"F--k you NFL." That was the first of 50 tweets Hamza Abdullah directed to the NFL on October 31, 2013. What led the normally calm and levelheaded athlete to tweet a diatribe of expletives directed at his former employer? His explosion on Twitter quickly became a trending topic and ultimately caught media attention. Mike Golic of ESPN's Mike & Mike in the Morning criticized the former NFL player for highlighting so much that was wrong with the league without offering any solutions. "What are you going to do about it?" Mike Golic challenged.
Golic's question was ultimately one of many that Hamza asked himself. What are you going to do about so many former NFL players committing suicide? What are you going to do to keep them from going broke? How can you help them keep their families together and avoid divorce? How are you going to support them while they make the difficult transition from the NFL to "civilian life?" How do we support anyone struggling with a difficult life transition?
In this book, Hamza Abdullah seeks to answer these questions by taking an honest look at his own life before, during and after the NFL.
There have been a number of very entertaining books written by ex-NFL players detailing their experiences in the League. Now we have a chance to get a look at what happens when the cleats are hung up for the last time, and the cheering is over for good. We find out what toll has been taken on the bodies and especially the minds of our gridiron heroes.
The NFL claims that football is 90% mental and 10% physical, yet they spend a majority of the time working on the physical. Mental health needs to be addressed in the NFL. Hamza believes that if we can tackle mental health on this level, it will have a trickle down effect.
In this book we experience the despair and anguish that even the biggest of stars suffer. How their lives are disrupted and spirits are damaged. A different perspective of what happens when men wake up from a dream to discover that they're living a nightmare, and the League that they put their faith in is no longer there for them.
Come follow Hamza Abdullah.
About the Author
Hamza Abdullah is a graduate of Washington State University and retired NFL player. After retirement, Hamza dedicated his life to serving others. He is a motivational speaker, sports enthusiast, and avid reader who strives to live by the words, "Want for your brother what you want for yourself." Hamza has been featured and interviewed on numerous news outlets, including CNN's Newsroom, ESPN's Outside the Lines and NBC's Rock Center. He currently resides with his wife and four children in Dallas, TX.
