The Earl Campbell Story: A Football Great's Battle with Panic Disorder [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

It's a simplistic and lengthy testimonial. There are some reconstructed dialogues that feel artificial, some of the chronology is hard to follow, and people appear out of nowhere or disappear after being identified in detail. These are minor errors on the periphery of the book, so they shouldn't detract much from the whole. But they do because the book is about 80% periphery.

I bought it expecting "A Football Great's Battle With Panic Disorder". That's less than half the book. The first 82 pages are mainly football, with lots of numbers and stats. Yes, Campbell's background is relevant, but it could have been presented more engagingly. Given the subtitle, why are they telling us so many names and numbers instead of telling us about his personality, or his emotional life, or how he dealt with fear before he had the disorder? Relevant stuff is hinted at; irrelevant stuff is given in detail. There's an entire chapter on his sausage business that reads like a promotional pamphlet: "All of our meals are precooked and specially sealed with a newly developed technology to keep them fresh. Customers only have to pop them into a microwave oven for three minutes before serving. These meals have become big sellers for us because they are convenient and taste great" etc. (p. 153). And not only that, but "Today I feel as confident about my ability to make a great-tasting meat product as I used to feel about my ability to run with the football. I think both are God-given talents" (p. 153). There's nothing to tie this to the supposed theme of the book.

We get glimpses of Campbell's "pride" (anger at a doctor's suggestion that he try Prozac, sudden disgust with one who asks him to ingest caffeine as an experiment, lashing out at doctors who, attempting to arrive at a diagnosis, inquire whether he uses drugs), glimpses of his warm feelings, and mere hints at "fear of failure" and an "emotional man". But glimpses are all we get. Just when he starts to tell us something interesting, he quits and moves on.

You get the feeling this guy wants to talk about it but he doesn't want to talk about it.

This is also hinted at by some contradictions. In one chapter he can't attend banquets because crowds bother him, but a few pages later he says "My panic disorder has no effect on my ability to function in the business world" (p. 149). If these are both true, some discussion would help. Another unexplored contradiction: He's clear about not wanting to take drugs -- he's seen football players become addicted -- so he tries to limit his medication, but while he's avoiding the hell out of Prozac and alprazolam, he's "popping open a Coors" in front of the TV to unwind from all these damn doctors and he happily won't go anywhere without his tobacco.

Toward the book's close Campbell happens to say that "Before this particular seminar [in Austin, TX, 1993], I'd always held back some of the more difficult parts of my story." I think he still is. (He ackknowledges that his speaking out helps himself, not just the audience.)

The last chapter is the most revealing and interesting, a personal account of some of his feelings, his mental experiences. Probably the most useful part for panic sufferers to read.

It's nice to know that even an NFL giant can be brought to his knees by panic disorder. Many panic sufferers would like to wave this book around as evidence that panic does not equate with general wimpiness. It's just disappointing that more of the story's substance isn't given here.