Just Give Me the Damn Ball!: The Fast Times and Hard Knocks of an NFL Rookie. This item is unavailable.Just Give Me the Damn Ball!: The Fast Times and Hard Knocks of an NFL Rookie

In a fascinating, behind-the-scenes, no-holds-barred autobiography, college football sensation Keyshawn Johnson, presumed savior of the New York Jets, offers a candid look at his life on the field and his rookie season in the NFL.

Wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson was a high school and college football superstar in California and an All-American who led the USC Trojans to a Rose Bowl win. He was the first player chosen in the 1996 NFL Draft, and Adidas has crowned him their new national spokesperson, complete with a specially designed signature shoe. He is being heralded by the New York Jets as the savior who will lead them from the cellar to the Super Bowl. In this autobiography, Johnson gives readers a look at his first season in professional football -- the exhilaration of winning, the despair of losing, the fickle fans, the relentless New York media, the money, and the extraordinary pressure placed on you when you're 23 and expected to perform miracles on the gridiron.

"Well, son, I guess we have to go the to bank". That's what Leon Hess told me the day the Jets drafted me as the number-one player in the NFL draft. But that first day, the day of the draft, was one of the happiest days in my life, because I knew I was ready to make things happen in the league and help turn things around for the sorry-ass Jets. But what a nightmare! Week after week, loss after loss. The Jets went in with a loser reputation, and they were earning it all over again. We had no emotion, no energy, no hunger. The media tried to cover it all. Rich Kotite tried to explain the disasters away. But nobody outside the team knew the real truth of what really went on. This book is going to change all that.