During Sunday’s game, Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was spotted on the bench doing something players don’t usually do during games: Reading a book. And now that book is the best-selling book in the country.
The book Brown was reading is Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life by Jim Murphy. The book is now the No. 1 bestseller among all books on Amazon.com.
Brown seemed surprised after the game by what a big deal his reading habit had become, telling reporters that to him it’s a standard part of the way he keeps his focus in the right place during a game.
“It gives me a sense of peace,” Brown said. “That’s a book that I read every single game. My teammates call it the recipe. That’s the first time you got me on camera but it’s not the first game. It’s got a lot of points in there, a lot of mental parts. For me, this game is mental.”
NFL games are the most popular programs on American television, so it’s not a surprise that a book featured on an NFL game would shoot to the top of the bestseller list. Brown’s endorsement may not sell quite as many books as Oprah’s, but he got America talking about, and buying, a previously little-known book.