Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage Hardcover – Import, 13 July 2022

In this well researched book, Kevin Bryant relates his findings in an easy to read and enjoyable narrative manner. Rather than being another dry tome, his book is full of anecdotes and recollections from the people who were and are there.Bryant describes, in relative detail, the extent of intelligence collection against opponents in a business valued north of $130 billion. But it’s more than just a rehash of Boston’s modern day technical collection shenanigans. He provides a fascinating look into the level and methods of intelligence collection going all the way back before the the birth of the NFL, and he ties the most questionable activities directly to those owners and coaches of the teams that consistently came, and come, out on top.Bryant examines how the NFL as a whole accepts, and participates in, cheating as just part of the game. He also examines how the league will come together as a whole to deny wrong doing and to ward off, through subterfuge, the other-league threats that arise from time to time. He touches on the role players, reporters, and fans play in open source collection and the intelligence activities used for and during the Draft every year.I enjoyed this book. It was an informative and entertaining look into the cutthroat world of the National Football League where “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” and teams can stack the odds in their favor by doing, “whatever it takes.”

This gets very tiresome going over any grudge against the Patriots. The other usual suspects are here such as Halas and Al Davis. Not much new to this. Gdell will love it though

I received an advanced copy for review since I have professional career experience working as a contractor engaged with US intelligence agencies.I found Kevin Bryant's well documented book on how, why, when, where and specifically who was engaged either in direct espionage or actively trying to prevent the disclosure or compromise of NFL team secrets!The multitude of examples Mr. Bryant uses to make the cases for the extreme extent of espionage the NFL coaches and associates are engaged is vast. Knowing how the coaches personal ethics and integrity were involved, really changed some of my opinions of them."Whatever it takes " , truly means that. Football is WAR!I highly recommend this book for any individual who loves not just football, but sports( Male and female).Also the book would make a great Holiday gift!Fast read with fascinating anecdotes!I hope that he writes one about baseball!

For a book that claims to go deep into the world of NFL espionage, I found it to be rather lacking. Many of the stories were either (1) not new to a longer-term NFL fan (2) short and lacking in any meaningful details (3) high level summaries of incidents better reported in more depth elsewhere (4) some combination of 1, 2 and/or 3. Not sure how kindle book prices get determined, but this one was on the high end and therefore (maybe mistakenly) raised my expectations that there would be some new insight or analysis. While it held my interest, there was not much new to be learned.

Spies on the Sidelines is a fun read that I highly recommend for any NFL fan.I really enjoyed the book for few reasons-1. I forget the NFL wasn't always the market juggernaut we're familiar with today. I probably enjoyed the old-school, low-tech counterintelligence stories from the early NFL the most. Kevin Bryant's detailed descriptions of the early NFL do a proper job of emerging the reader in the setting of the early 20th century.2. The stories from the past 30 years are a fun trip down memory lane. I lost track of how many times I said, "Oh yeah, I remember that..." (likely out loud in a crowded room).3. Several of the passages, especially talking about job interviews of free agents and coaches, absolutely made me stop and think about all the NFL news surrounding trades and recruiting. I hadn't considered any of those as operations before, but, as Bryant suggests, it's a common way to gain information. This has absolutely given me a different perspective on changing teams in the NFL.