Just Give Me the Damn Ball!: The Fast Times and Hard Knocks of an NFL Rookie | 
 enlarge | Authors: Keyshawn Johnson, Shelley Smith
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $7.99
You Save: $20.01 (71%)
New (21) Used (21) Collectible (2) from $3.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 659592
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0446521450
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.332092
EAN: 9780446521451
ASIN: 0446521450
Publication Date: May 1, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: excellent new copy...ships right away!
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Product Description
In a fascinating, behind-the-scenes, no-holds-barred autobiography, college football sensation Keyshawn Johnson, presumed savior of the New York Jets, offers a candid look at his life on the field and his rookie season in the NFL.Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was a high school and college football superstar in California and an All-American who led the USC Trojans to a Rose Bowl win. He was the first player chosen in the 1996 NFL Draft, and Adidas has crowned him their new national spokesperson, complete with a specially designed signature shoe. He is being heralded by the New York Jets as the savior who will lead them from the cellar to the Super Bowl. In this autobiography, Johnson gives readers a look at his first season in professional football -- the exhilaration of winning, the despair of losing, the fickle fans, the relentless New York media, the money, and the extraordinary pressure placed on you when you're 23 and expected to perform miracles on the gridiron.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Overrated Receiver gets a chance at being an author March 23, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't believe the hype surrounding this overhyped, overrated NFL receiver. To think , Jets could have had Marvin Harrison (a surefire hall of famer) instead of Keyshawn the 1996 draft.
 Not for the faint of heart. January 21, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Great guy! Mr. Johnson is gutsy. He's not afraid to take on the sacred cows of the NFL. His numbers would tell you that he is an above-average receiver, while Keyshawon will tell you that he's the best receiver of all time. Who's right? I'm not sure, but reading this book will have you laughing in recognition. What a ride! His infectious smile will melt your heart and his double-talk unedited stream of consciousness logic will confound you. I only hope that Mr. Johnson will finish his career in Canada or possibly NFL Europe, which appears where he's headed. By 2007. my guess. Thank you Key! Stay hot and don't let bad stats get you down. You're a winner in my book. Which, I'm thinking of titling "Keyshawon Johnson: Genius and Scholar."
 Keyshawn just trips me out March 18, 2004
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
First of all let me start off by saying that i'm not the biggest fan of Keyshawn, as a matter of fact he is probably my least favorite NFL player, I always found him to be arrogant, and this book just proved my point even more. The whole book he complains that he is not being paid enough, he hates on his coaches. When he gets the ball, I have yet soon him to put up the numbers he claims he can get. I always wondered why Shawn King was benched, even though he led tampa bay pretty far the season he started, I was not surprised to hear rumors that keyshawn had something to do with it. He proved in this book that its all about the money for him, not the love of the game. If I was a coach I would not want him on my team. The only thing I liked what Mr. Johnson had to say, especially with the new ruled that was pass allowing guys to enter the draft to play football without playing college football, is that there is nothing like playing college football. Again, this is just my opinion of Mr.JOhnson, I could be totally wrong, he could be the most humble player in the NFL.
understated, bold, brilliant September 11, 2003
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Keyshawn Johnson's memoir, Just Give me the Damn Ball, is a chronicle of one man's journey to understand himself. The "Ball" as every reader of Johnson's prose understands, is not an actual leather ball, but a metaphor for the unnameable phatom that evades all of us, and the thing that can give us, if we could just get our hands on it, a true spiritual balance that could once and for all stop the longing we all feel and that some people attribute to our being made in the image of a creator to satisfy this creater's longing. Using a musical and lyrical style, he paints a portrait of the difficulties and obstacles faced by many of our young men in this country today. And he pulls no punches; make no mistake, Keyshawn writes like he plays: often dropping the "ball", but rarely failing to dwell in those small moments of triumph. While the narrative is first person, the voice Johnson achieves can give an impression of almost total detachment. He describes his battles as uphill conquests, relaying little detail other than those of his own ability to catch the "ball", though we all know no one can hold on to the ball forever. Johnson understands this, though he never comes to the point where he feels comfortable saying it. The idea that one thing, the ball in this case, can satisfy a being, one made of skin and nerves and thick red blood, is nothing new, but Johnson is able to breath life into it by creating a world where we, while, at our core, understanding that the grasp of one object could never satisfy our depths, the pursuit of this object could give a life purpose and, ultimately, could satisfy the pointed ends of the "ball" which would only leave the middle, and though the middle could never be satisfied, the pursuit of it all, the endless journey we put ourselves in, is one that will one day be rewarded. But when will we know for sure?
A must October 8, 2000
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
while i'm a big time Bills Fan i give Keyshawn Johnson madd Props for this Very Honest&Open Book.it details a Season&the Politics involved in the NFL.I'M Pulling for The Bills Vs Tampa Bay in The Superbowl.THe JEts were Dumb for Letting KeyShawn go.after what he had to deal with Growing up, The NFL is like Sesame Street by Comparison.
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