By TOM KING ( taken from The Nashua Telegraph)
Staff Writer
NASHUA – To say Aaron Hernandez no longer plays for the New England Patriots is a gross understatement.
Staff photo by Don Himsel
Chrissy Carew has written the book Insightful Player
Chrissy Carew thinks the former tight end’s fall from grace – locked up on murder charges and throwing away a $40 million contract from an elite NFL team – is tragic.
He isn’t the last star athlete kids look up to whose career has ended in disgrace.
Carew has met a few NFL players whose lives are the exact opposite of Hernandez’s. They overcame adversity and fulfilled their dream. Their performance, work ethic and integrity are case studies in inspiration.
Carew’s book, “Insightful Player: Football Pros Lead a Bold Movement of Hope,” has 32 of those stories from current and former NFL players.
She will hold a book signing at Barnes & Noble in Nashua from 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday. Carew, of Nashua, hopes the effect of her book signing will be far-reaching.
Her theme over the years has been constant: talking to current and former NFL players about how they can make a difference in young people’s lives by telling how they overcame all sorts of inherent roadblocks to play professional football.
And now, with Hernandez charged with murder, she believes it’s even more imperative to get the word out.
“I need to get off my computer and get out,” she said. “It’s more important now than ever. I’ll give people a brief history, how it started. It’s important for people to hear that.”
Carew is adamant about reaching youths and their parents through the help of current and former NFL players.
Recently, she spoke at a high school in Williamstown, N.J., along with former NFL special teams player and linebacker Kevin Reilly, who played with the Philadelphia Eagles and ended his career with the Patriots.
“We spoke with special needs kids in a private session and then spoke to a big assembly,” Carew said. “We had them pick out a principle and talk about why it was important to them. It was just so unbelievable and exciting.”
Some familiar names have been part of her project, players who have willingly told their life stories in the hopes it will be inspiring to youths.
The most familiar may be former Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson. Others who have been in the forefront for her have been Detroit Lions running back Montell Owens and Oakland Raiders safety Usama Young.
In all, 45 players have been part of Carew’s project and book.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Carew said, adding that she hopes there are further book signings around New England and elsewhere in the future.
“It’s great that I will get to talk about ‘Insightful Player,’ reaching kids and trying to get sponsors.”
Carew has been so revved up about her first book signing for “Insightful Player” that she went to Burlington, Mass. last week to see a book signing by Holly Black, who wrote “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.”
“It was a woman who wrote about vampires,” Carew said. “She had blue hair, and a lot of people in the audience had different color hair, too.
“But it was fabulous.”
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