Book highlights faith of LSU football player
Print
Email
Save
Reprints
Twitter
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
THE LONG SNAPPER
By Jeffrey Marx
HarperOne ($24.95)
Likely, most local sports fans remember how former LSU football player Brian Kinchen, after retiring from the sport, got the unexpected opportunity to play for the NFL’s New England Patriots in 2003.
But there was more to the feel-good story than Kinchen’s Super Bowl ring.
Snapping the football for place-kicks and punts seems like the simplest thing in the world to those who have never done it.
Done right, it involves looking at the world upside-down through your spread legs and launching a football swiftly, to a precise location and with a tight rotation that allows the recipient to catch it easily and punt or place the ball without having to adjust the laces so they don’t interfere with the kick.
All this, with large men poised to slam into you.
Kinchen knew well what was expected: He had performed the task for many of his 13 seasons of pro football, having learned the skill as a way to make him valuable enough for teams to keep him around while he sought stardom that never came in his regular position, tight end.
As is typical, his athletic career ended without a championship and with teams no longer wanting his services. Although even making an NFL roster puts you in rarified air that the vast majority of football players never come close to sniffing, it left him dissatisfied as he settled into his teaching job at Parkview Baptist School.
But when the New England Patriots called, it meant more than putting an exclamation point on a pro career. The experience also caused Kinchen to examine himself and regain a spiritual perspective on what is important in life.
That, as much as a chronicle of Kinchen’s brief travels with the Patriots, is what The Long Snapper is about. The book deals directly with Kinchen’s faith, but without being preachy.
Marx employs a style that values tight writing and research over flowery prose. He details Kinchen’s little-known struggles as the Super Bowl neared and tells readers about others who have walked in Kinchen’s cleats — some successfully, some not.
This would be a good read even if Kinchen weren’t a hometown hero.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
