Sports-themed books cross my desk fairly often, though rare is the one penned by a former Omaha athlete who played Big Ten football.
Matt Stewart, now a morning show anchor at KCTV5 in Kansas City, Mo., has written about his experiences as an unrecruited defensive back out of Millard South.
“The Walk-On: Inside Northwestern’s Rise From Cellar-Dweller to Big Ten Champ” is a detailed look at Stewart’s four years with the Wildcats, 1993-96.
About 20 pages into the book — including then-coach Gary Barnett’s snoozer of a foreword — I wondered if this was going to be worth the time.
Man, am I glad I kept reading.
While not some ground-breaking expose, this is as honestly-refreshing of an “insider” book as I can recall reading in many years.
Stewart’s journey from fifth-string safety to second-teamer with a full-ride scholarship draws the reader into an unvarnished look at life on a college football squad.
He details issues with disarming frankness and sometimes jarring truth, openly discussing times he wanted to quit or tell off a coach or race home in tears on the next bus from Chicago to Omaha.
