Overview

Instant New York Times Bestseller ""A masterwork. ... O'Connor answers every question, deftly and deeply, that we've had about the most controversial person in America's biggest game."" —Peter King Four-time New York Times bestselling sport biographer Ian O’Connor pulls back the curtain on four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, delivering the definitive portrait of the legendary yet mysterious quarterback who has astonished, befuddled, yet always captivated fans of America’s #1 sport. Aaron Rodgers is among the two or three most talented players to ever hold the most important job in American team sports – quarterback. He also stands as the most mysterious and polarizing figure in the modern-day national pastime that is professional football. From his controversial Covid stance to his methods of spiritual awakening to his estrangement from his family to his high-profile romances to his devastating Achilles injury a mere four plays into his New York Jets career, Rodgers has long dominated the NFL’s news cycle. At thirty-nine, in search of a challenge that would rejuvenate him, Rodgers divorced the iconic Green Bay Packers of Vince Lombardi fame for the Jets, who have not appeared in a Super Bowl since Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon. The trade made Rodgers the biggest story in the biggest league in the biggest market. By far. That story only got bigger when Rodgers shockingly went down on the night of 9/11, in front of a packed house that roared for him when he took the field carrying an American flag, and in front of the biggest Monday Night Football audience in ESPN history, peaking at more than 25 million viewers across all platforms. Rodgers then shocked the world by pulling off the fastest recorded comeback from an Achilles tear, returning to practice eleven weeks after surgery. Remarkably enough, he would have played again in the 2023 season, at age 40, had the Jets remained in playoff contention. Ian O’Connor uses hundreds of original interviews to pull back the curtain and answer the most penetrating questions about the league’s most enigmatic player. Just like he did in his defining bios of Bill Belichick, Mike Krzyzewski, Derek Jeter, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, O’Connor reveals all sides of an all-time great and delivers a portrait of a complex man that will forever shape the way he is viewed.

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9780063297869

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Reviews

"""The reporting and research are exhaustive and impressive. The writing is direct. The portrayal is fair, but unsparing. In many ways, Ian O'Connor's work is like Mike Krzyzewski himself: unrelenting, contemplative, purposeful. You not only learn about the coach and the man in this book, but more important, you understand him. No small feat."" -- Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN's College GameDay reporter and New York Times bestselling author of The Last Great Game ""Basketball fans might feel as though they already know Coach K--or Mike Krzyzewski, the decades-long coach of the Duke Blue Devils who's set to retire after this season. In this insightful biography, sportswriter O'Connor captures the formative experiences and inner drive that catapulted the coach to icon status. Even the most die-hard fans will learn something."" -- Washington Post ""New York Post sports columnist O'Connor (Belichick) delivers a standout definitive biography of Mike Krzyzewski, who led the Duke Blue Devils to five NCAA titles during his decades-long tenure as coach.... The coach's preternatural ability to 'motivate people to achieve things they did not believe they were capable of achieving' is inspiring, as is the arc that O'Connor paints of his life as 'a low-income street kid' who became 'the greatest college basketball coach of all time.' Fans won't want to miss this insightful look at a colossal figure in college sports."" -- Publishers Weekly ""A sharpshooting account worthy of a champion."" -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ""Just as there are all-time great coaches who go down as masters of the sideline, there are all-time great biographers who go down as masters of the written word. Ian O'Connor's Coach K is a breathtaking deep dive into a modern-day basketball legend, delivered with dogged reporting and eye-opening insights. Though Mike Krzyzewski is done with his whistle and clipboard, O'Connor makes certain his aura will forever loom."" -- Jeff Pearlman, six-time New York Times bestselling author of Showtime ""No journalist alive is better than Ian O'Connor at pulling back the curtain on the inner workings of the great unknowable sports figure, and he's done it again with Coach K. This boldly revealing biography provides a perfect punctuation mark to the career of arguably the greatest basketball coach in American history. As usual, O'Connor is the first to journey inside the closely guarded life of this legendarily stoic leader. And, as usual, the result is an enduring masterpiece."" -- Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times sports columnist and ESPN's Around the Horn panelist"

"""I knew--I just knew--that Ian O'Connor would paint a masterwork on Aaron Rodgers. This book perfectly details the roots of the enigmatic Rodgers, starting with the World War II fighter-pilot grandfather with no fear, the quasi-rebellious father who refused to do what his domineering dad said just because. Wonder about Rodgers' unflagging confidence? You won't after you see the kid who reported for his first day at junior college, determined to shred the best cover guy on the team. O'Connor answers every question, deftly and deeply, that we've had about the most controversial person in America's biggest game."" -- Peter King, National Sports Media Association Hall of Famer and three-time National Sportswriter of the Year ""Aaron Rodgers is one of the most uniquely complex superstar athletes of my lifetime and Ian O Connor peels back dozens of layers, maybe hundreds. The depth of reporting is relentless. Ian goes a mile deep and keeps on digging. Every story, better than the next. ... I've wanted this book to be written and Ian delivers a masterclass in storytelling."" -- Colin Cowherd, host of Fox Sports' The Herd ""America's premier sports biographer has done it again. With exquisite detail and energetic prose, Ian O'Connor pulls back the curtain on this country's most enigmatic athlete, telling the real Aaron Rodgers story with all of its polarizing complexities. Many sports fans look at Rodgers and ask, 'What's with this guy?' O'Connor goes deep in addressing that question, and the answers will amaze."" -- Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times sports columnist and panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn"

Author Information

Ian O'Connor is the author of five previous books, including four straight New York Times bestsellers-Coach K, Belichick, The Captain, and Arnie & Jack. He has finished in first place twenty times in national writing contests, including those conducted by the Pro Football Writers of America, Golf Writers Association of America, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Associated Press Sports Editors, who named him the No. 1 columnist in the country in his circulation category three times. O'Connor has been a columnist at ESPN, The New York Post, USA Today, and The New York Daily News.

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