Jim Murphy owes A.J. Brown a debt of gratitude.
Murphy’s book, “Inner Excellence,” flew up to the top of Amazon best-sellers list on Monday morning. According to The Associated Press, the book was previously ranked 523,497th on that list. That massive jump came less than a day after Brown was spotted reading the self-help book on the sidelines during their 22-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
“I was not expecting that. A real gift,” Murphy told The Associated Press. “I just looked at Amazon last night and it got to No. 1, so that was a surprise. It had probably never been higher than probably 8 or 9,000. In the thousands, somewhere.”
Brown was seen reading Murphy’s book during Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field, which is something that quickly went viral. It’s not often that you see NFL players flipping through a physical book during a game, after all.
While it may seem strange, Brown said he frequently brings a book to games. It actually helps him.
“It gives me a sense of peace,” Brown said. “To me, this game is mental. I believe I can do anything and everything — but I’ve got to make sure my mental is good.
“My teammates call it the recipe.”
Clearly, Eagles fans have jumped completely on board. “Good Day Philadelphia” even started their show on Monday morning with it.
Brown had just one catch for 10 yards against the Packers. He had 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns on 67 catches this season with the Eagles, who will now advance to the divisional round of the playoffs for the second time in the past four years.
Though his focus should largely be on the game at hand, Brown taking time out to read a book on the sidelines has become normal for the Eagles. Nobody inside the organization seems to mind.
“That’s A.J. Brown — he can do whatever the hell he wants,” left tackle Jordan Mailata told Yahoo Sports. “None of us see it as a slight to his work ethic or disrespect to the game. That’s just how his mind works getting into the zone [and] he’s so disciplined in his plan. There’s a method to the madness.
“Whatever works for him — for us, it’s like, ‘That’s A.J.’
Murphy, after seeing how it paid off for him, won’t be complaining anytime soon.
