Product Description
The Other Sides of an Uncommon Athlete

There are athletes and there are uncommon athletes...and then there is Robert Smith, who fits no conventional mold. In The Rest of the Iceberg, the Minnesota Vikings’ all-pro and Ohio State All-American tells his full and complete story for the first time since his surprise retirement in February 2001. Told through the remarkable prism of Smith’s eyes, this book will take you on a journey to places you’ve never been...and won’t forget.------

At times in our society, we long to be like everyone else, or failing that, at least fit in. But at the same time, we are also ultra-competitive and long to stand out from the rest of the crowd—not to be different, but to be special. It almost sounds silly, but being "special" helped me stand out from the beginning. For one thing, I had the gift of speed. It’s not that I wasn’t a bright or charming boy. In fact, I was considered to have both of those qualities. But when you’re a kid, athletic prowess is considered the best of all talents...I was like a sideshow performer at recess or gym. We would set up races and when some loud-mouth kid wanted to race me, I’d give him this huge advantage...and still win. It was my introduction to the pure joy of running. —From The Rest of the Iceberg ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Book review
My son really enjoyed this book and found it to be a good read! Smith is a great as author as he was a football player

True to his word
I played High School football against Robert and everyone knew then that he was going pro.In fact when he was done beating us up he would switch to quarterback and we would get gouged by another tailback, I think it was Pepe Pearson.Most importantly is that anyone who talked to Robert knew that football was a means to an end.He would use his talent to pursue other goals and he often mentioned medical.

In a world where people are patently fake he was true to his dream.

Philly Eagles addictfrom NY who's also a Robert Smith fan (yea im confused, so what)
Although this book would probably be best appreciated by those of us who were already Robert Smith fans, it should also be interesting to anyone who follows football. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because he kept it real--he was honest about the good and not-so-good things he had done in his life and throughout his football career. He gives readers insight into a player's frame of mind before and after games, and the drama that can sometimes occur between players in the locker room. I was a little disappointed that he didnt address some of the rumors that he has to know we have heard, but I liked that he wasn't afraid to give his opinions on divisive issues like race and religion, even though I didnt agree with some of them. I will definitely be reading this book again.

Pass On This One
I was very disappointed in the overall content of the book.Very little insight into the game of football.The author's view of race, religion, and politics added nothing but a few pages to the length of the book.

A positive review...
I purchased this book because I find it intriguing that a guy with a gazillion dollar future ahead of him walked away from it all to pursue another path.How many of us would do the same I wonder? Smith consistently had an interesting and thoughtful perspective throughout his athletic career.And that's exactly what he still manages to deliver in this book.For those of you looking for solutions to resolve all that ills our society or a good dissing on Randy Moss for that matter, you are not going to find it here.Just his point of view, which is personally why I bought it to begin with.And whether you agree with his thought process or not, I don't think the guy needs any validation.His actions have always spoke volumes about his character.Overall, I found this book to be a commendable first time effort from a notable personality that I hope we hear more from in the future. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Parks & Recreation, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 697 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: NFL superstar Emmitt Smith as keynote: in addition to his many football feats, he devotes much of his time to youth development.
Author: Rachel Roberts
Publication: Parks & Recreation (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 40Issue: 9Page: 48(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more