodell, he guesses, makes more than $40 million per year. (The New York Times has reported that, including bonuses, Goodell took in almost $64 million each of the past two years.) Throughout, the author’s sympathies are clearly with the players. He writes sympathetically about Colin Kaepernick, whose “role as the robot who made the other robots self-aware turned him into a pariah,” and Tim Tebow, who, though he turned out to be a flash in the pan, at least had his day in the sun. Florio is less kindly disposed toward the money side of the game, with its nepotistic front offices, managerial ineptitude, and coaching jobs that “are filled based on factors other than merit.”
A sometimes ill-tempered and snarky but always entertaining look beyond the gridiron.
