You're Okay, It's Just a Bruise: A Doctor's Sideline Secrets about Pro Football's Most Outrageous Team

by Rob Huizenga and MD Robert Huizenga

Book Overview

The dramatic, hilarious, and controversial insider's look at what really happens on the sidelines and in the locker rooms of the NFL. Hired by the Los Angeles Raiders in 1983 as the team internist, Rob Huizenga worked on the sidelines and in the locker room of every game. That first year was the epitome of Raiders football-- the silver-and-black team of renegades steamrolled opponents and defeated the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl. For nearly...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312136277
• ISBN13: 9780312136277
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Hollywood dream or reality

I met Rob socially and did not know who he was, I spoke about the doping in sport. He suggested I read his book. I did and found out what a genuine man Rob is. He never sold out and walked away from a sport that is renowned for drug abuse. The book reminded me of the movie North Dallas Forty made in 1978 Nick Nolte. Thank you Rob for our meeting

Great football/medicine book

For anyone interested in pro football and medicine this is the book for you. Not only is this book chocked full of behind the scene stories but there are enough humorous stories about some of the outrageous things that go on to fill a second book. The author also describes the problems with starting a medical practice, the lenghts teams will go to be sure their players are on the field, steroid abuse, his disgust at some of the things he witnessed. Over all the book has the propensity to change the way an individual watches pro ball. This was an informative, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, sometimes sad account of life as a professional football player.

Outstanding

I have read this book and have given it to many of my male friends as well as their sons. It is a very good book to get someone who loves football and who hates to read, reading again. One young man I gave it to is a devoted Raider fan and he thanks me all the time for this gift. This is an enlighting book for a fan of any team. I read it myself and as a woman who grew up with and occasionally watch's football, I found it very informative. It is a book that NEEDED to be written. It is nice to know their are Doctors out their who can't be bought and have the integrity of Dr. Huizenga.

It's Awesome!!!

"You're Okay, It's Only A Bruise" is a great book to read no matter if sports interest you or not. It gives the reader first-hand information about what really goes on behind the scenes of a football team. Through the exceptional times and the bad, Huizenga is able to have good relationships with the players and help them out with any medical need that spontaneously arises.Even though sports medicine is a serious profession, there can be a few hysterical, but serious events and occur. The team reagularly has a huge pre-game breakfast that consists of many fatty foods, but the players don't seem to mind. These pre-game meals consisted of "high-fat, high-protein items such as sausage, bacon, and hamburger-based spaghetti sauce, not to mention the Haagen-Dazs ice cream," which all were really not too good for the players before the game. They just go about eating constantly untill about three hours before game time. During the meals everyone usually sits with the same people and tell each other many stories about funny events in the past or what had happened during the games. Everyone would enjoy telling jokes at the meals, one of them was pretty funny... "Do you know why Billy Sullivan put AstroTurf in New England's stadium?"... "To stop the cheerleaders from grazing!" Personally I thought that was pretty funny, and so did the other team mates.There really haven't been too many books that I have read that were quite like this one. Sure many people have read books that they can't put down, like this one, but it just had a little different tone to it that set it apart form the others. It is all at a firts hand view, which makes it even more interesting to read. Personally I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter if they like sports or not. It is a book that can keep your attention the whole way through and you really don't want to put it down. This book would be great to read espicially if you are at all interested in the field of Sports Medicine or just football in general. Over all, "You're Okay, It's just A Bruise" is a great book and I wouldn't mind reading it again!

Absolutly eye opening.

I have read a lot of books but never something that has given me a new appreciation for a sport. I highly recommed everyone who likes football, and even if you don't, to read this book; and if your asperation is to play in the NFL then this is required reading. It gives new insight into the demands of the NFL, the pain that players will play with just to win. I am a die hard Raider fan, always have been always will be, but this book touches on new aspects of the game, even if you do not like the Raiders it is an excellent read and it should be read to understand what is expected of players today in the NFL. I just hope that someone new has taken up Dr. Huizenga's cause to clean up the NFL.

COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN!

If you're a football fan, you'll love this book. But more importantly, if you're not a football fan, you'll still love this book! Dr. Robert Huizenga allows the reader a very voyeuristic look at numerous secretive aspects of professional football that run the gamut from frightening to hysterical. Unlike many other football books, which seem to get bogged down with boring statistical facts and non-relatable themes, "You're Okay, It's Just A Bruise" takes a brutally honest look at the lives of these players, both on and off the field. It also exposes the unethical medical practices and rampant drug use that Huizenga encountered and desperately tried to stop when he was the team doctor for the L.A. Raiders. He exposes all with a point of view that is not only first hand, but brutally honest, intelligent, humorous, and incredibly touching. The author's very visual writing style immediately draws you in - as if you're right there with him on the sidelines. Huizenga is a brilliant story teller with a strong flair for comedy. The locker room antics alone will have you laughing out loud. It's not often that a book causes me to laugh, cry, think, and learn. But when it does - it makes a strong impression.