Contenu
“When I played in the NFL, I was always in such a hurry to run my routes, so eager to please, and so scatterbrained. We all were. But the older you get, the more of the field you see.”—From Fantasy Man
At the start of 2015—16 NFL season, New York Times bestselling author and former Denver Broncos tight end Nate Jackson was rehabilitating his latest surgically repaired body part—an ankle clouded by bone fragments—while setting his lineups for three different fantasy football leagues. Six years after playing his last game, Jackson has found a welcome distraction in fantasy sports—just like millions of other Americans. The reigning champion in two of his leagues, Jackson drafts with his heart and foils the statistical analytics of the “little experts,” as well as his pals Ryno, Rocky, Razor, Bruise, and the rest, by drafting old teammates from his former life, including Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and the entire Mile High defense.
He quickly learns that smashmouth football in the NFL is not nearly as brutal as the life of an obsessed fantasy owner. Part exorcism, part catharsis, Fantasy Man takes us behind the scenes as a recently retired athlete grapples with the uncertainties of a second career: from being an outspoken advocate at marijuana conventions with Ricky Williams to offering radical ideas about football tactics (three quarterbacks behind the center, anyone?) to tending to his battered post-football body. He even makes it into Roger Goodell’s skybox to bear witness to Peyton Manning’s final heroic playoff run. At once poignant and uproarious, Fantasy Man is the story of the 2015—16 NFL season as seen through the razor-sharp lens of the game’s best writer.