When the Cheering Stops: Life after the NFL

by Gay Culverhouse

A heartfelt account of the difficulties football players face after they leave the NFL.

The NFL is the nation’s most popular sport, but the athletes who make the league rich suffer greatly once they step off the field. In When the Cheering Life after the NFL, players open up about the adversities they face after retirement. Long after the lights have dimmed on their playing days, NFL players face emotional distress, physical injuries, and cognitive decline, often suffering on their own. Personal interviews with former players reveal that many struggle with finances, finding a second career, addiction, depression, and violence. While success stories are also shared, the unfortunate truth is that there are far more players left hurt and broken after retirement.

Written by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers president and founder of the Retired Player Assistance program Gay Culverhouse, this book provides a unique inside perspective on the NFL and the long-term physical and emotional toll playing in the league takes on the players who make it great.

Genres: Nonfiction

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2021

Reviews

[Jen Juenke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard book to peg down. Its part memoir, part cautionary tale, part advocacy. It was an entertaining book. I learned a LOT about Gay and her family. She wrote about her time in the NFL and afterwards being an advocate. There was a TON of talk about CTE....more then I thought was necessary.
I never realized how many different programs that the NFL provided to players and former players. The author alluded to them being very complicated and some sounded like it.
I liked the book, I learned from it, but for a person who doesn't watch the games, I am not a former player, and I am not an attorney, this book left me puzzled.
I was puzzled when profiles of ex players would abruptly END, with no further mention of what happened to them.
I was puzzled when CTE was mentioned ad nauseum and was the majority of the book. While depression, suicide, and obesity were mentioned briefly....but not in depth like CTE.

Overall I got the impression that the NFL has TRIED to make things better for players and former players, they just need to know where to look.
Is there still work to be done? YES!

I really wanted to read this, thinking that Gay was a former player....I found out she was an uber rich white lady whose daddy owned the Tampa Bay Buccanneers. She was an advocate for CERTAIN players, but only certain players.

I would say that this is a half finished book...so much more needed to be written.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the Publisher for allowing me this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

[MookNana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really hard to pin down exactly what this book is. It's partly a recounting of the author's life and professional career, partially a discussion of hardships faced by rank-and-file NFL players, partially cautionary tales about players who have struggled, and partially a call to arms for better protection and support for current and former players.

This book absolutely bursts with one-of-a-kind information and perspective from the author. It's quite unvarnished--I would be shocked to hear it was ghostwritten or even heavily edited. It's not shy at all about naming names and confronting issues and bad actors directly. The research is well documented/cited. As a fellow Tampanian, I enjoyed the many fascinating glimpses into local history and culture.

I think I was expecting either a memoir or a manifesto, but this turned out to be neither, exactly. It feels more like a massive transfer of information from Ms. Culverhouse, and I'm glad she got to share it before her death. Given her unique access and position, what she has to say is worth reading.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!