Tim Green's Blog, page 4

HIP NEW JERSEY INTERVIEW WITH TIM GREEN

By Kenneth Barilari

Tim Green, former American football player, radio and television personality, and best-selling author, has just released a brand new novel, Left Out. #HipNJ spoke with the author to learn more.

Left Out tells a heartfelt and moving story about a deaf boy’s journey to change how others see him both on and off the football field.

Green, former linebacker and defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, has aspired to be an author since he was in the third grade. “I really became a veracious reader and loved books,” he said. “I dreamed of writing them one day.”

He got the inspiration for Left Out a couple of years ago while on a book tour. He met two boys who were fans of his books, one from Kentucky and one from Arkansas. Both of these boys were football players, and they were both deaf with cochlear implants. Green got their contact information and reached out to the boys and their parents. “One day I want to write a book about a boy who has had the experiences that you have had,” he told them.

He then spoke to the boys extensively via Skype, trying to capture the essence of their lives, struggles, and triumphs. “So many kids strive to create an identity in sports, and they strive for excellence. There are obstacles for all of us. I just thought everyone would be inspired by someone who has an extra set of obstacles,” the author states.

He says that the majority of schools he visits will have at least one student who is deaf with cochlear implants. “It is important for other students to realize how those kids are sometimes marginalized, not only by children but also by adults.”

“Most people innately are afraid and suspicious of someone who is different, and what reading does is it allows us to understand other people’s realities and to have compassion,” he said. “We are all the same on the inside and that’s what’s important.”

Green said that his NFL background has had an influence on the story. His middle grade novels are set in the world of sports. “In the football books, I really rely on the experiences that I have had at the highest level of sports.” Furthermore, his experience can bring a credibility to the characters that is appealing to young readers who might not be all that interested in books. “Knowing I walked in those shoes and lived those experiences brings a kind of credibility to the sports on and off the field.”

When asked what he hopes readers take away from Left Out, Green states two objectives. “My first objective as a writer is to entertain the reader. That’s my number one goal,” he said. That’s why he writes short, action-packed chapters often ending with a cliffhanger. Next, Green hopes to inspire the reader. “The most gratifying part about writing is sharing life lessons with the reader.” He hopes the reader leaves with a better understanding of perseverance, teamwork, self-improvement, and forgiveness.

http://hipnewjersey.com/tim-green-on-...

Author, Ex-NFL player discusses the power of reading

PORT CLINTON- Tim Green has written 34 books, with a 35th planned for release in March 2017.

He first made his name on the football field, but Green is now known more for his penchant for words and skill in promoting literacy to students across the country.

The former NFL football player visited Port Clinton Monday night, where he spoke about his doggedness in the face of initial rejection by publishing houses and the importance of reading for children.

“Books for me, when I was young, were magic,” Green told the audience of about 50 people at the Port Clinton Performing Arts Center.

The Friends of Ida Rupp Public Library hosted the former NFL player and bestselling author at their Second Community Read.

Green said he was equally passionate about football and books as a child, with a dream of becoming a writer.

A New York Times bestselling author, Green was an eight-year NFL defensive starter with the Atlanta Falcons, a TV personality, and an attorney.

The NFL retiree called reading “weightlifting for your brain,” at the start of his presentation Monday. Since he began writing books for kids in 2007, Green has sold over a million copies and made more than 1,000 school visits, speaking to nearly a half million kids across the United States.

He said his latest book, “Left Out,” will be released in two weeks. Green said retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter approached him earlier this year about co-authoring a book about baseball.

“He was wonderful. What a wonderful person,” Green said of Jeter.

Green said everything he’s been able to do with his life came more from hard work than talent. He stressed the need for kids to invest in their education and intellect as they follow their dreams.

After his NFL career ended, Green said he poured himself into his writing and took five years to write his first novel. He estimated he was rejected by 70 publishing houses, but didn’t stop until he finally broke through and got published.

Green acknowledged some people have written him off as a writer, but he said he had made himself better through diligence and hard work.

For kids, reading makes them smarter, better in school, kinder and more tolerant of others, Green said.

Mario Guerra brought his grandson, Alayis, to see Green speak Monday.

Both held copies of books written by Green and posed for photos with the author before his presentation.

Guerra said his grandson was interested in football and picked up some of Green’s books at the library.

“I think this is a good experience for him. Being that he (Green) was sports, this will be a good influence for him,” Guerra said.

Daniel Carson, Reporter

dacarson@gannett.com

419-334-1046

Twitter:@DanielCarson7

Beyond the Game: Former NFL player pens book about local student overcoming obstacles

Former NFL player Tim Green, now a bestselling author, has a new book that might resonate with students at a Central Arkansas school.

“When I met Brett, I thought, what a courageous story,” Green said.

A few years ago, he spoke at Central Arkansas Christian. There, he met Brett Bell, an eighth grader who was diagnosed deaf at birth. His disability doesn’t prevent him from playing basketball and baseball for the Mustangs.

“Obviously he has some incredible challenges that he’s worked hard to overcome and I just thought, what an inspirational story that could be, if I could have a character like that.”

In Left Out, which will be released Tuesday, September 27, a boy with cochlear implants dreams of playing football. Bell’s name is used for the boy who helps him do so.

“We really wanted to come up with a book that showed some of the things in Brett’s daily life [that] he goes through,” said Kristi Bell, Brett’s mom.

“It’s incredible. I held the book in my hand last night.”

Brett’s name isn’t the only one with special meaning on Mustang Mountain. Megan Nickell, a CAC student who died in 2015, also has a character that shares her name.

Green wouldn’t give away the ending, but added this: “Like the Brett Bell story in real life, the story in Left Out is an inspirational one.

Kristi hopes the book teaches valuable lessons to everyone that takes the time to read it.

“All people are the same on the inside,” she said.

By Kyle Deckelbaum

Whatever happened to: Ex-Falcon Tim Green

By I.J. Rosenberg – For the AJC

Tim Green has done it all. He graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University, has a law degree, is a best-selling author and has been a commentator for NFL football games on Fox.

Oh, and he also played a little football for the Atlanta Falcons.

A first-round choice (17th overall) in the 1986 NFL draft, Green played during one of the franchise’s toughest periods, an eight-year stretch where the Falcons won only 45 games (six double-digit-loss seasons) and made just one playoff appearance.

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But always a fan favorite, the good looking kid from Liverpool, N.Y., Green was one of the club’s better players, a hard-working linebacker/defensive end who dropped more than a few quarterbacks on their back.

Green began playing at the age of 8, then going on to Liverpool High School as an offensive lineman. He switched to defense his sophomore year when his team won sectionals and he was named defensive MVP. The colleges came calling — Notre Dame, Penn State, Georgia — but he chose Syracuse, the school that told him he could play right away.

Green was a member of a Syracuse 1982 freshman class that began a resurgence of Orange football under coach Dick MacPherson. He did play right away but his freshman year, the team went 2-9. They upset Top 20-ranked Boston College and West Virginia to end his sophomore season at 6-5. Then the following year, Green and Syracuse pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history, beating No. 1 Nebraska 17-9 at the Carrier Dome and again finishing 6-5. In his senior season, Syracuse went 7-5 and played in its first bowl game (Cherry Bowl) in six years.

Meanwhile, Green was also killing it in the classroom, graduating at the top of his class (co-valedictorian) only a month after being taken by the Falcons in the draft.

Then it all got tough.

In 1986, Green played only in nine games as a rookie because of injuries while the Falcons finished 7-8-1. The following season the bottom fell out, the team going 3-13 under Marion Campbell and winning just 16 games over a four-year period.

Green, however, became one of the team’s better players, collecting five sacks in both the 1989 and ’91 seasons and a career-high six sacks in 1990. In ’91 under head coach Jerry Glanville, the Falcons went 10-6 and beat the New Orleans Saints (27-20) in a wild-card game before losing to Washington (24-7) in the divisional round.

All along, Green kept writing and, as the 1993 season approached, he was close to finishing his first novel. He also had begun law school at Syracuse during the offseason in 1987. Because of several knee injuries, the fact that he was about to graduate law school and that he felt good about being an author, Green retired after the 1993 season. Quickly, he was offered a commentator’s job by Fox.

He began his television and law career the next year and would stay with Fox for 10 years, while also doing a short stint as a host on “Current Affair.’’ He wrote 14 suspense novels before turning to nonfiction and also writing books for children. With 29 books published, he was named the winner of the 2011 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, “given annually to six former NCAA student-athletes for distinguished career accomplishment on the 25th year of their college graduation.’’

Where he lives: He has been married to Illyssa for 27 years and they live in upstate New York on the Finger Lakes in Skaneateles. They have five children: Thane, Tessa, Troy, Tate and Ty.

What he does: Now 52, Green continues to write full time and is also part of two law firms, one that deals with energy, intellectual properties and reassurance and another one comprised of former district attorneys that offer criminal defense services.

On going to Syracuse: “I was recruited by about everyone. But I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t play a lot as a freshman in high school and didn’t want to go through that again and Syracuse told me I could play right away and I did.’’

On the reemergence of Orange football during his era: “I was glad to be a part of it. The big game was the one we beat Nebraska in where we were like a 48-point underdog. I had 10 tackles and a couple of sacks and was named the Sports Illustrated player of the week. I felt then I had a great chance of playing in the NFL. Then we went to the bowl game my senior year and from there Syracuse started getting players like Donavan McNabb.’’

On being drafted by the Falcons: “I was thrilled to be a first-round pick and excited about going to Atlanta because I had been in upstate New York all my life. But my agent told me, ‘That’s too bad.’’’

On his Falcons career: “For me, it was two very different experiences: the first four years and the second four years. The first four years were very difficult and nine days into my rookie camp, I tore my calf muscle. The first four years there wasn’t much of an expectation. That changed the second four. When Deion (Sanders) was drafted (1989), it was very exciting. I am grateful I had those years. You have to remember, for every 16-0 team there is an 0-16 team, for every team that gets a win, there is a team that loses.’’

On his decision to retire in 1993: “I think I probably could have hung in there for four more years but there were four major things: First, I didn’t have any more medial meniscus in my right knee from two operations. Second, there was the publication of my first novel which led to a three-book contract. Third, I had graduated from law school and fourth, Fox had offered me a contract. There is never a good time to leave but I was extremely fortunate to have those other things. I look at it like the story of the guy up to his neck in the river and a boat comes by and says to get in. He says, ‘God has got me.’ Then a canoe comes by and the guy says the same thing. Then a helicopter comes by and he says the same thing. Well, he drowns and gets to heaven and sees God and asks him what happened. God tells him, ‘You dummy, I sent you two boats and a helicopter.’ Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice and I was on the decline.’’

On his connection with the Falcons: “It is really because of Arthur (Blank). He has been very generous to me and my family on a personal level. He also has been a huge proponent on what I am doing with reading. I am very grateful to him and I didn’t even play for him.’’

LEFT OUT receives a JLG award for Summer 2016

For more information about the Junior Library Guild and how it works, please visit their website at www.juniorlibraryguild.com

HOME RUN receives a JLG award for Spring 2016

Junior Library Guild is a book review and collection development service helping thousands of school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books, saving them both time and money.

Junior Library Guild is a privately held company based in Plain City, Ohio. Founded in 1929, JLG provides the very best customer service in the industry. Our services help librarians with collection development and our members trust us to put only the best books into the hands of their eager young readers.

Season after season, year after year, their book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. We send these books on a monthly basis to our members, who receive them hot off the presses.

JLG selects books with the same care and attention you use when building your collection. Our editors know the children’s and young-adult literature landscape like no one else. And this credibility gives us a unique advantage, which benefits our members every month. The JLG editorial team reads the best books of the year well before they’re published. Publishers large and small value the prestige that comes with having their books named JLG Selections. They allow us to read and review more than 3,000 of their most anticipated books in manuscript or in preproduction stages. After narrowing that group to the very best 828 titles, we place our orders well in advance of publication dates (all JLG books are first editions) to provide you with new-release titles soon after they are first released.

This is how JLG membership allows you to get tomorrow’s award winners today.

Kid Owner receives a JLG award for Winter 2015

“We read thousands of books every year and select only the best”

The JLG editorial team reviews more than 3,000 new titles each year, in manuscript or prepublication stage. We’ve developed a keen sense for finding the best of the best. Over 95 percent of our selections go on to receive awards and/or favorable reviews. And, according to statistics provided by Collection HQ, from 2013 to 2014 JLG Selections circulated 81% more than other books published for children and teens.*

Family Reading Night gets special speaker

‘Get in the Game’ with Hamburg School District’s upcoming Family Reading Night, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 8.

The Hamburg Middle School tradition started in 2005, and more recently expanded to include the entire district, will be full of fun activities for kids of every age, and their families as well.

Librarians from every school in the district and community worked together to make an enjoyable event, starting off with guest speaker Tim Green.

Megan Moelbert, Hamburg Middle School libararian and founder of Family Reading Night, was very excited when she learned they landed Green as their guest speaker: “He’s an author, he’s out of Syracuse, he was an Atlanta Falcon, he’s a lawyer, he’s a writer, he’s a coach, he’s a dad and a husband, and he’s amazing…I’ve heard him before, he’s very inspirational and the kids just love him.”

Green will speak to the Hamburg community in the middle school auditorium for 45 minutes, signing books and being central to the event’s big prize for whoever wins the locker decorating contest, where students got to fashion their locker after the spine of their favorite book.

“Prizes will be books by Tim Green…he offered to do a ‘back-stage pass’ kind of thing, he said he’d come early and sit with anybody, any kid, and do a Q & A with them, photo shots with him, we can cord off the front row of the auditorium, they can be the first in line for his autograph…so we got a few awesome prize options, thanks to him,” said Moelbert.

The second part of the night will be a series of mini-activities for everyone to participate in, going on in many classrooms on the second floor of the middle school.

There will of course be the annual book swap, where kids can bring in a used book and trade it in for something else, or 50 cents for a book of their choice. Proceeds will benefit the Museum of disABILITY History, which has a connection to author Stephen Nawotniak, who will be presenting on his children’s book “Mubu the Morph.”

A Robotics Maker Space, provided by the Hamburg Library, Computer Coding, a Poetry Slam and Media Scavenger Hunt will be among the many games and literacy-based activities to check out during the second part of the event.

“Choices for them that are literacy-based for the most part, fun, interactive, hands-on…we did try to have a few that are geared for elementary and a few that are geared for secondary but most are for everybody,” added Moelbert.

Guests will be entered in to win door prizes like passes to the Albright Knox and tickets to see the UB Bulls when they walk in; a lot of the prizes will be sports-based to fit in with the theme of ‘Get in the Game: Read,’ thanks to the event’s guest speaker.

For Moelbert, it’s all about getting the community out for a night of fun to benefit a good cause, and maybe inspiring some young minds too. “Connecting with literacy, connecting families, and then just having a community event. With this one, I think Tim Green is going to be a huge component of the awe and inspiration, and some kids will come out of here and…they’ll want to be him, they’ll want to be an NFL player or they’ll want to be a writer, or a lawyer,” she added.

The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided by Hamburg’s PTSA.

Matthew Ondesko, The Sun Reporter

Tim Visits Riverton Middle School

Green writes sports-themed young adult novels. During this talk, he emphasized the importance of how reading can help students academically, calling reading “weight-lifting for the brain.” “Educators across the country know kids who read perform better in every academic subject. Not just English and social studies, but also science and math. It also builds compassion and character,” Green said. Green has also written suspense novels for adults before writing children’s books. To watch a video of the event, click here.

–By Fox Illinois News Team

Tim Green now sacking illiteracy instead of quarterbacks

Young Tim Green always had a nose for the football and his nose in a book. So it wasn’t surprising to those who knew him back in the day that he eventually would realize his boyhood dreams of becoming a National Football League player and a best-selling author.

That he was destined for greatness was especially evident during his time at Syracuse University in the early 1980s, when he earned first-team All-America honors in football and was co-valedictorian of his class. While playing for the Atlanta Falcons, Green somehow found the time and energy to go to law school, where he graduated with honors, and is now a practicing attorney. Along the way, this Renaissance man also cultivated a successful broadcasting career that saw him work as a football analyst for FOX sports, co-host the news show, “A Current Affair,” and become a regular contributor to National Public Radio and ABC’s “Evening News.”

Now, 23 years after sacking his last quarterback, the former defensive end is tackling an even bigger challenge: convincing young people to read.

Author of more than 30 books, including 14 New York Times bestsellers, Green began writing sports-themed novels for elementary- to middle-school-aged children roughly a decade ago. That led to numerous requests from teachers and principals for him to speak at their schools. The fact he had played in the NFL for eight seasons gave him instant credibility among the students, and he used that credibility to drive home the importance of reading, education and kindness.

Through the years, Green has visited more than 1,000 schools nationwide. He will bring his “Reading is weightlifting for the brain” message, as well as a trunk full of books, to Gananda Middle School in Walworth on Tuesday morning.

“It’s like everything in my life was pushing me in this direction and I couldn’t be happier that it has,’’ said Green, who uses his speaking fees to donate books to kids and schools that can’t afford them. “This has become my passion, my mission in life. I haven’t discovered a cure for cancer or found a solution for peace in the Middle East, but in some small way, I’d like to think I’m helping make the world a better place.”

Famed abolitionist/editor Frederick Douglass said “once you learn to read, you will forever be free.”

Those words resonate with Green. The 52-year-old can trace his lifelong love of the written word back to the Hardy Boys mystery series he began devouring as a third-grader.

“The first book that hooked me was about a lighthouse mystery,’’ Green said. “It was a pretty good-sized book for a middle-school novel, about 220 pages long, but I couldn’t put it down. It was filled with cliff-hangers. It was a real page-turner. And it whetted my appetite to want to read more of the books in the series. Eventually, I branched off to other authors and genres.’’

The ability of books to transport him to places he’d never imagined visiting and into the minds of characters he never knew existed was magical. The fact his words are now doing the same for others blows his mind.

“I can’t adequately express the joy and satisfaction I get from hearing kids say about my books what I felt about those Hardy Boys books,’’ he said.

Green’s initiative has received rave reviews at every school he’s visited. Following a recent presentation at Orion Junior High in Ogden, Utah, librarian Amy Hall called Green “a national treasure” and added that “each and every student in America should have the opportunity to hear his message and learn from him.’’

Green’s pithy phrase “reading is weightlifting for the brain” hits home with young people, creating a visual that the brain, like muscles, must be used, lest it atrophy. “I think it’s analogous because if you want to be a great football player, or great at any sport really, you need to lift weights, and if you want to be the best student you can be, you need to be a good reader,’’ he said. “Students who read not only perform better academically, but also become more compassionate people because reading is the exercise of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and becoming different characters in different places.”

Like the Hardy Boys stories of his youth, Green’s books are filled with suspense. His 17th and latest novel published by Harper Collins is titled “Home Run,” and deals with a boy who has a chance to help out his divorced mom and sister if he wins a home run derby that will enable them to move from their cramped apartment into a house.

One of the cool things about Green’s series is that he uses his Facebook page to solicit names of people to be characters in his book. Tyler Hutt, a member of the Victor football team who died of a pulmonary embolism in 2015, and Courtney Wagner, a former Canandaigua basketball player who died last year of brain cancer, are two names Green’s Facebook followers nominated and he decided to use.

“I love it because it’s a great way to honor those kids, as well as some adults, and for their families to see the outpouring of support from their communities,’’ he said. “It helps people like Tyler and Courtney live on through these stories.”

Green’s first book, “The Darker Side of the Game,” was a candid, behind-the-scenes look at his pro football experiences. The game exacted a heavy toll on him, resulting in a damaged elbow that has limited the use of one of his hands and has required several surgeries. Green also suffered at least 10 concussions, though he says he hasn’t suffered any cognitive damage.

“So far, so good,’’ he said. “I have the mental issues that any normal fiftysomething would have. I’m still writing two books a year, so that’s how I console myself.”

Of the many things he has achieved, none will have a greater impact on more people than his literacy initiative. By sharing the wonders of reading with young, impressionable minds, he hopes the written word will strengthen their brains the way weights strengthen muscles. Green hopes books transport them to places they’ve never been before, put them in the shoes of others, make them smarter and kinder, and help them dream big, the way he always has.

Best-selling author Scott Pitoniak is the Rochester Business Journal sports columnist.

3/4/2016 (c) 2016 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email service@rbj.net.