Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game

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Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game

Acclaimed essayist Mark Edmundson reflects on his own rite of passage as a high school football player to get to larger truths about the ways America's Game shapes its men

Football teaches young men self-discipline and teamwork. But football celebrates violence. Football is a showcase for athletic beauty and physical excellence. But football damages young bodies and minds, sometimes permanently. Football inspires confidence and direction. But football instills cockiness, a false sense of superiority. The athlete is a noble figure with a proud lineage. The jock is America at its worst.

When Mark Edmundsonâ€™s son began to play organized football, and proved to be very good at it, Edmundson had to come to terms with just what he thought about the game. Doing so took him back to his own childhood, when as a shy, soft boy growing up in a blue-collar Boston suburb in the sixties, he went out for the high school football team. Why Football Matters is the story of what happened to Edmundson when he tried to make himself into a football player.

What does it mean to be a football player? At first Edmundson was hapless on the field. He was an inept player and a bad teammate. But over time, he got over his fears and he got tougher. He learned to be a better player and came to feel a part of the team, during games but also on all sorts of escapades, not all of them savory. By playing football, Edmundson became what he and his father hoped heâ€™d be, a tougher, stronger young man, better prepared for life.

But is football-instilled toughness always a good thing?Â Do the character, courage, and loyalty football instills have a dark side?Â Football, Edmundson found, can be full of bounties.Â But it can also lead you into brutality and thoughtlessness.Â So how do you get whatâ€™s best from the game and leave the worst behind?

Why Football Matters is moving, funny, vivid, and filled with the authentic anxiety and exhilaration of youth. Edmundson doesnâ€™t regret playing football for a minute, and cherishes the experience. His triumph is to be able to see it in full, as something to celebrate, but also something to handle with care. For anyone who has ever played on a football team, is the parent of a player, or simply is reflective about its outsized influence on America, Why Football Matters is both a mirror and a lamp.

Country	USA
Author	Mark Edmundson
Binding	Kindle Edition
Edition	Reprint
EISBN	9781101635728
Format	Kindle eBook
Label	Penguin Books
Manufacturer	Penguin Books
NumberOfPages	240
PublicationDate	2014-09-04
Publisher	Penguin Books
ReleaseDate	2014-09-04
Studio	Penguin Books

Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game

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