{"id":17139,"date":"2025-09-11T16:25:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=17139"},"modified":"2025-09-11T16:25:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:25:48","slug":"american-kings-a-biography-of-the-quarterback-by-seth-wickersham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/11\/american-kings-a-biography-of-the-quarterback-by-seth-wickersham\/","title":{"rendered":"American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback by Seth Wickersham"},"content":{"rendered":"

c.2025, Hyperion Avenue\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>
\n$29.99 <\/em>
\n407 pages<\/em><\/p>\n

By Terri Schlichenmeyer<\/em>
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

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Snap.<\/p>\n

And with that, and a catch that\u2019s picture-perfect, your team is on their way to another win. The guy that threw the football sure knows his stuff. He\u2019s worth every penny he\u2019s paid, and in the new book American Kings<\/em> by Seth Wickersham,<\/strong> you\u2019ll see what it took to get there.<\/p>\n

Like so many little boys, Seth Wickersham wanted to play pro football when he was growing up; specifically, he wanted to be a quarterback. Unlike most other boys, though, he took it to an extreme, becoming \u201cobsessed\u201d with throwing a football with the best accuracy, hoping to match the skills of the players he admired.<\/p>\n

Alas, despite an entire childhood of near-constant practice and a few wins on the field in high school, he didn\u2019t make varsity and ended up playing as a receiver.<\/p>\n

He knows now that to be a quarterback is to be a star, but it\u2019s also \u201ca way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, he writes about Archie Manning, \u201ca legend, a folk hero, a song title\u2026 and the beginning of a family franchise\u2026\u201d Wickersham shares the story of Warren Moon, how he stepped up to help his mother when his father died, how domestic violence almost derailed his legacy, and the racism he quarterbacked under for years.<\/p>\n

He spent time with Caleb Williams, \u201cthe first true professional amateur quarterback\u201d to get money for playing at the college level. He interviewed James Harris, who was prepared to become a teacher \u201cIf the league didn\u2019t want a Black quarterback\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Wickersham \u201cspent much of 2022 with\u201d Andrew Luck, who \u201clearned quickly that greatness requires an\u2026 unlimited selfishness.\u201d He writes about how Jack Elway influenced his son\u2019s choice of career, what Hollywood had to do with one pro footballer\u2019s life, and the post-career of the first player \u201cto throw a consistently beautiful spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n

Says Wickersham about his subjects, \u201cAnyone could throw a football. Only a quarterback could make people cheer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your favorite chair is oiled for smooth reclining and fast slam-downs. The snacks are laid in for at least a week, and beverages are on ice. You know exactly what you\u2019re wearing for the game this weekend. All you need is American Kings<\/em> and you\u2019re set.<\/p>\n

Author Seth Wickersham calls his book \u201ca biography,\u201d but it\u2019s just as much a history, since he refers often to the earliest days of the game, as well as the etymology of the word \u201cquarterback.\u201d\u00a0 That helps to lay a solid background and it adds color to a reader\u2019s knowledge about football itself, while explaining what it takes for men and women<\/em> to stand out and to achieve gridiron greatness. On that. Wickersham is honest, sometimes calling out his subjects for their attitudes toward teammates and others. Blunt words are used that are unprintable in family newspapers, so beware if you\u2019re sharing.<\/p>\n

Is your team\u2019s QB in this book? Maybe, or a past favorite surely is, so check out American Kings<\/em> and see what you find. Football fans and pigskin prognosticators both will love this book in a snap.<\/p>\n

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c.2025, Hyperion Avenue\u00a0 \u00a0 $29.99 407 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Truth Contributor   Snap. And with that, and a catch that\u2019s picture-perfect, your team is on their way to another win. The guy that threw the football sure knows his stuff. He\u2019s worth every penny he\u2019s paid, and in the new book American Kings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[20],"class_list":["post-17139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book_review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17141,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17139\/revisions\/17141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17139"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=17139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}