If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to hang out with a living legend, I can tell you it’s pretty damn interesting, enlightening and sweet. If you’ve been curious if a larger-than-life king of his sport can still have an impact three decades after he’s stopped playing. My answer is ‘hell yes’. For the past month or so, we’ve been on a nation-wide promotional tour of our book on Pro Football Hall of Famer JackYoungblood. I published the book, it’s called Because it Was Sunday , and Jack and the author of the book D.W. Cooper and I have hit Orlando, Gainesville, New York, Bristol, Connecticut, Los Angeles and Orange County the past month promoting and selling it.
Jack has been unbelievable. He’s transcended sports and become part of pop culture lore because he played in the Super Bowl with a broken leg. We were on the
Jim Rome Show on October 25, in studio with Rome and his crew in Irvine, California, when Jack explained to Romey’s million plus listeners that the break was not a crack. “Let’s get that out of the way right now. This was not a stress fracture or a crack. It was broken clear through the tibia. It snapped like a pencil,” Jack said in his gruff baritone that is part of the reason he’s been called the “John Wayne of football.” My favorite quote in the book we put on the cover. It’s from John Madden. He says, “If an alien from Mars came to my front door and asked me ‘what’s a football player?’, I’d get Jack Youngblood. “ (This was back in the day when John Madden used to say interesting and clever things. Unlike the last decade and a half of his career)
We also did all the shows on ESPN, including SportsCenter. (They call it the carwash. That’s when ESPN has you booked on a complete tour of shows. You go to every studio and appear on every show you can on TV, radio and print. The Car Wash.) We also were at the Florida Gators vs. Alabama game in Gainesville. Worked the Big Apple, hitting Sirius XM, and Boomer Esiason’s show, and then a big signing at ESPN Zone at LA Live in downtown LA. It’s been very cool.
The highlights for me have been getting to know Jack Youngblood, and seeing what true greatness is like in person. He’s so gracious with his fans, signing every single autograph and posing for every single picture. Plus at the age of 60, he still works out daily and I guarantee you he could deliver a vicious head slap that would knock you into the middle of next month. He’s damn strong. We shared a lot of cigars the past month, and it’s been humbling seeing how fans of Jack freak out and damn near tremble in his presence when they see him. He’s brought a lot of joy to a lot of people as a player, and he’s continuing to do it now on our book tour.
Here’s the video clip from when we had Jack on the TV show Extra with Mario Lopez, plus a behind the scenes video we shot from Jack’s garage in the wee hours of the morning before a book signing.
Enjoy—and if you want to get your hands on without question the very best sports bio of the year, and quite possibly the last 25 years, in fact I can’t think of a book that’s better, buy it today right here www.youngbloodbook.com and I’ll make sure Jack autographs it for you.