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Editorial Review Amazon.com
The astonishing thing about wide receiver Wayne Chrebet's young career with the New York Jets has nothing to do with his 75 catches in 1998 or his 18 career TDs going into the 1999 season. It's that he has a career in the NFL at all. Chrebet is the prototypical sports overachiever, the guy who's told at every stop that he's too small, too slow, too this, too that, but his secret is he never listens. He just goes out and proves them wrong. A standout football and basketball star in high school, no major college took notice. At Division 1-AA Hofstra College, he caught five TD passes in his final game to tie one of Jerry Rice's records, and the pros turned the other cheek. "I just wanted a chance," Chrebet writes poignantly. "I'm the kind of guy, if you give me a crack, I'm going to turn it into the Grand Canyon." On draft day, no cracks appeared. Chrebet stared at the TV in agony as, round after round, team after team passed him by. Inconceivably, he watched a receiver who missed the entire college season with a broken leg get the call--"At least I have two healthy legs here"--while his own phone is ominously silent. "None of them thought I was good enough." Which, in all good prototypical-sports-overachiever tales, is just what Chrebet needs for inspiration and incentive. At last, the sad-sack Jets--perfect irony for Chrebet, a lifelong Giants fan--leave the door slightly ajar, and the rest is history. Of the receivers who entered the NFL in 1995, including the 31 draftees, Chrebet's stats put him second. His team, after years in the doldrums, is a contender again. "If you're given the opportunity," he stresses, "you might as well take advantage of it." Every Down, Every Distance is a nice example of what can happen when you do. --Jeff SilvermanBook Description
The NFL's most popular wide receiver tells the remarkable and inspirational story of how he went from an undrafted walk-on to an everyman hero and star of the New York Jets.
Growing up in hardscrabble Garfield, New Jersey, Wayne Chrebet was always too small or too slow or too something to be taken seriously as a football player. And even after an impressive career in high school, he wasn't even a blip on the recruiting radar screens of the big-time college programs.
Instead, Wayne went to Hofstra University in Long Island without a scholarship. Mom and Dad paid the eighteen-thousand-dollar-a-year tuition, and Wayne held up his end of the deal by earning a degree while setting record after record on the football field. But even after tying an NCAA mark held by Jerry Rice, Wayne's name was not called during the 1995 NFL draft. Undaunted, Wayne dedicated himself to being ready if and when he got the chance to prove the skeptics wrong.
Four remarkable years and hundreds of catches later, Wayne has been singled out as one of the key ingredients that turned the Jets from laughingstock to Super Bowl contender. His secret is simple. He plays as if every down and every distance to go were his last.
Full of inspiration, motivation, and charm, Every Down, Every Distance is the perfect book for football fans who root for the underdog. ... Read more Customer Reviews (9) 
reads like memoirs
Wayne is a little too nice in this book, constantly thanking his friends and family, complimenting other players and coaches....He isn't negative about anyone, and this is frustrating because you want to hear the dirt about the Jets and you won't get it here.Still a good, quick read.I don't think it would be a good book for non-football fans; he goes through too much detail about catching passes and specific Jets games.(that is, after he's done chronicling the contributions of his high school basketball coach) It's really a very good book, but you do have to sieve through the thank-yous a little bit. Also it's written after the 98 season, so who knows how positive he is now, after the last two years?
I couldn't put it down.....
I bought this book on a Saturday night, late.I decided to wait until I came home from work on Sunday to start reading it.I came home at four on Sunday and took it out... I couldn't put it down!I started reading at four and I didn't put it down until my parents forced me to for dinner.If I didn't have homework I know I would have finished it that night.I brought the book to school the next two days... and I finished it.I normally hate to read but this book was great.I loved to learn about his life.How almost everyday when he was a kid he'd end up getting hurt, and he just kept doing it.I almost cried when he talked about his grandma and when he finally made the NFL.It's a must read for any JET or Wayne Chrebet fan.If you love reading about underdogs coming out this is a definite read!
Every Down, Every Distance:My Journey to the NFL
This book was awesome.I recommend it to anyone who wants to read it and those other illiterate people.
A must read for anyone who loves the underdog
The story of Wanyne Chrebet is a must read for all people who have to overcome the odds. A 5'10" 185lbs who was passed up and told that he couldn't follow his dream, Wayne Chrebet shows with hardwork nothing isimpossible. A true American sport role model who everyone can look up to.Wayne Chrebet is one of us, he doesn't want to be treated differently andhas a real idea about how lucky he is to be playing a game. If you like theunderdog or your down on your luck this book will definately help you out.Also, a great story for tennage kids who are having a tough time at schoolor making a atletic team. This book has stories that everyone can relateto, from death of a loved one to good pizza, this story has it all.
It's a good story, not just for Jet fans, inspiring
If you don't know Wayne Chrebet's story, it is simply that everyone said a guy who played football at a small college (Hofstra), isn't built like your typical NFL receiver(5'10" 185lbs.), and didn't get picked in thedraft, could possibly become a starting player in the league. As a Jetsfan who sat in the stands when they were 1-15, I can tell you firsthandthat Chrebet was the only reason to get excited during that season! Chrebet never gave up and luckily he was surrounded by family and friendsthat had the same attitude.Yeah, the writing isn't exactly Hemingway, butChrebet is the everyman. That is why people identify with him and think,"Yeah, that could be me on that team." Good easy read. Better ifyou're a Jets fan.
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