Men of Sunday - A Book Review

I recently received a copy of a new book called Men of Sunday: How Faith Guides the Players, Coaches, and Wives of the NFL.  I picked out this book primarily because I love sports and books about Christian athletes.  I always love hearing the stories and finding out about the faith of some of sports greatest athletes.  This book focuses on a number of current and former NFL players and the growing acceptance in most NFL locker rooms to athletes who are outspoken about their Christian faith.

Many of the names in this book will be very familiar to most sports fans - Tim Tebow, Tony Dungy, Ray Lewis, Trent Dilfer, LaDanian Tomlinson, Aaron Rodgers, and Mike Singletary.  The author, Curtis Eichelberger, describes at the beginning of the book how the National Football league has become a place where the Christian faith is much more accepted and prevalent than in years past.  He shows how a large number of the NFL's most successful athletes are men who are strong in the Christian faith.  However, he also avoids the campy suggestion that these men are successful because they are Christians and that somehow God gives Christian players more success than non-Christians.  Instead, he shows how the Christian faith drives many players to excel at the sport, to work hard to the glory of God, and to stay humble in spite of their success or failures.  He also shows how these Christian players handle many tough topics such as being a husband and father, overcoming injury and adversity, dealing with the violent nature of the game, avoiding the multitude of temptations they face, and dealing with the nature of sudden transitions.

This book is a quick read which makes it a very good book for most men.  It deals with subjects that are very relevant to all men, whether they are athletes or not.  Most men will receive a great deal of encouragement from reading about how some of these men that they admire for their great athletic ability deal with issues that are common to all men.  At times is reads like a manhood manual.  It is filled with great advice and brings many practical scriptures to light.  I have already thought of about 5 men I can pass this book onto that would benefit greatly from it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”