The Making of a Man by Tim Brown with James Lund - Book Review

From the publisher: NFL All-Pro, sports analyst, and businessman Tim Brown teaches men and boys principles and priorities for life.

Every young boy dreams about growing up to be his vision of a man, but what does that look like? What is manhood, really, and how do guys get there? For some boys their dreams are to be an astronaut, a fireman, or a professional athlete. When legendary coach Lou Holtz told Tim Brown he might be the best football player he'd ever seen it started Tim on a fast track to the Heisman Trophy and playing sixteen seasons for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders. While Tim quickly achieved athletic success, he had to work harder off the field to live a life of honor and integrity—two essential cornerstones of manhood.

Making of a Man, by former NFL player Tim Brown, is a book that serves a dual purpose.  It is an autobiography as well as a treatise on how to be a man.  Each of these purposes was interesting to me on their own; together, Brown has presented a unique way to tell his story.

Each chapter in the book covers a portion of Tim Brown's life, with the lion's share obviously going to his football career as a Heisman Trophy winning player at Notre Dame and NFL All-Pro for the Oakland Raiders.  Brown relates all this in a very conversational style, like he was sitting in your living room talking to you.  However, each chapter of his life serves to highlight one of the ideals Brown values in becoming a man.  These include such ideas as: Manhood Starts with Dad, A Man Uses His Skills, A Man Takes Responsibility, A Man Overcomes Temptation, Faith is for Life, A Man Romances a Woman's Heart, Respect Must Be Earned, A Father Leads His Children, and others.

In each chapter in the book, Brown relates a portion of his life. For example, in Respect Must Be Earned, he relates his 2001 season with the Raiders.  Following this, he then explains how each idea is important to being a man.  He then connects the two using scripture from the Bible.

Brown never hides his purpose, putting God's word front and center, weaving it throughout his personal story.  And it does get personal; Brown is open and apologetic about his faults (including his past sexual relationships), constantly referring to God's grace and salvation in delivering him from his sins.  It's a refreshing and honest approach to the typical athlete's autobiography.

Brown does an eloquent job of relating his life story for the purpose of teaching and encouraging men to become who God made them to be.  The two-pronged approach is an effective way to blend two very interesting ideas into one coherent book.

I highly recommend this book to sports fans and men everywhere.

I received a preview copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.