Customer Reviews
The View from the Broadcasting Booth by an Ex-NFLer - By: Donald Mitchell, 10 May 2004 
Tim Green was an unusual defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons. He read booksin the locker room & during team meetings. He went to law schoolin his spare time. He had a hard time gaining weight & keeping it on. He left the game with his body & his brain relatively unscrambled (despite many concussions & stingers), & took up a new career as a broadcaster for Fox. His book is a series of mini-essays on everything you always wanted to know about pro football, but never wanted to experience. It is a gripping tale of pain, broken bodies, shattered lives, & electric moments that will remain with you for the rest of your life. I would have graded the book higher, but he did seem to skirt some of the obvious problems that professional football players experience such as groupies & deliberate attempt to maim. On the other hand, I found the book more revealing & better balanced than the "hero" biographies & the "broken life" tales that pro players usually produce. It is the most enjoyable book I have read by a retired NFLer. If Mr. Green had also been retired from broadcasting when he wrote this, he probably could have been more candid. Perhaps an updated version will appearin the future.
For those who are interestedin Deion Sanders, the book has a very interesting portrait of the man which will add to your appreciation of his remarkable career & his character.
Many of the most valuable parts of the book describe all of the things that teams do that create failure. Correctly, Mr. Green pinpoints the ultimate cause of these problems as being the owner. You have to have a coach & a general manager who want to have the same style of play. Only the owner can ensure that will happen.
Two things were very new to me. First, the players find the game far more exciting than I would have ever imagined. Some of the descriptions are very vivid. Going into the stadium during the introductions is apparently way beyond an adrenaline rush. It is a feeling that most of us will never experiencein our lives. Second, I was surprised by how much pain permeates the lives of the players. There's even a section encouraging you not to squeeze a player's or ex-player's hand hardin a handshake, because of the on-going pain they have from hand injuries. On television, the players all seem to unaffected by pain. That's apparently an act. In reality, they wallowin pain.
Because the book is broken up into different topics, you can skip to the subjects that interest you. But check out some that don't sound very interesting as well. Mr. Green has many valuable things to say. He is both intelligent & articulate. He also cares about improving the game.
If you have sons, read the section about whether or not you should encourage them to play football. I don't buy his argument, however, that soccer causes more injuries than football. My experience as a soccer coach was just the opposite with the children & teenagers I knew.
He obviously sympathizes with the players, which most fans do also. But he praises the praiseworthy wherever he finds them, & attacks many of the villains.
After you read this book, I suggest that you think about how you could change your work to make it more exciting & valuable.
If you don't like things as they are, change them!
Down-to-earth, bruising account - By: joblud@yahoo.co.uk, 30 Nov 1999 I liked this book a lot, but felt the chapters were a little too short. Green skips over a wide variety of issues, ranging from training camp to the rivaly between the offense & defence. There are a lot of good anecdotes about life behind the pads, but the short chapters make you feel a little short-changed, wanting Green to develop more of some areas, & less of others. I would have prefered fewer chapters, with more in-depth exploration of some of the issues. Green relies too heavily on personal experience: whilst it is a good starting point, it risks leaving the book sounding like his own personal views on football & the NFL. He does use some of his experience as a broadcaster, which grants him the advantage of finding out what some of the other players feel about things, but generally few people seem to have gone on the record with anything mildly controversial. Still worth a read, because it mentions a lot of stuff that never got outin the papers at the time it happened, & that is always the advantage of a book like this.
Intelligent and informing - By: , 20 Jul 1999 I really thought that Tim Green's "The Dark Side of the Game" is a great book & lets fansin on many details that they would not know from simply watching a game on television. It provides fans with information on almost everything from training camp to playoffs & everythingin between. Although Tim gives his opinions on the greatnesses & drawbacks of the game, he does not mention why he quit the game & it is a quick book to read
Tim Green reveals the hidden truths of the NFL. - By: , 15 Jun 1999 In The Dark Side of the Game, Green reveals the negatives & positive outlooksin the NFL that will truly surprise the heck out of anyone. It reveals the truth about agents, money, size impact, & facts about Deion Sanders that will make you like him. Because of Tim Green's excellent ability to accurately talk football life; I was vastly hooked on this book. I was never hooked that bad before! I recommend this book to total hard-core fans, players & men who wants the truth & nothing but the truth. THIS BOOK IS THE REAL DEAL. Enough said.
I don't feel like I've "been there" vicariously - By: , 31 Dec 1998 
When I bought "The Dark Side Of The Game" I expected to read a book about... (ready?) the dark side of the game. I expected to smell, taste, & feel what it's like to be a playerin the NFL. I expected to hear all about the unrelenting schedules, the practices without pity, the meaness of coaches, & the ficklness of fans.
Instead, what What Tim Green supplies us is collection of unrelated short articles that seem to be saying,in summary, that football is hard & all season season the players are constantly sore. Thanks, Tim, for that blinding glimpse of the obvious.
Don't get me wrong: I didn't DISlike this book. It was a fast, easy, & relatively fun read. But after reading the book, I don't feel like I know what it feels like to playin the NFL. Heck, I don't even REALLY understand why the title says this book is about the DARK side...
So go ahead & buy the book. Read itin a couple or three nights. Just don't expect to feel like you've "been there" vicariously. At least I didn't.
