What do you think?
Rate this book
Big Shield
There’s no such thing as easy money.
Carson Jeffrey thought otherwise. It allowed him to supplement his pay as a third-string pro quarterback with cash from the mob for providing inside information before and during games.
The plan worked until it didn’t. Cut by his team in Las Vegas, Jeffrey faces intense pressure to find a new place to keep doing his other job. When he lands with a new team in Baltimore, he meets a prosecutor with the brains to figure out what he’s doing — and the power to put him behind bars.
Caught between threats to his liberty and to his life, Carson Jeffrey has to make some important decisions. And to potentially accept some serious consequences.
Big Shield is a cautionary tale for pro sports in an age of normalized gambling and instant wagering. Players know things that bettors don’t. Those players can be corrupted by the lure of easy money.
Even if there’s no such thing as easy money.
Carson Jeffrey thought otherwise. It allowed him to supplement his pay as a third-string pro quarterback with cash from the mob for providing inside information before and during games.
The plan worked until it didn’t. Cut by his team in Las Vegas, Jeffrey faces intense pressure to find a new place to keep doing his other job. When he lands with a new team in Baltimore, he meets a prosecutor with the brains to figure out what he’s doing — and the power to put him behind bars.
Caught between threats to his liberty and to his life, Carson Jeffrey has to make some important decisions. And to potentially accept some serious consequences.
Big Shield is a cautionary tale for pro sports in an age of normalized gambling and instant wagering. Players know things that bettors don’t. Those players can be corrupted by the lure of easy money.
Even if there’s no such thing as easy money.
400 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 19, 2025
191 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Mike Florio
10 books18 followersMike Florio (born June 8, 1965) is an American sportswriter, radio host, and television commentator. He writes for Profootballtalk.com, which he created and owns.
Florio is also a contributor to NBC's Sunday night NFL studio show Football Night in America and appears in the Sunday Night Football postgame show to break down the NFL's top stories of the day with Bob Costas. Additionally, he appears with Peter King during halftime of NBC's coverage of Notre Dame football to discuss timely NFL topics.[2]
Florio is also a contributor to NBC's Sunday night NFL studio show Football Night in America and appears in the Sunday Night Football postgame show to break down the NFL's top stories of the day with Bob Costas. Additionally, he appears with Peter King during halftime of NBC's coverage of Notre Dame football to discuss timely NFL topics.[2]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 27, 2025
Do you have any questions?
If you have questions...This is the book for you. It asks a lot of them.
Spoiler alert: Some of those questions will be answered here. Suffice it to say, I would recommend saving the 99 cents.
As I of the three alternating characters ask questions in this alternating diary format. It's their way to work through any and all issues. Will I eat steak tonight? Should I? What would my grandfather think? Am I cut out to be a mafia guy? Am I truly capable of playing professional football or am I destined to back up pro teams, that share the city names of National Football League teams - but are, in no way affiliated with the NFL. Because you know, legal reasons.
Straight out of Dr. Melfi's office talking it out with Tony Soprano, the biggest questioner is of Mr. Motts. He's a tough mafia man running a list of athletes across baseball, basketball and football. They give him and his bettors Intel on who is hurt, playing or set to have a big game. In return, bets are made and hundreds? Thousands? A lot? Well, money is made, folks.
The biggest stretch of unrealistic ritual nonsense in this tale is a persecuting attorney who despises all things football, decides to watch a football game with a third string quarterback she just met and dial up a video feed that zeros in on the back lip QB & head coach the entire game. After four years of doing hand signals for fun or pass, the cunning prosecutor finds that the third string quarterback is feeding prop bets for runs or passes. She knows in her gut, that she must break off potential love for the love of the law.
Florio probably knows that it is a pretty stupid premise for there to be feed that shows the coach for the entire game. Bill Belichik was literally found guilty of filming the Jets' sidelines trying to steal signs. But THIS clever gal solves the caper without much effort at all. She takes.him down while working on a crypto scheme that takes down the commissioner of the NF...sorry, the commissioner of that league with a shield.
Just a really weak effort. He got my 99 cents and can keep it. I left it on the dresser
If you have questions...This is the book for you. It asks a lot of them.
Spoiler alert: Some of those questions will be answered here. Suffice it to say, I would recommend saving the 99 cents.
As I of the three alternating characters ask questions in this alternating diary format. It's their way to work through any and all issues. Will I eat steak tonight? Should I? What would my grandfather think? Am I cut out to be a mafia guy? Am I truly capable of playing professional football or am I destined to back up pro teams, that share the city names of National Football League teams - but are, in no way affiliated with the NFL. Because you know, legal reasons.
Straight out of Dr. Melfi's office talking it out with Tony Soprano, the biggest questioner is of Mr. Motts. He's a tough mafia man running a list of athletes across baseball, basketball and football. They give him and his bettors Intel on who is hurt, playing or set to have a big game. In return, bets are made and hundreds? Thousands? A lot? Well, money is made, folks.
The biggest stretch of unrealistic ritual nonsense in this tale is a persecuting attorney who despises all things football, decides to watch a football game with a third string quarterback she just met and dial up a video feed that zeros in on the back lip QB & head coach the entire game. After four years of doing hand signals for fun or pass, the cunning prosecutor finds that the third string quarterback is feeding prop bets for runs or passes. She knows in her gut, that she must break off potential love for the love of the law.
Florio probably knows that it is a pretty stupid premise for there to be feed that shows the coach for the entire game. Bill Belichik was literally found guilty of filming the Jets' sidelines trying to steal signs. But THIS clever gal solves the caper without much effort at all. She takes.him down while working on a crypto scheme that takes down the commissioner of the NF...sorry, the commissioner of that league with a shield.
Just a really weak effort. He got my 99 cents and can keep it. I left it on the dresser
March 12, 2026
Perhaps the most disappointing book I’ve ever read.
I had such high hopes for this novel. I love the NFL and fear that gambling will one day dilute the game’s integrity, if it hasn’t already. And I love Mike Florio. He is often the steadfast voice of reason in the pulpit of hot takes that dominate sports media. His words at PFT fill my mornings like Walter Cronkite filled my grandfather’s evenings.
But this book is a pedestrian attempt at fiction.
Fundamentally, this book is an example of poor craft. Ninety percent of Big Shield happens in a blank room: a vacuum of nothingness. It reads like a series of journal entries that occasionally gesture toward place, but most of the time are absent any sense of time or tangibility. Characters toil with problems that hope to carry grand moral weight but instead collapse into cliché. A relatively simple fix would be “to show, not tell”.
That’s the core problem with Big Shield: there’s no kinetic energy. The story exists in a fog of “had happened,” “is happening,” and “will happen,” all at once. Scenes unfold before and after phone calls that haven’t yet occurred but already have in other chapters, creating a muddle of timelines that feels less like complexity and more like needless repetition, as if the author himself were confused.
The structure compounds it. Chapters rotate through a fixed three-POV cycle, giving each an unearned equivalence of narrative weight. Florio never allows one POV to become the engine of the story. Instead, he constantly rehashes events from different perspectives, as if he doesn’t trust his reader to follow along or is deliberately trying to pad the word count. This repetition dulls, and in most cases reverses, any momentum the narrative had. Leading to a narrative voice that often feels like it’s talking down to its audience.
Which brings me to the Johnny Motts chapters. Every time I saw one coming, I rolled my eyes. They’re not just bad because he’s one-dimensional, they’re bad because he’s inauthentic. Reading Motts feels like watching Robert De Niro’s de-aged scenes in The Irishman: that uncanny valley moment when an 81-year-old man tries to move and act like he’s 30. Motts talks like a Prohibition-era caricature, tossing around words like “hooch” and “broads,” even though the book insists he’s a contemporary mob soldier. And just like De Niro’s digitally soothed performance, nothing about Johnny Motts rings true, and every line reminds you that you’re reading someone’s idea of a mobster, not a mobster.
It’s a shame, because the premise is genuinely interesting, and Florio, a former trial lawyer with deep insight into the league, seemed like the perfect person to write it. Unfortunately, insight can’t save bad craft stitched to a half-baked story.
With all that said, the worst offense of this novel is that it lacks any heart or love of football. It is completely devoid of any of the passion that drew me into Florio’s orbit in the first place. Florio has always had a love-hate relationship with the sport and league, and as a Chicago Bears fan, I sympathize. But it’s that tension that makes him compelling. He doesn’t pull his criticisms or hold back his praise. But reading this book, I felt no love, just an odd cognitive distance. The game was kept at arm’s-length where none of the characters had any stake in it.
The tragedy of this book is that no character cared about football, let alone loved the sport. There was no love-hate tension about the game. It was either all malice or apathy. Every character associated with football was a lazy stereotype bordering on vindictive caricature.
If even one character had their heart in the game, it would have created real stakes and made for a much more compelling read.
Florio called it a cautionary tale with the tag “there’s no such thing as easy money” (a cliché), but his real purpose is “Are you prepared to ruin the game you love.”
Big Shield could have been a groundbreaking novel. Instead, it’s forgettable.
I had such high hopes for this novel. I love the NFL and fear that gambling will one day dilute the game’s integrity, if it hasn’t already. And I love Mike Florio. He is often the steadfast voice of reason in the pulpit of hot takes that dominate sports media. His words at PFT fill my mornings like Walter Cronkite filled my grandfather’s evenings.
But this book is a pedestrian attempt at fiction.
Fundamentally, this book is an example of poor craft. Ninety percent of Big Shield happens in a blank room: a vacuum of nothingness. It reads like a series of journal entries that occasionally gesture toward place, but most of the time are absent any sense of time or tangibility. Characters toil with problems that hope to carry grand moral weight but instead collapse into cliché. A relatively simple fix would be “to show, not tell”.
That’s the core problem with Big Shield: there’s no kinetic energy. The story exists in a fog of “had happened,” “is happening,” and “will happen,” all at once. Scenes unfold before and after phone calls that haven’t yet occurred but already have in other chapters, creating a muddle of timelines that feels less like complexity and more like needless repetition, as if the author himself were confused.
The structure compounds it. Chapters rotate through a fixed three-POV cycle, giving each an unearned equivalence of narrative weight. Florio never allows one POV to become the engine of the story. Instead, he constantly rehashes events from different perspectives, as if he doesn’t trust his reader to follow along or is deliberately trying to pad the word count. This repetition dulls, and in most cases reverses, any momentum the narrative had. Leading to a narrative voice that often feels like it’s talking down to its audience.
Which brings me to the Johnny Motts chapters. Every time I saw one coming, I rolled my eyes. They’re not just bad because he’s one-dimensional, they’re bad because he’s inauthentic. Reading Motts feels like watching Robert De Niro’s de-aged scenes in The Irishman: that uncanny valley moment when an 81-year-old man tries to move and act like he’s 30. Motts talks like a Prohibition-era caricature, tossing around words like “hooch” and “broads,” even though the book insists he’s a contemporary mob soldier. And just like De Niro’s digitally soothed performance, nothing about Johnny Motts rings true, and every line reminds you that you’re reading someone’s idea of a mobster, not a mobster.
It’s a shame, because the premise is genuinely interesting, and Florio, a former trial lawyer with deep insight into the league, seemed like the perfect person to write it. Unfortunately, insight can’t save bad craft stitched to a half-baked story.
With all that said, the worst offense of this novel is that it lacks any heart or love of football. It is completely devoid of any of the passion that drew me into Florio’s orbit in the first place. Florio has always had a love-hate relationship with the sport and league, and as a Chicago Bears fan, I sympathize. But it’s that tension that makes him compelling. He doesn’t pull his criticisms or hold back his praise. But reading this book, I felt no love, just an odd cognitive distance. The game was kept at arm’s-length where none of the characters had any stake in it.
The tragedy of this book is that no character cared about football, let alone loved the sport. There was no love-hate tension about the game. It was either all malice or apathy. Every character associated with football was a lazy stereotype bordering on vindictive caricature.
If even one character had their heart in the game, it would have created real stakes and made for a much more compelling read.
Florio called it a cautionary tale with the tag “there’s no such thing as easy money” (a cliché), but his real purpose is “Are you prepared to ruin the game you love.”
Big Shield could have been a groundbreaking novel. Instead, it’s forgettable.
August 26, 2025
4, Easy read, was intrigued by the plot of a pro football player giving inside information to the mob in a world of legalized gambling. I didn’t love the randomness of how/why the characters met and the implications of it. I wish the result felt more realistic. Either way, it was good and I enjoyed it but I didn’t love it. I always give Florio’s books a read (Father of Mine and Son of Mine were great) because his podcast, pro football talk, is awesome.
November 19, 2025
I liked the way this was written, (alternating by chapter between character) and the story was there but the ending was not. After reading it I felt slightly disappointed that after spending time to lay the groundwork for an exciting ending it was rushed and piecemeal. Not sure why the ending was such a buzzkill but I can’t imagine Florio felt proud of how he “wrapped” this one up. Oh well, $.99 wasn’t a huge waste of money.
November 4, 2025
I will give it a 2 star because it was a good premise. The writing is awful, it's almost all internal monologues that just say the same thing over and over. If you really only the dialog you will be fine. The mobsters are written and have names like the only research done was old Dick Tracy comics. It's really bad.
September 16, 2025
This was an unbelievable (yet totally believable given today’s professional sports landscape) read. The way Florio writes this through the lense of three different characters and manages to overlap them in the ways he did was remarkable. If you’re a football fan I can’t recommend this book enough
October 3, 2025
Pretty good book. Florio explains nuances of the game that non football fans would understand. The format of a pov novel shines in this novel. Solid read for an airplane flight or just to pass the time.
October 31, 2025
Compelling and Fun
Big Shield brings you in with the gambling/pro football plot. The villain is under as much pressure as he tries to give. Johnny Motts steals the show. Highly recommended
Big Shield brings you in with the gambling/pro football plot. The villain is under as much pressure as he tries to give. Johnny Motts steals the show. Highly recommended
November 20, 2025
Not a bad story line, but each chapter is like a monologue from each character which is tough to get used to. Some parts it seems like the character repeats themselves many times. It gets better towards the end, but could have also been a much better book
August 21, 2025
Nice quick read. Enjoyed it very much.
September 6, 2025
Enjoyable read for any football fan
Very fun read told in an interesting way from different vantage points. Definitely one to sink your teeth into as football season begins
Very fun read told in an interesting way from different vantage points. Definitely one to sink your teeth into as football season begins
September 11, 2025
Nice job Mike
Who knew Mike Florio was multitalented? Great read, good character development and nice unpredictable story. Thanks for a look inside, even if it’s fiction.
Who knew Mike Florio was multitalented? Great read, good character development and nice unpredictable story. Thanks for a look inside, even if it’s fiction.
October 17, 2025
Great story and wonderful
Loved this book and the football stuff was an added bonus. The back and forth added a pace to the book that was rewarding and thrilling.
Loved this book and the football stuff was an added bonus. The back and forth added a pace to the book that was rewarding and thrilling.
January 22, 2026
Vulgar is the best way to describe this. The good news is that I only spent .99 on it.
December 4, 2025
DNF. Should have stopped reading after the 20th mention of Alice’s grandfather.
October 30, 2025
I enjoyed this book way more than I expected to. I’m a fan of Mike Florio, he is a very intelligent guy, engineer, attorney, very successful football analyst with a very entertaining football show (PFT Live) and now an author.
He is really predicting the future with gambling scandals coming in football.
He is really predicting the future with gambling scandals coming in football.
October 14, 2025
2.5 stars… just enough to justify the 99 cents I paid for it and to keep me reading until the end. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible either, I guess.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews