Book Log 2008 #44: A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis

I was somewhat disposed to dislike this book due to some loyalty towards Just Kick It, where another aging soccer player becomes a football kicker. I enjoyed that book quite a bit, and as it takes place locally I was a little miffed (irrationally so) that a better-known author would get more publicity for kicking for a better-known team (even if, unlike St. Amant, he didn't get to kick in live games).

What I should have been thinking is that there was a chance that there'd be two highly enjoyable books that use a similar premise to tell very different stories. That's the reality of the situation, as this book is as entertaining in its depiction of life in the NFL's least-secure position as Just Kick It is in telling the story of players looking for another season doing what they most enjoy.

Fatsis is skilled at getting into subcultures - if you've not read Word Freak, do so at your earliest convenience - and kickers may comprise the NFL's ultimate subculture. Granted, he gets access other kickers don't (he speaks with Mike Shanahan and team execs quite a bit), but he also gets into the minds of established guys like Jason Elam and fringe guys whose names I can't even remember. He's also there during Todd Sauerbrun's drug suspension, which helps to add some color to the narrative.

So, your two conclusions: one, I'm an idiot, and two, read both of these scribe-turned-kicker books.