Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For Raider & non-Raider fans alike...!, 1 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Rob Huizenga's account of his time as medical intern for the Los Angeles Raiders provides a provocative behind-the-scenes look at the reality of NFL football that is by turns hysterically funny and deeply disturbing. He conveys both the perverse attraction of being part of a team "camped out at the edge of reality", and also the shocked disbelief at the suspect and highly dangerous extremes that football players will go to in order to play while injured and so preserve their job. As team intern from 1983 to 1990, Huizenga faced a unique dilemma: his concern as a responsible doctor for his patients, the players, continually conflicted with their own desire to play through potentially crippling injuries. His frequent confrontations as well with team owner Al Davis over the treatment of players clearly illustrates why Davis's obsessive "win at all costs" attitude has made he and his team NFL pariahs. More generally, Huizenga pointedly shows how the intense pressure upon players from team, fans and the league itself, to consistently perform at the highest possible level drives individuals to abuse themselves and their bodies with a myriad of chemical substances. For Raider and non-Raider fans alike, Huizenga's book makes for compulsive reading. His experiences highlight the extreme "otherness" of NFL football, in which lies its principle attraction - the oddball characters who play it, the unorthodox means they endure to keep playing, and the high mental and physical cost that they pay for success in such a ferocious game.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, a must for Pro football fans, 27 Jan 2008
As a long time Denver Bronco fan (Raiders are scum) I approched this book with more than a little sceptisism. The Raiders have lied and cheated their way through football folklore. However by the second page I was hooked, this book is writen in a manner that you just can't put it down. No quarter is given to the team re what should have been done for these guys medically. The insites into Al Davis and the pressure players face to perform are nothing new, but still it's a great read and reminder that the game we love can have some terrible after effects on those who put their bodys on the line, week in week out.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A moving, gripping, and brilliant insight into pro football, 8 Aug 2006
Rob Huizenga was the team doctor for the Oakland Raiders during a time when they were among the premier teams in the NFL. His contribution to the team, his relationships with key players including the ultimately moving case of John "The Tooz" Matuszak, and the ominpresent figure of Al Davis are all detailed in loving attention.
Huizenga could have written this book from a bitter perspective but it isn't, it's a thoughtful and seemingly fair account of the highs and lows of the period including the highs and lows of Huizenga himself.
If you've ever wondered how players can bounce back from terrible collisions, or what it takes to go through the suffering barrier in the NFL then this book is definitely for you. It also covers the thorny issue of illegal drug use, and makes no bones about the habits of some players.
Football fans and especially Raiders fans will love the insight into the players of that era. Non-football fans, and even non-Americans like me can marvel at the Americana, and the unique sporting perspective that a physician can have in a sporting world that revolves around injury and pain.
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