Rough and Tumble

good solid read

good read
once you realize its not an autobiography its exciting and a good read

Great peek inside the world of pro football!

I loved the book, and I'm not even a huge fan of the game! It strips away the glamour and gets to the gritty reality of what it's like to play pro ball.

Best book I've ever read!

I could not put it down. I hope Mark writes a sequel with Fucillo and Ramsey resuming their careers with another club. Riveting. It made me laugh out loud, cry, become angry at times. What a novel!

Gripping, Exciting

I could not put it down. I felt like I was right on the football field in the middle of the play. Vivid, enthusiastic, gripping writing. As a life long NY Giants fan, I loved this novel and highly recommend it to all football/sports fans.

A story of Giant men Character and Faith...

Very similar to Steven Coonts first novel Flight of the Intruder..Fast Funny Introspective and Thought provoking. Great action sequences A very good account of what it must be like to play and live the NFL life..Well written, a book no self respecting sports fan should miss. Couldnt put it down..

a thrilling but dark look at the NFL

New York Giants tight end Dominic Fucillo is having a tough season while his mates are on a roll that he hopes will leave him with a Superbowl ring. The Commissioner fines Dominic $50,000 for attacking a referee during the Eagles loss and his girlfriend will not talk to him. These are minor inconveniences when compared to the team physician telling him his once blown out knee has a hole in it requiring post season surgery. Dominic understands the knife will occur after the season ends just like he knows this time his career will be over with the needed operation.------------------ However, Dominic¿s final run to glory is hampered by the team¿s superstar drug using linebacker James Moze. He was recently beaten to a pulp by either gamblers who he hangs with or drug peddlers. As the team begins a victorious march towards the playoffs, every form of human lice converges with demands on the Giants.----------------- Although not new as football exposure stories have been around for years, former great tight end Mark Bavaro provides a thrilling but dark look at the NFL. The eccentric cast makes the story line engaging especially for football fans as the audience obtains a deep look at what happens behind the scene to a professional football team especially when they make a strong run for the championship.------------------ Harriet Klausner

Mark Bavaro Scores a Touchdown with 'Rough and Tumble'

Mark Bavaro, the former New York Giant All-Pro tight end, brilliantly captures the brutality and physical sacrifice of playing in the NFL in his first novel, 'Rough and Tumble'. The story is told by protagonist Dominic Fucillo. Just as Bavaro was known for his legendary toughness, Fucillo is closely modeled after his creator. As the story develops, Dominic is fined $50,000 by the league for doing something every player has dreamed of doing. He is a man wracked with the crippling pain of playing injured for so many years, and must deal with the knowlege that an area of dead bone in his femur, near his knee must be repaired soon, but the surgery will mean the end of his football playing career. Postponing surgery and continuing to play is Fucillo's decision, and he urgently attempts to complete his all-pro season and Super Bowl pursuit before the necrotic bone simply collapses. Fucillo is known for his complete dedication and devotion to football, although he greatly laments the lost love of his girlfriend who walked out on him and refuses to speak to him. As the Giants, led by their master manipulator head coach, continue their march to the Super Bowl, Dominic is stunned when All-World Linebacker and team leader James Moze is savagely beaten and left for dead by underworld thugs with whom Moze had forged dangerous relationships. Dominic, through his own channels and contacts, learns the truth about Moze's gambling friends, and finds himself an unwilling participant in the middle of the greatest point shaving scheme in the history of sports. Meanwhile, a void in his spiritual life has him searching for meaning as he recalls his grandfather's dying words, and seeks counsel from a kind, helpul priest. 'Rough and Tumble' gives the reader great insight into the unseen NFL, and exposes the barbaric truths behind the glitz of America's favorite game. It examines men and motives as they manipulate and use one another in order to attain their goals, while they seek to evade the game's destructive inevitabilities. It's a hard hitting read that will cause even casual fans to more greatly appreciate what our modern day gladiators must endure, and temptations they must ignore.

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No text was provided for this review.