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| Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery & My Return to the NFL | 
 enlarge | Author: Tedy Bruschi
Creator: Michael Holley
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $0.75
You Save: $24.20 (97%)
New (59) Used (37) from $0.32
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 48872
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 047010869X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332092
EAN: 9780470108697
ASIN: 047010869X
Publication Date: August 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Mu husband loves it! January 14, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book for my husband for Christmas. He has hardly put it down since he got it. I can't wait for him to finish so I can read it!
Very inspirational! December 29, 2007
Bruschi inspires people, even those who aren't football fans, in this book that tells about what he went through when he had his stroke and the aftermath. I would even recommend this book for stroke survivors or people whose family or friends had a stroke.
Great read for football fans, stroke survivors, anyone looking for an uplifting read December 1, 2007
Let me say that I am a wholehearted Patriots fan and have been since 2000 with the arrival of the Tom Brady era and Bill Bellichek's superior coaching.
Tedy's book gives another look into the Patriots from his own perspective as a veteran player for the team and a linebacker, someone who doesn't always receive the constant media attention and press coverage as, say, Tom Brady or Randy Moss. So if you're a football fan (and love the Patriots), then this book will not disappoint you, although Tedy's insights and observations are limited to the 2005-2006 season, when he experienced his stroke and worked hard to make his comeback to the playing field. However, his descriptions are detailed and specific to that one year period.
But, more importantly (because this is why Tedy wrote the book in the first place), Tedy's book gives you insight and hope into life after surviving a moderate stroke.
While he did experience a stroke, Tedy was incredibly fortunate to not have had a more serious, debilitating one; as it was, he suffered for several days with the symptoms of a stroke until they became too much for him and he had to head to the local ER. Tedy's stroke was caused by a small hole in his heart that was later fixed with a relatively minor procedure (i.e., not open heart). And, afterwards, he experienced no long-term debilitation or injury.
Tedy does not state this but it sure is implicit in the details of his conditioning and training to resume playing football: He is also an athlete who was, in 2005, in the prime of his life and peak health. These facts account for much of his successful recovery.
But what also factored in was the incredible support of his wife (which Tedy describes in much detail, including the disagreement they had when he had decided to return to playing football and his wife did not want this to happen), family, friends, and the Patriot organization. In this day and age of "win as many games as you can in as little time as possible" and coaches who risk losing jobs for an especially bad season, Coach Bellichek and owner Robert Kraft were willing to play "wait and see" to confirm the extent to which Tedy's stroke affected him. This decision meant that they did not choose to load up on an extra linebacker to replace him; this could've been debilitating to the team given his role in the linebacker unit but fortunately was not.
This "wait and see" approach was, I think, very helpful to Tedy, who was able to "cover the field" in his own approach in considering what football meant to him, what he wanted to do with his playing career, and involvement of his wife in the decision to return to the field. Tedy covers all of this in detail, along with the encouragement, prayers, and support that he received from his Patriot brothers (teammates) and other coaches and players in the NFL.
Tedy also speaks of himself as a "stroke survivor," and is doing his part to help educate people on both the warning signs of a stroke (yes--there are distinctive, tell-tale signs of an impending stroke that, if acted on immediately CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVED ONE) and that it is possible to resume life after a stroke. While not everyone is in the same physical shape that Tedy was in 2005 or will have a more moderate stroke, Tedy's book is a great example of how it is possible to recover and resume one's life and how to handle the most difficult moments of your life with a sense of moving forward, contemplation, consultation with family and experts, and fortitude to commit firmly to the decision once made.
After reading Tedy's book, I am sure that you'll look at him playing on the field with very different eyes. (The photos in the book are also great!)
Persevere!! November 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Never Give Up" was a great book. Bruschi is an inspiration to everyone!
The book is a really quick, easy read. He doesn't bog you down with a bunch of facts. The story moves along really well. Whether you like the Pats or not, everyone should read this book. It's about courage, family, overcoming fear, and perseverance.
Inspirational November 5, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was interesting as I wanted to see what it felt like for a fit athlete like Bruschi to experience a life-altering experience. Having a stroke would be a scary experience and it would not be expected from a young man in good shape, but it happened to Bruschi.
He pulls no punches in talking about his fears and his feelings and I found the book to be a good and quick read.
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