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All Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids
“An NFL player becomes an All-Pro by relentlessly focusing on the fundamentals and executing them with sheer determination. The same is true to become an All Pro Dad. This book not only highlights the fundamentals of fatherhood, but also gives dads a winning game plan to do their most important job well.” –Tony Dungy , Super Bowl winning coach and NBC Sports commentator The game-winning playbook for every father Dads, do you want to be a hero to your kids? A go-to coach for your teens? A husband your wife knows she can count on? All Pro Dad lays out a game plan built on seven essential fathering truths and ultra-practical insights for the questions every dad needs answered at some point. Like football, fatherhood is about winning. But it’s more than just scoring points. It’s about winning the hearts and minds of your children and leaving a rich legacy of love for future generations. With gut-level “huddle” questions to ask your children, and firsthand stories from well-recognized dads (CBS broadcaster James “JB” Brown , Chick-Fil-A founder and CEO S. Truett Cathy , Grammy Award–winning recording artist Michael W. Smith , FedEx Express COO and president, international, Michael Ducker , and more), All Pro Dad will stir you, equip you, and inspire you toward the goal of being a champion father and a hero to your kids.
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
35 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Mark Merrill
11 books17 followersMark Merrill is the founder and
president of Family First, a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to helping
people love their families well. He hosts The
Family Minute, a nationally syndicated daily
radio program that reaches over 5,000,000
listeners each day. He also delivers marriage
and parenting wisdom to over 100,000 people
each month through his blog and podcast on
MarkMerrill.com. Mark's new book, Lists to Love By for Busy Husbands and Lists to Love By for Busy Wives, lists out simple steps husbands and wives can follow to get the marriage they want. He is also the author of All Pro Dad—Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids. Mark and his wife, Susan, live in Tampa, Florida, and have five children.
president of Family First, a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to helping
people love their families well. He hosts The
Family Minute, a nationally syndicated daily
radio program that reaches over 5,000,000
listeners each day. He also delivers marriage
and parenting wisdom to over 100,000 people
each month through his blog and podcast on
MarkMerrill.com. Mark's new book, Lists to Love By for Busy Husbands and Lists to Love By for Busy Wives, lists out simple steps husbands and wives can follow to get the marriage they want. He is also the author of All Pro Dad—Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids. Mark and his wife, Susan, live in Tampa, Florida, and have five children.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 25, 2015
Overall: it is a huge red flag to me when a book about parenting has numerous matter-of-fact quotes from family members stating how the author is not a good husband and/or father. "That's why I am writing the book." Really? And you expect people to join you in this? Why did anyone ever publish this?
I recently became a father, so like every good dad-in-training I scoured the internet for "christian dad books" and landed on a short list of books I could find at my local library. "All Pro Dad" rose to the top of the list because of the un-intimidating look and feel of the writing and the three and a half pages of endorsements at the front (which will now become a red flag for me. If you need to pump something up this much to sell it, then it must be garbage).
Mr. Merrill's hollow, lazy and lack-luster book has so many quotes from Tony Dungy, you might as well read one of his autobiographies "Quiet Strength" or "Uncommon." I can't quite figure out whether throwing in a bunch of quotes from modern-day celebrities is boastful ("look at all the famous people I got to sit down with!"), lazy ("this long quote from Bono will help me add pages to my book!") or stupid ("here's what these people have to say about what I AM WRITING A BOOK ABOUT"). Regardless, it is annoying, self-serving and makes for a whitewashed version of something which could have and should have been at least mediocre.
Frequent quotes aside, the other irksome thing about the book is it's use of acrostics. "The 7 M's" of this and the "Five P's of" that. It feels sophomoric and, again, lazy. I understand acrostics are learning tools to help things stick in the mind of the readers, but there are so many of them, they blur together to get the 4 Q's of Parental Marital Bliss Balance.
The most upsetting part for me was the end. Mr. Merrill sells "All Pro Dad" as a "Religious Life" book, but God does not enter the picture until the last chapter, which feels tacked on in order to hit the mass market of Christian book-buyers (I am told it is the largest market out there). Example (go to page 137-8), after spending two pages building a metaphor about the importance of flying with a "compass" which can guide you to safety regardless of our, sometimes misguided, feelings, Merrill states, "I hope these essential 7 M's ... will become our magnetic compass that we can always rely upon as dads." Wait. God is not the compass? The Bible? The Holy Spirit? I am pretty sure the answer is Jesus here Mr. Merrill. YOUR "essential seven M's" are supposed to supplant my God-given conscience and the voice of the creator of the universe as my compass? Cool.
The chapter after this metaphor homerun (chapter 8) is a weak attempt at apologetics
(literally, there is a list of five pieces of evidence that God exists and a verdict which states He is the God of the Bible) in order to get the reader to "come to Jesus." Don't come to Jesus to guide the plane of your life, mind you, that's what the 7 M's are for; but to be a good dad you need Jesus.
Terrible!
I am assuming "All Pro Dad" is supposed to appeal to "manly" men who like sports, money, eating Chick-Fil-A six times a week (because they are closed on Sundays like good Christians), and hate reading, but I found it to be poorly regurgitated baby food. Ideas are all over the place only connected by a thin thread of "Seven Essential M's" and quotes by athletes, business moguls and celebrities. If every man dadded like this book is written (with our knowledge up front and Jesus tacked on to the end like some secret password when we get to heaven) then we would have a nation of fame and money obsessed, porn-addicted, in-debt, barely there, if not absent christian men trying to be good fathers by phoning it in on the weekends between football games and Chick-fil-A runs. Oh, wait... we already do.
I was able to read this book (which exactly 200 pages long like he was required to write at least 200-pages and decided to put in the minimum effort to qualify) in three days because it is so hollow and fluffy. Filled with large font, large margins, quotes, lists, restatements and blank pages between chapters, "All Pro Dad" would have seriously put a dent in the forests of North America if it had gone Best Seller (which I assume it has not since it's not plastered all over the covers).
In summation. Do not read this book. As a new dad even I know this book is a pointless attempt to bolster speaking engagements and make some money at the book game. Go back to being a "recovering lawyer" Mr. Merrill and leave the rest of us to find our ways to fatherhood and Jesus.
I would recommend this book to: no one! Not even women trying to get their men to be better fathers or Christians or sports heros.
I recently became a father, so like every good dad-in-training I scoured the internet for "christian dad books" and landed on a short list of books I could find at my local library. "All Pro Dad" rose to the top of the list because of the un-intimidating look and feel of the writing and the three and a half pages of endorsements at the front (which will now become a red flag for me. If you need to pump something up this much to sell it, then it must be garbage).
Mr. Merrill's hollow, lazy and lack-luster book has so many quotes from Tony Dungy, you might as well read one of his autobiographies "Quiet Strength" or "Uncommon." I can't quite figure out whether throwing in a bunch of quotes from modern-day celebrities is boastful ("look at all the famous people I got to sit down with!"), lazy ("this long quote from Bono will help me add pages to my book!") or stupid ("here's what these people have to say about what I AM WRITING A BOOK ABOUT"). Regardless, it is annoying, self-serving and makes for a whitewashed version of something which could have and should have been at least mediocre.
Frequent quotes aside, the other irksome thing about the book is it's use of acrostics. "The 7 M's" of this and the "Five P's of" that. It feels sophomoric and, again, lazy. I understand acrostics are learning tools to help things stick in the mind of the readers, but there are so many of them, they blur together to get the 4 Q's of Parental Marital Bliss Balance.
The most upsetting part for me was the end. Mr. Merrill sells "All Pro Dad" as a "Religious Life" book, but God does not enter the picture until the last chapter, which feels tacked on in order to hit the mass market of Christian book-buyers (I am told it is the largest market out there). Example (go to page 137-8), after spending two pages building a metaphor about the importance of flying with a "compass" which can guide you to safety regardless of our, sometimes misguided, feelings, Merrill states, "I hope these essential 7 M's ... will become our magnetic compass that we can always rely upon as dads." Wait. God is not the compass? The Bible? The Holy Spirit? I am pretty sure the answer is Jesus here Mr. Merrill. YOUR "essential seven M's" are supposed to supplant my God-given conscience and the voice of the creator of the universe as my compass? Cool.
The chapter after this metaphor homerun (chapter 8) is a weak attempt at apologetics
(literally, there is a list of five pieces of evidence that God exists and a verdict which states He is the God of the Bible) in order to get the reader to "come to Jesus." Don't come to Jesus to guide the plane of your life, mind you, that's what the 7 M's are for; but to be a good dad you need Jesus.
Terrible!
I am assuming "All Pro Dad" is supposed to appeal to "manly" men who like sports, money, eating Chick-Fil-A six times a week (because they are closed on Sundays like good Christians), and hate reading, but I found it to be poorly regurgitated baby food. Ideas are all over the place only connected by a thin thread of "Seven Essential M's" and quotes by athletes, business moguls and celebrities. If every man dadded like this book is written (with our knowledge up front and Jesus tacked on to the end like some secret password when we get to heaven) then we would have a nation of fame and money obsessed, porn-addicted, in-debt, barely there, if not absent christian men trying to be good fathers by phoning it in on the weekends between football games and Chick-fil-A runs. Oh, wait... we already do.
I was able to read this book (which exactly 200 pages long like he was required to write at least 200-pages and decided to put in the minimum effort to qualify) in three days because it is so hollow and fluffy. Filled with large font, large margins, quotes, lists, restatements and blank pages between chapters, "All Pro Dad" would have seriously put a dent in the forests of North America if it had gone Best Seller (which I assume it has not since it's not plastered all over the covers).
In summation. Do not read this book. As a new dad even I know this book is a pointless attempt to bolster speaking engagements and make some money at the book game. Go back to being a "recovering lawyer" Mr. Merrill and leave the rest of us to find our ways to fatherhood and Jesus.
I would recommend this book to: no one! Not even women trying to get their men to be better fathers or Christians or sports heros.
February 5, 2019
Great perspective from a well-respected author. There were several points made by the author that really gave me some things to ponder upon for being both a father and a husband. I think I will create a new shelf called 'Read Again' and add this one to it.
February 5, 2023
I really enjoyed this book as a new father. It is very encouraging, and I highly recommend for New and experienced fathers, uncles, and grandfathers to read.
June 27, 2012
All Pro Dad is written in the outline and style of a football playbook. Mark Merrill described the fundamentals of fatherhood as loving our children no matter what mistakes and failures they might make in their lifetime. Leading and discipline our children can be extremely difficult but it has to be done in order to teach them the accurate way to conduct their lives.
The book shared seven essentials to becoming a better father that your wife and children need you to be. Some of the seven are Makeup, Mind-set, Model, and Message. Merrill believed fathers had to know who they are in their identity. We aren't what others have claimed and declared us to be. Most men try to define themselves with what job positions they hold, what kind of car they drive, and many other fault assets. But our true identity is the unique person God has made us to be. It's also important to know what our true gifts and purpose are. Without understanding that lies spoken over us aren't true and they don't make our identity, we can't teach our children who they are called to be. Speaking and telling our kids to believe what God has already declared about them is a significant step to instilling the truth into their lives.
I enjoyed the stories about parenting and life lessons that Mark Merrill included from Tony Dungy, S. Truett Cathy, Michael W. Smith, Michael Ducker, James "JB" Brown, Norm Miller, and others. Readers will also benefit from huddling up and asking the questions at the end of each chapter to their children.
I would recommend this life changing book to any father who wants to lead their children in an effective way. The book is written for dads but if you're planning or possibly think you might become a father one day then read this remarkable book. I am not a father yet but this book still benefited me in learning the skills and the tools to become a better father. The seven critical steps will change how you parent your children and it will radically change how you view yourself. I learned the importance of believing what God has made me to be and called me to be. I must build up my children by revealing to them how proud I am of them, how I love them, and pointing out their gifts that I notice them portraying. Our words can inspire our children or they can lead them astray, trying to earn approval elsewhere. If we don't give them attention and love they will seek and try to fill the void somewhere else. The book showed me that it's my job to teach my children about faith, manners, sports, character traits, and sex education. We can't become passive and expect the pastor to teach our kids about faith and God, the school to educate them about manners, peer pressure, drugs, and sex, and practicing sports. Great parenting has to start in the home and it has to be practiced and displayed daily. This book will guide fathers into leading their families towards their God ordained potentials in life that will last for generations!
"I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program."
The book shared seven essentials to becoming a better father that your wife and children need you to be. Some of the seven are Makeup, Mind-set, Model, and Message. Merrill believed fathers had to know who they are in their identity. We aren't what others have claimed and declared us to be. Most men try to define themselves with what job positions they hold, what kind of car they drive, and many other fault assets. But our true identity is the unique person God has made us to be. It's also important to know what our true gifts and purpose are. Without understanding that lies spoken over us aren't true and they don't make our identity, we can't teach our children who they are called to be. Speaking and telling our kids to believe what God has already declared about them is a significant step to instilling the truth into their lives.
I enjoyed the stories about parenting and life lessons that Mark Merrill included from Tony Dungy, S. Truett Cathy, Michael W. Smith, Michael Ducker, James "JB" Brown, Norm Miller, and others. Readers will also benefit from huddling up and asking the questions at the end of each chapter to their children.
I would recommend this life changing book to any father who wants to lead their children in an effective way. The book is written for dads but if you're planning or possibly think you might become a father one day then read this remarkable book. I am not a father yet but this book still benefited me in learning the skills and the tools to become a better father. The seven critical steps will change how you parent your children and it will radically change how you view yourself. I learned the importance of believing what God has made me to be and called me to be. I must build up my children by revealing to them how proud I am of them, how I love them, and pointing out their gifts that I notice them portraying. Our words can inspire our children or they can lead them astray, trying to earn approval elsewhere. If we don't give them attention and love they will seek and try to fill the void somewhere else. The book showed me that it's my job to teach my children about faith, manners, sports, character traits, and sex education. We can't become passive and expect the pastor to teach our kids about faith and God, the school to educate them about manners, peer pressure, drugs, and sex, and practicing sports. Great parenting has to start in the home and it has to be practiced and displayed daily. This book will guide fathers into leading their families towards their God ordained potentials in life that will last for generations!
"I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program."
June 18, 2013
All Pro Dad is a book about being a better dad. There are seven essentials given in the book for you to be a hero to your kids.
All Pro Dad is written by Mark Merrill.
First off, a dad can only lead his family to the degree that he follows Jesus. You have to follow before you can lead. The book is designed to get the fathers to think about their relationships with their wives and kids. Sit down and evaluate those relationships. Are they at the place that you really want them to be?
Relationships take work. If you want a good relationship with your family you must work on each of those relationships. You have to cultivate them. A father cannot expect his family to follow him as the leader of the home if they get the feeling that he does not want to make time for them.
Fathers are a role model for their children whether they want to be or not. Every kid will form an opinion about their father whether favorable or unfavorable.
A dad has to know where he is going in life in order for him to be able to lead his family there.
The book does well engaging readers with questions that every father thinks about but may not have answers for.
What are you chasing after? Are you chasing after Jesus or following your heart and desires?
How does your wife and kids know that you love them?
What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? How do you want your kids to remember you?
The end of every chapter has huddle questions. These questions are designed for you to think about them and engage in conversations with your kids.
You can be a good dad. Let your kids see that you have a relationship with Jesus and then point your kids to Jesus.
All Pro Dad is written by Mark Merrill.
First off, a dad can only lead his family to the degree that he follows Jesus. You have to follow before you can lead. The book is designed to get the fathers to think about their relationships with their wives and kids. Sit down and evaluate those relationships. Are they at the place that you really want them to be?
Relationships take work. If you want a good relationship with your family you must work on each of those relationships. You have to cultivate them. A father cannot expect his family to follow him as the leader of the home if they get the feeling that he does not want to make time for them.
Fathers are a role model for their children whether they want to be or not. Every kid will form an opinion about their father whether favorable or unfavorable.
A dad has to know where he is going in life in order for him to be able to lead his family there.
The book does well engaging readers with questions that every father thinks about but may not have answers for.
What are you chasing after? Are you chasing after Jesus or following your heart and desires?
How does your wife and kids know that you love them?
What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? How do you want your kids to remember you?
The end of every chapter has huddle questions. These questions are designed for you to think about them and engage in conversations with your kids.
You can be a good dad. Let your kids see that you have a relationship with Jesus and then point your kids to Jesus.
April 18, 2012
I’ve been a dad now for about a decade. What more is there to know? Well, first, there’s knowing that it’s a never-ending process, akin to climbing a mountain to catch a glimpse of the peak.
In All Pro Dad, Merrill, a former NFL player and founder of Family First, uses his initials to provide an alliterative plan of action for fatherhood with the goal of becoming a hero to your kids. His seven Ms outline a life reflective of God’s values and one that will improve your impact on others, specifically your wife and children, and shore up a lasting legacy. This is a book filled with practical advice for intentional living and yet another reminder to properly balance your life’s priorities and invest in your family moreso than your work, or hobbies, or other things that will fade away.
Merrill offers this gameplan sprinkles with insights from leaders in business and sports who have discovered the importance of seeking the right things first. The book walks you through the theoretical steps of discovering your identity, purpose, and goals and then offers a few applications for each of the seven Ms in the appendix.
Fatherhood is a responsibility like none other. The impact you have on your children – for good or for bad – cannot be overemphasized. This book offers a pretty sound framework to help develop your personal parenting style, but more importantly, it begins the discussion, both internally and with your family.
-from trudatmusic[dot]com[slash]raw
In All Pro Dad, Merrill, a former NFL player and founder of Family First, uses his initials to provide an alliterative plan of action for fatherhood with the goal of becoming a hero to your kids. His seven Ms outline a life reflective of God’s values and one that will improve your impact on others, specifically your wife and children, and shore up a lasting legacy. This is a book filled with practical advice for intentional living and yet another reminder to properly balance your life’s priorities and invest in your family moreso than your work, or hobbies, or other things that will fade away.
Merrill offers this gameplan sprinkles with insights from leaders in business and sports who have discovered the importance of seeking the right things first. The book walks you through the theoretical steps of discovering your identity, purpose, and goals and then offers a few applications for each of the seven Ms in the appendix.
Fatherhood is a responsibility like none other. The impact you have on your children – for good or for bad – cannot be overemphasized. This book offers a pretty sound framework to help develop your personal parenting style, but more importantly, it begins the discussion, both internally and with your family.
-from trudatmusic[dot]com[slash]raw
June 29, 2012
As a father I try to soak up all the parenting experience and advice I can. There was a lot of it in All Pro Dad. Mark Merrill has drawn wisdom from a variety of people. And Scripture says in the multitude of council is wisdom.
You can also sense that Scripture is important through out. I did find myself wanting some more Scripture exposition. A lot of what Merrill provides is practical advice which was great. But sometime without being hinged directly to Scripture I felt I could’ve got it from any parenting book. Some important passages on parenting stand out in my mind--Ephesians 6, Deuteronomy 6--that didn’t receive much, if any, attention.
The writing itself could easily be consumed by any level of reader and that is the book’s strength. You could really hand this book to almost any father and it wouldn’t be intimidating and would immediately help. I am hesitant when we connect masculinity/fatherhood and sports so closely because it could ostracize men who don’t enjoy sports who also need this message.
I could see All Pro Dad being used in conjunction with a book like Parenting by God’s Promise. Merrill excels at the practical. The style reminds me of sitting down with an older coach and just soaking in all the practical life experience he could share.
You can also sense that Scripture is important through out. I did find myself wanting some more Scripture exposition. A lot of what Merrill provides is practical advice which was great. But sometime without being hinged directly to Scripture I felt I could’ve got it from any parenting book. Some important passages on parenting stand out in my mind--Ephesians 6, Deuteronomy 6--that didn’t receive much, if any, attention.
The writing itself could easily be consumed by any level of reader and that is the book’s strength. You could really hand this book to almost any father and it wouldn’t be intimidating and would immediately help. I am hesitant when we connect masculinity/fatherhood and sports so closely because it could ostracize men who don’t enjoy sports who also need this message.
I could see All Pro Dad being used in conjunction with a book like Parenting by God’s Promise. Merrill excels at the practical. The style reminds me of sitting down with an older coach and just soaking in all the practical life experience he could share.
April 4, 2016
All Pro Dads are All Pro Dads 1Cnot because they do anything extraordinarily but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else. 1D
The book 1CAll Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids 1D by Mark Merrill is a wonderful book with solid truths and insights for Dad 19s. Mark lays out a game plan built on 7 essential fathering truths and insights that could make a huge in difference in your family life. The foreword for this book was written by Tony Dungy , the super bowl winning head coach and NBC sports commentator and Tony introduces the readers to the two fundamentals principles presented in this book which are 1CLove 1D and 1CLeadership. 1D
Read the rest of the review below.
http://paulbooks.wordpress.com/2012/0...
The book 1CAll Pro Dad: Seven Essentials to Be a Hero to Your Kids 1D by Mark Merrill is a wonderful book with solid truths and insights for Dad 19s. Mark lays out a game plan built on 7 essential fathering truths and insights that could make a huge in difference in your family life. The foreword for this book was written by Tony Dungy , the super bowl winning head coach and NBC sports commentator and Tony introduces the readers to the two fundamentals principles presented in this book which are 1CLove 1D and 1CLeadership. 1D
Read the rest of the review below.
http://paulbooks.wordpress.com/2012/0...
October 28, 2014
What a book for dads, what a book for creating a more efficient dad. I am a fan of ALL PRO DAD-I have been to two events at the Indianapolis Colts facility-- each time I grow and feel the effects of the program. This book is as important as one of the events. The 7 M's were moving and great growth material. I highly recommend this book, the program; but most of all I see putting my kids first, my wife first and placing me third will create a more balanced life.
January 19, 2015
My wife got me this book for Christmas, as we are expecting our first baby in April. It was really good; engaging and challenging while written on an easy to read level. I will definitely be revisiting this resource in years to come.
May 22, 2012
Great book. If you're a Dad, go get it. If you're a wife, go get it for your husband. Great coaching from Mark Merrill.
June 15, 2012
Great book. One of the best books on being a biblical father I have read so far! Check out my full review on my blog at http://brownsbalancedlife.blogspot.co...
December 12, 2012
Definitely one of the better written parenting manuals, whether you are a dad or a mom.
December 24, 2015
Solid book for dads.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews