NFL Novels

Every autumn, the National Football League provides its fans with hard-hitting, nail-biting, gridiron battles. Everyone has their favorite team, their favorite players…and everyone loves to see them win as much as they hate to see them lose.

What many fans don’t realize, however, is that there’s just as much drama off the field as there is on it—and this is where the focus of Wil Mara’s two ‘NFL novels’ lies. From the locker rooms to the conference tables, from practice fields to parking lots, readers get to go where the television cameras don’t. It’s a hidden world where dreams are made or broken, millions are on the line, and one wrong move can cost you everything. Tirelessly researched with the help of hundreds of players, coaches, and front-office personnel, these books offer gripping ‘what-if’ situations played out in faithfully realistic detail. They have been praised by some of the biggest names in the game and, with their vivid characters and high-octane storylines, have earned a loyal following worldwide.



The Draft

The book that launched the series following nearly ten years of writing and research with the full cooperation of the NFL, The Draft, was released in October of 2006. It’s the story of a general manager’s struggle to acquire the first overall pick on draft day so he can obtain a once-in-a-generation quarterback. Lots of wheeling and dealing with other GMs and countless hours of tense and sometimes antagonistic negotiation later, it looks as though he has his man…but life is rarely so simple in the high-pressure, zillion-dollar universe of the National Football League….

The Draft is a fast-paced, funny, and realistic story of the game that goes on behind the scenes after the one on the field has ended.

What the Pros Have Said about The Draft

“Wil Mara’s foray into the sometimes unfriendly confines of the NFL draft room provides an intriguing insight into a process that can be as competitive as those that occur on the gridiron itself.”

—Marv Levy, General Manager and Hall of Fame Head Coach, Buffalo Bills

“Wil Mara’s first novel set in the world of professional football offers not only an intriguing storyline but also a remarkable attention to detail not often found in sports fiction. NFL fans will enjoy every page of The Draft.”

—Gil Brandt, Vice President of Player Personnel, Dallas Cowboys (1980-1989) / Senior Analyst, NFL.com

The Draft is an entertaining and realistic look inside the NFL. Any football fan will find it ‘must’ reading.”

—Bill Polian, President, Indianapolis Colts

The Draft is a fascinating novel about what can go on behind the scenes in an NFL front office—the intrigue and maneuvering. It is terrific reading for the fan who wonders how these trades and deals are made.”

—Ernie Accorsi, General Manager, New York Giants

“Wil Mara goes inside the NFL draft like never before. He details the personalities and complications that go into every draft decision, making for good reading and good drama.”

—John Clayton, NFL Analyst and Senior Writer, ESPN

The Draft is a smartly crafted and highly engrossing novel about deals, decisions, and desperation in the world of pro football. The characters are marvelously drawn, and the writing is razor’s-edge sharp. If you are a fan of this game, then The Draft is one book you absolutely must read.”

—Peter Golenbock, author of Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes: The Definitive Oral History of America’s Team

Sample Chapters

Click here to read the prologue and first chapter of The Draft. Note: This requires Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later. Chances are your machine already has this program. If not, you can download it for free by clicking here.

Ordering

To order The Draft from Amazon.com—HARDCOVER | PAPERBACK | EBOOK (KINDLE)

To order The Draft from Barnes and Noble.com—HARDCOVER | PAPERBACK | EBOOK (NOOK)


The Cut

The Cut chronicles three players vying for the same roster spot during the ultracompetitve and often brutal ritual known as training camp—

”After only his second year with the New York Giants, T. J. Brookman has become the best tight end in professional football. His stats are nothing short of amazing—and what’s even more amazing is that he was only a sixth-round pick in the first place. With one season remaining on his rookie contract, his agent, Barry Sturtz, wants to renegotiate and get a more lucrative deal—a common practice among players who have exceeded expectations.

But the Giants refuse. They want Brookman to play through his last year, then they’ll talk about a new contract. Sturtz, however, doesn’t trust them. He wants the deal now—and if he doesn’t get it, he’s going to instruct T.J. to boycott the team’s upcoming training camp. Head coach Alan Gray doesn’t flinch at the threat—if T.J. doesn’t show, he says, they’ll simply bench him. Sturtz thinks it’s a bluff—the Giants have had problems with offensive production, and T.J. is their only bright spot. But Gray insists he’s serious.

No one is more stunned by this development than offensive coordinator Dale Greenwood. Having struggled in polite subordination under Gray’s megalomaniacal leadership, the talented Greenwood is concerned that he will now lose his most productive receiver. He suspects Gray’s true motivation is that he simply doesn’t want to spend the money on a tight end—Gray is a defensive-minded coach with little interest in the offensive side of the ball.

What Gray really wants is for everything to stay just the way it is. And to create the necessary leverage, he orders Greenwood to bring in three ‘camp bodies’—decoys, essentially—to compete for T.J.’s job. Greenwood has no choice but to comply, and he assembles a trio of unsigned players from the bottomless pool of league wannabes.

What no one anticipates, however, is that these three recruits have more drive and talent than anyone expected. Delighted, Gray believes Sturtz will soon be at his mercy. But neither Sturtz nor any the three hopefuls are willing to be a part of Alan Gray’s plan. Many variables are in play here, both on and off the field. And as any student of the game knows, there are more losers than winners on the last day of preseason—a day known as ’The Cut’.”

What the Pros Are Saying about The Cut

“One of the hardest parts about covering the NFL is getting inside the real nitty-gritty stories of today—holdouts, players reaching the end of the line, how family issues impact play on the field. Wil Mara has done a terrific and insightful job in The Cut of taking you inside what really happens in the seamy side of modern pro football.”

—Peter King, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

“Mara’s writing, with its vivid description and painstaking attention to detail, has the effect of a video camera and microphone following every step of every person in the high-stakes world of professional football—players, coaches, general managers, and agents. It’s fiction, but it has a ‘real’ feel. I often had the sense that I was hearing many of the conversations that go on between the sound bytes. The depth of Mara’s knowledge of the game, on and off the field, comes through loud and clear on every page.”

—Vic Carucci, National Editor of NFL.com, and former President of the Professional Football Writers of America

“When you dive into The Cut, Wil takes you places inside the NFL that very few really can. His research and relationships around the league put you behind the closed doors of the coach’s office. This one’s a must-read for any serious fan.”

—Pat Kirwan, NFL.com Senior Analyst, and co-host of “Movin’ the Chains” (with Tim Ryan) on NFL Network / Sirius Satellite Radio

The Cut is like a summer raft trip that takes you deep inside the holdout of an NFL star, and shows you the waves its causes in the lockerroom and the front office. Wil Mara does a great job of going inside an NFL issue, giving the reader the true-life experience of what happens on a team. It’s fiction meeting reality in an entertaining fashion.”

—John Clayton, NFL Analyst and Senior Writer, ESPN

The Cut is an in-depth perspective on the ins and outs of contract negotiations and politics that go along with one marquee player’s contract situation…. Wil Mara did his research making this novel as realistic as one might get short of experiencing training camp firsthand. It was a pleasure to read, making me think of my own days battling the summer heat and 350-pound men.”

—Mike Mamula, Philadelphia Eagles (1995-2000) and 7th overall pick of the 1995 draft

“Like The Draft, Wil’s first book, The Cut lifts the NFL’s veil of silence and effectively (and accurately) exposes the inner workings of the beast. This is a highly charged read that I recommend for all football fans.”

—Bill Chachkes, fieldposition.com and The NFL Draft Bible

Reviews

”Author Mara, with 75 books to his credit, uses the financial Russian roulette typical of sports franchises to create some sizzingly genuine ambience. Identifiable characters and a very satisfying conclusion elevate this second entry in (his) NFL series above most of the competition in the sports-fiction arena.”

—Wes Lukowksy, Booklist

”Great pro football novel. Wil Mara…knows his football. His characters are believable and well-formed. The story focuses on training camp rather than the actual season. The unexpected ending is very satisfying.”

—Gerald Rosen, BookReporter.com

Sample Chapters

Click here to read the first chapter of The Cut. Note: This requires Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or later. Chances are your machine already has this program. If not, you can download it for free by clicking here.

Podcasts

The following audio clips (podcasts) have been taken from various media interviews. Clicking on a title below should open the sound file in a new browser window, in which case the file will begin playing immediately. These are .mp3 files and will work on most modern media players, including iPods. To download a podcast, right-click on the title, select “Save Link Target As…,” then save the file to your hard drive.

  • ESPN’s John Clayton interviews Wil on 29 March 2008. Runs under ten minutes.
  • Ordering

    To order The Cut from Amazon.com—HARDCOVER | EBOOK (KINDLE)

    To order The Cut from Barnes and Noble.com—HARDCOVER | EBOOK (NOOK)

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