Should the 'A.J. Brown sideline book club' be a thing?
Today at 09:12 PM
Move over Oprah and Reese Witherspoon! In a win for librarians and English teachers everywhere, Philadelphia Eagles superstar A.J. Brown proved this weekend that there’s no wrong place to read after going viral for reading a book on the sidelines of the Eagles-Packers NFL playoff game.
Better yet, he has now made that book a #1 bestseller. Which begs the question, is A.J. Brown the next great literary influencer?
In the Eagles' playoff win over the Packers, Brown was shown on the sidelines reading Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy.
The book — by a former minor league baseball player — is about mental skills and staying calm during high-pressure moments.
Before it was trending, Inner Excellence ranked 523,497th on Amazon's bestseller list.
After A.J. Brown was shown reading it on Sunday? It skyrocketed to #1.
Brown admitted he reads a lot on the sidelines, but this was the first time the broadcast caught him. And he's said Murphy's book gives him a sense of peace.
Jalen Hurts says he's never seen AJ Brown read, but he's seen the book in AJ's hands and everyone has a different way to find their flow. pic.twitter.com/a4iKrPhU4c
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) January 13, 2025
The gesture was greatly appreciated by the author himself, Jim Murphy, who told Sports Illustrated, “It's really an honor to be a part of his life.”
Now, Inner Excellence is a viral sensation and an Amazon bestseller.
All because A.J. Brown promoted it by accident.
Is A.J. Brown the new Oprah Winfrey or Reese Witherspoon?
This could be music to the publishing industry’s ears! Books endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and more recently, Reese Witherspoon, as part of their “book club” selections frequently land on the best-sellers lists.
But there’s a definite shortage of literary influencers for, well, dudes (for lack of a better term… I really need to read more).
A superstar football player reading a different book on the sidelines each week could be just the thing to get sports-minded bros reading more!
Especially if you slap a football-shaped sticker on the book that says “A.J.’s Sideline Book Club”.
A.J. could save his best books for the playoffs, and his book of the year selection for the Super Bowl! The whole thing almost makes TOO MUCH sense.
Pretty soon we could see NBA players reading on the bench, MLB sluggers reading in the dugout, and hockey players reading in the — nah, never mind, too far-fetched (hockey players don’t read).
The point is that anytime anyone in popular culture gets people reading more books, it’s a good thing. The more books people are reading, the less time they have to read fake news, fear-mongering tweets. A.J. Brown may not have known it, but he was doing his part to combat our growing national ignorance, one sideline read at a time.
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