Many Americans likely tuned into the first round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs over the weekend with teams fighting for a chance to advance to Super Bowl LIX.
One game featured a rather unique sideline sighting that could help a self-help author far beyond belief.
What Happened: The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers 22-10 Sunday night in a game shown on FOX, a unit of FOX Corporation FOXFOXA.
The win gets the Eagles closer to Super Bowl LIX and wide receiver A.J. Brown closer to another chance at winning the Lombardi Trophy.
In six seasons with the Tennessee Titans and Eagles, Brown has nine playoff appearances, including three in 2022 where the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs 35 to 38. In that Super Bowl, Brown had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Brown didn't have the normal strong stats Sunday against the Packers, posting only one catch for 10 yards on three targets, but he quickly became one of the most talked about players during and after the game.
Fox cameras caught Brown reading a book on the sideline, which later turned out to be self-help book, "Inner Excellence," from performance coach Jim Murphy.
"Discover the life guide that has developed world champions, empowered athletes to become world #1 and most importantly, transformed their hearts and minds. This step-by-step training manual from one of the world's top mental skills coaches will teach you how to train your mind like the very best," a description of the book on Amazon.com Inc AMZN reads.
The book, with the subtitle of "Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life," hit number one on Amazon Monday as the top-selling book, as reported by Sportico.
Before Monday, the book was ranked #552,709, the report said.
Seeing Brown read the book on the sideline led to huge interest in the book on Amazon. Murphy, who has coached athletes and leaders, including Olympic athletes, may want to send a thank you note Brown's way.
Brown was asked about the viral moment after Sunday's victory.
"My teammates call it ‘the recipe,'" Brown said. "It's got a lot of points in there, it's a lot of mental game, a lot of mental parts about it, and you know for me this game is mental."
Brown said a teammate recommended the book to him last year and he now carries it on the sideline and looks back at points from the book during games.
The Eagles wide receiver told reporters he wasn't reading the book due to the outcome of the game or his individual performance.
"No, I was not frustrated at all. I figured that's what y'all probably thought. I wasn't frustrated. Why do y'all think I'm frustrated? I read the book. I like to read."
Brown was open about his mental health in 2021, sharing that he previously spoke to a therapist and telling people that it’s okay to seek help and talk to someone.
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What's Next: Brown and his teammates may want to read the book and keep looking at how they can perform best in the 2024 NFL Playoffs.
The Eagles will play the winner of Monday's Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings contest in the second round of the playoffs. That game is set for 7 p.m. ET on NBC, a unit of Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
Brown and his sideline reading material will likely be a subject discussed during the game and cameras may be set on the wide receiver to catch him reading once again.
The Eagles have odds of +450 to win Super Bowl LIX at sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG, ranking third behind the Detroit Lions (+285) and Kansas City Chiefs (+350).
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Photo: Fabio Alcini via Shutterstock
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