Ty Reads "Paper Lion"

Recently during quarantine, and you all should still be quarantining if possible, or wearing a mask when you have to go out, please, I have decided that I am going to read what some deem to be classic sports books. I am also a non fiction fan, so the books I choose have to be real. That is just how I like to read, when I rarely read, although I have picked it up more as an adult. And during this pandemic, I have checked out the unread books I have in my closet, and a good portion are non fiction sports novels. So a few weeks back I decided I was going to start tackling these books. The first one I read, which I finished about five days ago, was "Paper Lion".

This book was on all the lists that I sought out before deciding to take this venture. This is a classic sports book written by a classic sports writer. And it is classic for a reason. I absolutely loved this book. Everything about it is amazing. My dad, my cousin, all the football fans in my life that I talk to about sports, they all told me I would love this book, and they were 100 percent correct. For those that don't know, "Paper Lion" has author George Plimpton going to Detroit Lions camp in 1960. He has longed to do this, and after asking many teams, the Lions finally bit. He had done a similar thing before, playing in the MLB All Star game, going to an NHL thing and some kind of pro golf thing, but nothing to the extent of this Lions camp. This was, by far, the most violent, and fastest pro sport he wanted to take part in. After getting into camp, he went through a few positions, until finally landing on quarterback. The sub title of the book is "The Confessions of a Last String Quarterback". He figured this would give him the most immersion into the sport, and he was right. Quarterback is the most important position in pro sports, so if you want to write a book about pro football, why not choose QB.

Besides the stuff all sports fans know, how tough and fast and big and scary pro football players can be, Plimpton gives us intimate details about training camp. He tells the ins and outs. He talks about arriving at the high school that the Lions used for training camp that year and being mistaken for a professor. He talks about conversations he had, one on one conversations mind you, with the coaches and players like Night Train Lane and Alex Karras, and the head coach and all of his assistants. He talks about the practices in great detail. He mentions how hard and fast and prepared you have to be even for a walk through type practice. He talks about the late nights, the curfews, vets and rookies getting cut, coaches yelling and screaming at stars, rookies and practice players, the pranks played on everyone, the late night stories from players, the rookies who were pushed aside by vets scared of losing their job to them. Plimpton writes about it all, and it feels like you are right there with him. I never got past high school football, but it was neat to remember my times playing when reading what Plimpton was talking about. The camaraderie, the lifelong friendships, the competition, he totally nails everything.

The best part of the book is when Plimpton talks about actually playing in a scrimmage, and how tough it was. He got to play five plays, five he knew really, really well, and he lost 30 yards. He missed a handoff, over threw a wide out, got stepped on by a lineman, fumbled the ball and got sacked before he could barely get away from center. He said it, and I felt it, it was nice to read that not anyone could play this game, that it takes a certain type of athlete. It was very interesting, and oddly comforting to know that a guy like Plimpton, who wasn't unathletic, but not a pro level guy, couldn't just walk on a pro football field and do things like real pro do.

I really loved this book. I now understand why it is on every best of sports books lists. I highly recommend this book, especially now when we have so much extra time, and because we will, most likely, not get any type of football this fall. "Paper Lion" is a classic, and I love that I have now read it and can exclaim how great it is to the world. Go read this book. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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