Step aside, Oprah.
Philadelphia Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown could launch a book club of his own after a little sideline reading skyrocketed self-help author Jim Murphy to the hottest seller on Amazon overnight.
Brown passed on the playbook and checked out Murphy’s book “Inner Excellence” during Philly’s wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
The little-known book by the mental skills coach was listed No. 1 on Amazon’s bestsellers list as of Monday morning.
“I was not expecting that,” Murphy said by phone Monday. “A real gift. I just looked at Amazon last night, and it got to No. 1, so that was a surprise. It had probably never been higher than probably 8 or 9,000. In the thousands, somewhere.”
The book took the top spot on the trending list after previously being ranked 523,497th. Undoubtedly fueled by Eagles fans, “Inner Excellence” was reviewed 375 times and rated 4.7 out of 5 on Amazon. For comparison, Freida McFadden’s critically acclaimed book “The Housemaid” had 431,491 reviews with a 4.5 rating yet was ranked nine spots behind it on the bestsellers list.
“AJ Brown recommended this book, so I’m looking forward to reading this. Fly Eagles Fly,” one reviewer wrote on the site.
Murphy, a former minor league outfielder in the Chicago Cubs organization, told the AP in an interview Sunday night that his phone started blowing up with texts once his book was spotted.
After his career ended, Murphy became intrigued by the idea of learning how to teach baseball players how to have confidence under pressure. “I spent five years full-time writing and researching the answer to that question,” he said. “That became the book ‘Inner Excellence.’”
[Read more: Book it: A.J. Brown, Eagles ready to turn the page after sluggish playoff opener]
Brown, who had 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns this season, described the lessons in the book as useful because football is “90% mental and 10% physical for me.”
Brown later shared a photo of the book on social media with several passages highlighted and underlined in yellow.
Brown said he was surprised his moment went viral because he says he often reads on the sideline, but added: “Y’all caught me that time.”
“If I score a touchdown or drop a pass, it’s something how I refocus,” Brown said. “I always revert back to the beginning of the book. It states if you can just have a clear mind and remember that nothing else matters, clear conscience, nothing matters negative or positive. You’re willing to take risks. It also says if you’re humble, you can’t be embarrassed.”
It must have worked. The Eagles beat the Packers by double digits, 22-10, to advance in the NFL playoffs.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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