"The Long Snapper", by Jeffrey Marx

In the coming year, 2013, I've committed to read much more than what I have in the past.  

And that takes time, which I generally tend to have.  And, of course, I'll have even more once Waverly is off to college.  So instead of waiting, I got the 2013 quest started a few days early.

I received a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble for Christmas from my cousin and his wife and I set off to pick up two books.  The first of which is Jeffrey Marx's "The Long Snapper".

The book is about Brian Kinchen, a 38-year-old long snapper who has been out of professional football for three years and is teaching seventh grade at Baton Rouge, Louisiana's Parkview Baptist.  He gets a call from Scott Pioli, a friend who is the general manager of the New England Patriots.

They want him to come and tryout after their regular long snapper is injured with two weeks left in the 2003 regular season.

However, he fears having to relive the disappointment of being rejected for a younger player as he had experienced his last couple of years as he had originally exited his long career in the National Football League (NFL).

Instead, the Patriots choose him among four who were brought in for a tryout and the book takes the reader game-by-game through the end of the regular season, the playoffs and all the way to the Super Bowl, which was played here in Houston.

It is a well-written, well-crafted and heartwarming story by Marx, who was given incredible access by Kinchen, his wife and former players and coaches.

As a Christian, it reminds me of Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

In addition, it's a lesson that we should never give up hope on God.

For more on Brian Kinchen, who is now the head football coach of Ascension Christian High School in Gonzales, Louisiana, please visit www.thelongsnapper.com.