Just kick it : tales of an underdog, over-age, out-of-place, semi-pro football player

Nearing 40, standing five feet eight, weighing in at 160 pounds, Mark St. Amant was most definitely not a football player. He had never played a single down of real football in his life and even in the sports he did play, his greatest skill seemed to be choking when the game was on the line. So why on earth did he suddenly become, of all things, a semi-pro football kicker? Fantasy football writer and self-described poster child for suburban-raised white boy Mark St. Amant tells the unlikely story of how he ditched his television and laptop to join an inner-city football squad the mostly African-American Boston Panthers, one of more than 600 semi-pro teams around the country. With warmth, insight, and his trademark offbeat, self-deprecating humor, Mark recounts the strides he made on and off the field and reveals the powerful bonds that developed among teammates young and not-so-young, struggling and successful, black, white, and Hispanic, all clinging tightly to their dreams and playing the game they love. From couch potato to field goal kicker, Mark lived out a real-life football fantasy, discovering true teamwork, staring his lifelong fear of athletic failure in the face, witnessing testosterone-fueled hilarity both on and off the field, and achieving gridiron glory in ways he d never imagined. Darkly Comic And Highly Entertaining, Javier Valdes's Stories Insinuate Themselves In The Unsuspecting Reader Like A Heady Brew With A Strange Kick. From The Exploits Of An Urban Vigilante To The Erotic Pleasures Exacted From An Unrequited Love, From A Menacing Treasure To A Family That Brings A Whole New Twist To The Meaning Of Neighbors, People Like Us Is Seasoned With Irreverent Takes On Valdes's Favorite Writers And Directors - Such As Stephen King And Martin Scorsese - As He Delivers A Unique Array Of Fascinating And Hapless Urban Creatures.--book Jacket. Prologue: Outside The Lines 1 -- 1 No Crying In Football 5 -- 2 Kicking Off 14 -- 3 The Village Idiot 29 -- 4 Kickoff (sort Of) 38 -- 5 Practice, Practice, Practice 55 -- 6 Taking On The Champs 68 -- 7 White Panther 89 -- 8 A Win In Sight 96 -- 9 In Good Hands 109 -- 10 Jenry Gonzalez 127 -- 11 Taking On A Dynasty 131 -- 12 Mayhem 135 -- 13 Man In The Mirror 156 -- 14 Pressure Kicks 159 -- 15 Lights Out 165 -- 16 Put Me In, Coach 173 -- 17 Snakebit 177 -- 18 Bitches And Apologies 182 -- 19 Mudders 189 -- 20 Poetic Justice 196 -- 21 Bananas 200 -- 22 Lame Duck 205 -- 23 Lightning Strikes 207 -- 24 A New Day 228 -- Epilogue: The Point After 231. Mark St. Amant.