How to Write a Biography on an NFL Player
The National Football League is America's most popular sports league. The popularity of NFL games has generated a demand for NFL-related paraphernalia. In addition to physical items such as jerseys and hats, many people look to the intellectual realm to satisfy their craving for all things NFL. As a result a great number of biographies have been written by and about current and former NFL players. Writing a biography about an NFL player will be similar to writing a biography about most people, though that person's involvement in a nationally recognized organization may present challenges during the research phase.
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Instructions
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Select the player about which you want to write a biography. Given the social standing of Hall of Fame and Pro Bowl players, you might have more success making contact with a lesser-known player. The market for a biography of a lesser-known player, however, would be significantly smaller than a biography for a more famous player.
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Gather as much information about your selected player as possible. This requires you to examine newspaper and magazine articles, previously written books, television interviews, game tape and so on. Additionally you should contact the NFL teams for which your selected player played. Individual teams might be able to supply you with public relations materials about the player in question, and they could even aid you in contacting the player if he is still alive.
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Organize your information in a logical manner. This means finding one element of the person's life to focus on for the entirety of the biography and connecting his significant life events to that element. An obvious focus for a football player would be his career in the NFL, so you could focus on his early football career through to his high school and college playing days on to being drafted and playing in the National Football League.
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Compose initial drafts and share them with colleagues, sources close to the subject and the subject himself. Though it is inadvisable to grant your subject or people close to him any editorial power, you should still be receptive to their feedback as it could help inform you as you progress through the player's life.
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Locate a professional editor and hire her to edit and revise your manuscript. Professional editors can be identified through various guilds and organizations such as the Professional Editors Network and they will provide you with an edge if your ultimate goal is publication.
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Share your edited and revised manuscript with the NFL teams for which your subject played. The goal of sharing your manuscript with an NFL team is to secure their endorsement of your work. This will help you during the publication phase, as the endorsement of your work by a professional and nationally recognized organization will imply the existence of a market for your work.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit American football field. image by Sandra Henderson from Fotolia.com
