Collision Low Crossers: A Year Inside the Turbulent World of NFL Football

Claiming that professional football "thrive[s] on mystery," Dawidoff (The Catcher Was a Spy) embedded himself with the NFL's New York Jets for the 2011 season in an attempt to demystify the sport. By converging elements of the best sport literature%E2%80%94analysis, expose, humor%E2%80%94into an expansive narrative, he takes readers inside the windowless offices of the Jets' Florham Park, N.J., headquarters and onto sweat-stained practice fields where men become boys and friendships rise and fall. Beginning with the NFL Scouting Combine in February through to the final game of a disappointing season marked by early Super Bowl aspirations and a player lockout, Dawidoff reveals the professional, physical, and human toll a single NFL season takes. Issues of player safety and sexual orientation are covered neatly and quickly so he can get back to an overreliance on Xs and Os. In fact, the book takes its title from a little-known term used by defensive coaches to describe linebackers and other players who make "legal contact with any potential pass receiver%E2%80%A6 crossing the field within five yards of the line of scrimmage." This coveted exploration of the inner workings of an NFL team isn't for casual fans, but it will thrill Jets followers and disciples of the game, ensuring readers won't watch football the same way again. Agent: David McCormick, McCormick & Williams. (Nov.)