Book NFL Player Was Reading During Game Shoots to No. 1

AJ Brown brings what he calls the "recipe" to every NFL game he plays in, though no one has seemed to notice until now. On Sunday, however, the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver was spied reading his favorite self-help book on camera during his team's 22-10 playoff victory against the Green Bay Packers, and now that tome has shot to the top of Amazon's charts, reports CNN.

• The book: It's called Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life, by ex-MLB minor leaguer Jim Murphy, who now calls himself a "performance coach" as he advises athletes on how to stay mentally strong.

• Busted: Brown was spotted during the game perusing his self-help manual while sitting on the sidelines, apparently after some frustrating gameplay. "He's gonna read a little passage here," one of the announcers joked as Brown could be seen leafing through the book's pages. Another announcer added: "I haven't seen too many people read books—but I've seen a quarterback eat a hot dog!"
• History: Brown says he brings the book, which his teammates call the "recipe," to every game, to help him focus in between drives. He shared a photo of it online, showing the passages he'd highlighted for inspiration. "This game is 90% mental and 10% physical for me," he wrote. "I use [the book] to refocus and lock in despite what may transpire in the game good or bad."
• Repercussions: By Monday afternoon, Inner Excellence had shot to No. 1 on Amazon's best-seller list—stunning and pleasing its author. "I was not expecting that. A real gift," Murphy told the AP, adding that the book "had probably never been higher than probably [8,000] or 9,000. In the thousands, somewhere." (The AP notes it had actually been ranked 523,497th before becoming NFL-famous.)
• Brown: The player himself says he's not sure why this particular reading instance went viral, since he reads often on the sidelines, joking, "Y'all caught me that time." His teammates don't seem to mind the attention the book has brought. "That's AJ Brown—he can do whatever the hell he wants," offensive tackle Jordan Mailata tells Yahoo Sports. "There's a method to the madness. Whatever works for him."

More here on how the book found its way into Brown's life. (More AJ Brown stories.)