PUSH: Breaking through the Barriers

by Johnny Quinn

JOHNNY QUINN shares his "wild dream" of playing in the NFL, being crushed after getting cut three times, losing 2.6 million dollars in contracts and blowing out his knee. At age 30, when most professional athletes are considered "over the hill," Johnny was competing for Team USA in the sport of bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

This book ushers readers through the valleys of life to the thrills of rocketing down icy mountains at 80+ mph with no seat belt. Discover how the author overcame failure on the road to achieving greatness.

From an NFL failure to a U.S. Olympian, Johnny's "what's next" attitude led him to success he never imagined. In PUSH, Johnny looks at failure as a season of life rather than a death sentence. He provides incredible insight into the "what's next" instead of "what could've been." We all experience failure at some level; Johnny equips us to embrace change, accept risks and learn to PUSH Through the Barriers, to live life on purpose.

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2018

Reviews

[Mike Kowis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book shares the author's journey of becoming a professional football player and later competing in the Winter Olympics for the sport of bobsledding. Clearly, it takes superb skill and tons of hard work for athletes to reach those levels, which is impressive in and of itself. However, I felt like the book was a big let down in the sense that Mr. Quinn never achieved any signficant success in those pursuits (e.g., he didn't help his team win the Superbowl or earn any Olympic medals). Instead, he was cut from the NFL teams that he joined and later played a season or two in Canada before suffering a serious injury that permanently ended his career. After healing, he later switched to bobsledding and eventually earned a spot on the US Olympic team. However, he didn't win any Olympic medals. His lack of professional accolades left me feeling disappointed in the sense that his hard work and dedication failed to pay off in a meaningful way, or at least in the ways I expected. Overall, I thought Push was an interesting read about professional althetes' struggles and the many stresses the endure both on and off the playing field. The book also includes a few tips to help readers "push" through their struggles to reach their goals. In any case, the author's lack of success (didn't win any hardware) ultimately failed to motivate me. In fact, I began to wonder if the entire book was merely a marketing tool that he uses to support his motivational speaking career. I wish Mr. Quinn great success in his future endeavors, but honestly can't say that this book inspired me much. Just my 2 cents.

[Nick Woodworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always been more of a fiction person, but I was given this book as an interesting read. I really enjoyed the details of his journey to becoming an Olympian. Sometimes our challenges in life take us to heights in places we least expect and it was cool to see that play out here. The book was motivating, but not in a corny way as you sometimes see with motivational reading. I also appreciate his connection to the Lord guiding him and creating a different plan for him. Overall, it’s a short and enjoyable read!

[Ulana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Push was a well written book telling the story of Johnny Quinn about his sports dreams and teams he was on. I liked it since he was from Texas and first played football for UNT one of my favorite universities. He had his ups and downs but kept on trying. He adds good advice to readers about having goals and how to keep going when things get tough. I have heard him speak twice at two different DKG groups. He is an excellent speaker.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good family-friendly story from Johnny Quinn about his NFL, CFL, and Olympic career path, and how he kept going in the face of challenges (including the bathroom door he broke through at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games).

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the book because my Aunt was the one that I saw reading it and when I saw her next she gave me the book and I still have now and it is Signed. I really like the book becasue of what happened in the First Chapter of the book.