After his self-help book became a No. 1 best seller on Amazon in the wake of a Philadelphia Eagles player being caught reading it, the team invited author Jim Murphy to a practice on Friday.
Murphy’s book, ‘Inner Excellence’, went viral over the weekend when Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown was seen skimming its pages on the sidelines during an NFC Wild Card game against the Green Bay Packers.
The positive attention sent sales of the book skyrocketing and earned plenty of positive PR for the Philadelphia football team.
As a gesture of goodwill, the Eagles invited Murphy to their facilities for a practice before they played their NFC Divisional round matchup against the Los Angeles Rams this weekend.
Murphy spoke to DailyMail.com earlier this week about his book’s sudden resurgence and what it means to him personally.
‘I was just amazed at what God does and is doing,’ Murphy, a former college football player and minor league baseball player, told DailyMail.com on Monday. ‘The message that AJ is sharing with the world is the pursuit of inner excellence. It’s the pursuit of a fearless life.’
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown was seen reading a book on the sidelines Sunday
The team invited the book’s author, Jim Murphy, to a practice before their NFC playoff game
Brown says reading helps him and his coaches say they have no issues with him reading
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Murphy’s book is not the first one that Brown has been seen perusing on the sidelines in recent years, but it is the first time that he’s been seen doing it.
‘It gives me a sense of peace,’ Brown said of reading the book during games. ‘That’s a book I bring every single game. My teammates call it ‘’the recipe.’’ That’s the first time I’ve heard that y’all got me on camera. It’s not the first game.
‘It got a lot of points in there. Lot of mental parts about it. For me, this game is mental. Physically, I feel like I can do anything and everything.
‘I always go back to that book after every drive and refocus.’
As for what his coaches might think, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says that he sees no issue with Brown leafing through pages when he’s not on the field.
“I’m definitely OK with it,” Sirianni said. “The crazy thing is, he’s been reading this book on the sideline for a long time. It just so happened a camera saw it this week.
‘Some guys pray in between, some guys mediate in between. A.J. reads in between. Whatever these guys need to do to put their mind in a place where they can play with great detail and great effort, I fully encourage them to do that. I love A.J.’
