Pigskin Rapture

I enjoy watching and reading about football, and I am from Texas. This book brought back childhood memories and spoke to my heart. Everyone knows that Texans religiously watch and/or attend football anytime it is played, most notably high school football under the "Friday Night Lights". As the author states, "The game of football is a language every Texan speaks, and it connects El Paso to Brownsville to Tyler to Sherman. The game becomes the dominating point of conversation in church, at lunch, at work, or a thousand other places all over the state." I am from a small east Texas town just outside of Texarkana. I followed high school and college football all over the state, including east Texas, the DFW Metroplex, and all the way across the state in west Texas. Some sports channels like Fox Sports SW occasionally broadcast high school games of the week. The University of Texas even has their own sports network that plays Longhorn sports 24/7.

The author of this book set out to attend four games in four days, and as such the book is divided into four quarters. The four highlighted games are: the Houston Texans on Thursday night, Odessa Permian on Friday night, the University of Texas on Saturday, and the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. At the end of each day he includes a travel log and a dining log. The interesting part of the book is that he includes stops at neighboring towns, schools, and points of interest.

I will admit that I am not a huge fan of professional football, but I did enjoy reading the sections about the Texans and the Cowboys. The author takes you inside the games, giving relevant play by play analysis, and behind the scenes to Jerry Jones's owner's suite and the locker room for post-game interviews. I will also admit that I have never been a UT Longhorns fan, but this section was also very interesting as it highlighted the struggle and strife that the Longhorns faced last season. Plus the featured game was one of the most memorable in the long UT vs. OU rivalry in quite some time. The featured high school game at Odessa Permian was my favorite section. Of course the author talked about "Friday Night Lights" - the book, movie, and TV series - but he interviewed residents that were either involved or intimately familiar with the whole situation. Twenty five years later it is still fresh on people's minds and still fascinating to read about. The other thing that stands out in the book is the foreword by Troy Aikman and the vivid full color photography from Ron Jenkins. The photographer did a great job capturing stunning pictures of all aspects covered in the book.

I would recommend this book to all football fans, particularly those in and around Texas or those familiar with Texas sports. I received this as a free ARC from Globe Pequot, Rowman & Littlefield, Lone Star Books on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Football is as much a part of the culture of Texas as are oil rigs, barbecue, and cowboys (the kind in the Western novels). What the game means, at every level of play, to the state and its fans and teams is illustrated in this book that is well-written by Mac Engel and illustrated beautifully by Ron Jenkins.

The premise of book is a four day, four game trip taken by the authors in which they cover two professional games -Houston Texans on Thursday, Dallas Cowboys on Sunday - as well as a high school game on Friday and a college game on Saturday. The high school game featured Odessa Perriman, the school featured in the best-selling book “Friday Night Lights.” The college game was one of the biggest rivalries in the sport, Texas against Oklahoma.

The book is divided into four quarters, one for each quarter. While there are sections in which game action is recapped and Engel writes about the game with knowledge, the book is at its best when it is about other topics. Examples are memories of the Houston Astrodome and the Houston Oilers from long-time fans in that city, what it takes to become a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, what it is like inside AT&T Stadium at a Cowboys game and the spirit of the students and fans of the Texas Longhorns, especially with this particular game in which the Longhorns upset the heavily favored Sooners. The reader will really feel what it is like to be part of Texas football.

The photography is just as important to this book as the words. Jenkins has many pictures that not only complement the text, but add additional images and emotion beyond what is being communicated. The reader will feel the emptiness of current pictures of the deserted Astrodome, be inspired by the cheering Longhorns students and cheerleaders and feel overwhelmed at the sheer size of the mammoth videoboard at AT&T Stadium. Often pictures in sports books will be accompaniments – in this book, the pictures are just as vital to the story as the words

Football fans will enjoy this book on the culture of the sport in Texas, covering the game, the people, the towns and the food. One does not have to live in the state or be a fan of a Texas team to appreciate what the game means to residents of the state after reading this book. A very enjoyable and entertaining read.

I wish to thank Lone Star Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's August in Texas and I'm counting the days until kickoff! Mac Engel, who covers sports for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has been in Texas long enough to get it--football rules in Texas! One weekend last fall, he decided to take in as much Texas football as he could in one weekend. He didn't get a lot of rest, but he saw some great (and not-so-great) football in a four-day stretch. The result: Pigskin Rapture: Four Days in the Life of Texas Football.


Engel covers four big games: Houston Texans v. Indianapolis Colts, Midland Lee v. Odessa Permian, Texas v. Oklahoma, and Dallas Cowboys v. New England Patriots. The game coverage is adequate, giving the flow and outcome of each game. Of the four, the only real football drama was Texas-OU, where Texas pulled off a big upset. But Pigskin Rapture is not about the play-by-play. It's about the people and culture of football.


At each stop, Engel takes in local dining spots, the tailgate and bar scene, and checks out other local football programs and hot spots. This is what I enjoyed most about the book. Engel likes the side roads, the little programs, the mainstream fans, the back stories. He drops by Rice Stadium and Andrew Luck's high school alma mater in the Houston area. He checks in at The Bar in Odessa, where Permian fans and former players mingle and relive the glory days. He samples the deep-fried glory of the State Fair of Texas. He gawks at the fine art around the palace that Jerry built--and wonders at the armed brawl in the parking lot that left a fan dead.


Texas football fans, especially fans of the teams he covers, will love Pigskin Rapture the way they might enjoy a college yearbook. Texans and non-Texans alike will get a great glimpse into Texas football life and history. As much as I enjoyed Engel's writing, the real star of the book (no offense, Mac) is Ron Jenkin's photography. It's worth the price of the book.

Engel observes that "Texas-OU is what gives college football its color, character, tradition, and ultimately, its distinction from the National Football League." The NFL "can't replicate the inborn tradition of this game, or the disdain that comes from a real rivalry." I think this applies to college football as a whole.


I've had some real beefs with Engel's recent coverage of Baylor football. But I'm with him in Pigskin Rapture. His love of football and love of Texas is contagious and exuberant. Kickoff can't get here soon enough!


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

PIGSKIN RAPTURE by Mac Engel reminds the reader of the vast, varied, and layered devotion to football that spans the state of Texas. Using 4 games (2 pro, 1 high school, and 1 college) over 4 days, Mac Engel, along with amazing photos by Ron Jenkins, shows the full array of football fandom and how it affects education, business, social events and even home life.
Engel divides the book in 4 quarters, with a quarter devoted to each game. The first quarter is devoted to a Houston Texans game, and Engel explores devotion to a new team and how Houston, one of the largest cities in the country, embraced the new team and while it is still struggling as a franchise, has already developed die hard fans. Second quarter is a high school game including Permian High School, from the Friday Night Lights book, movie and TV show. Engel gives a recap on where Permian is now and how the book/movie/TV show changed the high school and town forever. A devotion to high school football is covered as well, with Engel really studying the lifestyle changing way of life a community has around their local team, from changing event and social calendars to businesses capitalizing and suffering based on how their local team is doing. Third quarter jumps into college football, where Texas is king. Engel reminds the reader the deep history and current success of some of the college football powerhouses in Texas. The game he attends is an event too, from the cannon-firing touchdown celebration, to how everyone hangs on the edge of their seat for their respective team. Fourth quarter is football royalty, the Dallas Cowboys. Engel follows the games, but more so follows the personalities around the games, from the TV commentators, to the revered and yet often misunderstood owner, to the common fan who just wants to drink and have the Cowboys win. Engel makes me think that all the football you could ever need is within the Texas state lines.
With the wonderful photography and how each chapter is like a detailed morsel of information, PIGSKIN RAPTURE is a book to look at again and again. A definite read for Texas football fans, all football fans will have good time reading PIGSKIN RAPTURE as well.

Absolutely stunning pictures with clever, insightful reporting make this book a real conversation piece for fans of Texas football big and small. Like the game itself is divided into four quarters, so is the reporter's journey covering four football games (high school, collegiate, and pro) in four days. It is the human interest stories surrounding these games that make this book a gem.