Never Ran, Never Will

Boyhood and Football in a Changing American Inner City

By: Albert Samaha

Narrated by: Albert Samaha

This uplifting story of a boys' football team shines light on the underappreciated virtues that can bloom in impoverished neighborhoods, even as nearby communities exclude them from economic progress.

Never Ran, Never Will tells the story of the working-class, mostly black neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn; its proud youth football team, the Mo Better Jaguars; and the young boys who are often at the center of both. Oomz, Gio, Hart, and their charismatic, vulnerable friends come together on a dusty football field. All around them, their community is threatened by violence, poverty, and the specter of losing their homes to gentrification. Their passionate, unpaid coaches teach hard lessons about surviving American life with little help from the outside world, cultivating in their players the perseverance and courage to make it.

Football isn't everybody's ideal way to find the American dream, but for some kids, it's the surest road there is. The Mo Better Jaguars team offers a refuge from the gang feuding that consumes much of the streets and a ticket to a better future in a country where football talent remains an exceptionally valuable commodity. If the team can make the regional championships, prestigious high schools and colleges might open their doors to the players.

Never Ran, Never Will is a complex, humane story that reveals the changing world of an American inner city and a group of unforgettable boys in the middle of it all.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Albert Samaha (P)2018 Albert Samaha

Critic reviews

"Refreshing and raw, Never Ran, Never Will tracks the boys of Brownsville, Brooklyn as they age out of innocence and details the efforts of the devoted men and women laboring to guide them into adulthood. By the last page of Albert Samaha's compelling debut, you don't just want the boys of the Mo Better Jaguars to make it - you realize that we all need them to." (Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post national correspondent and author of New York Times best-selling They Can't Kill Us All)

"Good narrative nonfiction requires a kind of alchemy - thorough reporting and incisive writing are essential, but the most important ingredient is time. Albert Samaha's years-long commitment to this tale of striving Brooklyn kids and their dedicated football coaches shines through on every page. The result is a rare gift: a story with genuine characters, real texture, and deep, sensitive insight." (Nate Blakeslee, author of American Wolf and Tulia)

"Never Ran, Never Will is the irresistible story of the Mo Better Jaguars, a football team of hard-luck boys in low-income Brownsville, Brooklyn. With dazzling prose, Albert Samaha's big beautiful book about teamwork and ambition, growing up and breaking away, will touch you with its heart and grace." (Don Van Natta, Jr., ESPN senior writer, New York Times best-selling author, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize)

Do You Remember Your Little League Football Days?

This is niche book for those of us who grew up in minority neighborhoods and played little league football.
It is a also a touching personal 3D commentary of life in a rough neighborhood . Would that everyone could learn from this book.

great book..

nice that it was read by the actual author but the lisp kinda took away from it. as far as the actual information and book..it was great!