(Born and raised in Eagles country, Tom McAllister learns from his father and brother the rules of being a football fan. Spending Sundays in the infamous 700 level of Veterans Stadium, or sitting in front of the TV with his father in a nearby recliner, Tom sees both the ugly and beautiful sides of Philadelphia football. Like all true Philadelphians, he connects with the players. From icons Chuck Bednarik and Steve Van Buren to modern-day greats Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, and Brian Dawkins and controversial stars such as Terrell Owens, the Eagles players become a part of McAllister's life. Watching them every Sunday, he tries to develop his own identity as a fan. Torn between his father's calm and levelheaded fandom and the rowdy, profane, and violent crowds of Philadelphia legend, Tom struggles to achieve balance.�

As a rabid Eagles fan, Tom McAllister experiences plenty of defeats and disappointments, but his biggest challenge is coping with the premature loss of his father to cancer. In Bury Me in My Jersey, McAllister explores the connection between his dedication to the Eagles and the death of his father. He details the intense bonds?between fathers and sons, among friends, and even between a city and its football team?and chronicles the joys and sorrows, victories and failures, of a lifetime of sports obsession.

Any fan can relate: Tom drinks to excess, spends countless hours every week posting to an online Eagles message board, and spies on players in the fruit aisle of the supermarket. Without the example of his father to guide him, Tom often finds himself stumbling off track. But it is his girlfriend and eventual wife, LauraBeth, who keeps him grounded as he matures into adulthood.

A touching, funny, beautifully crafted memoir, Bury Me in My Jersey is not only a marvelous tribute to a father, a way of life, and a team and its devoted followers but also a love letter to the city of Philadelphia.

Tom McAllister on Bury Me in My Jersey

I sold this book in 2008, about a month before the Phillies won the World Series, and three months before the Eagles returned to the NFC Championship game, favored over the Arizona Cardinals. Under normal circumstances, I would have been ecstatic. Unfortunately, Philadelphia's history of sporting heartbreak is the linchpin to several key themes in this book, and, from that perspective, I couldn?t afford any more success, not yet.

It would be just like the Eagles to torture me for two decades and then finally win, at the least convenient time possible. In a way, it would have defined my story as a fan pretty well; even in victory, I wouldn?t have been happy.

The book would be validated by an Eagles loss. The book was my own work, a project on which I?d spent nearly two years and invested myself so deeply that sometimes I spent whole days staring into my computer monitor. Essentially, I had placed a high stakes bet on the outcome of this game. And yet?the Eagles were in the playoffs. Of course I wanted them to win. I just also wanted them to lose.

By halftime, the Eagles were losing by three touchdowns. You might expect that I was happy about this, but as it turns out, I was angry. Disappointed and miserable; through all my fretting, I had never considered that they might actually lose.

A lot of the story of being a fan is the battle between the rational and the irrational. The rational--wanting my book to succeed, not wanting one of its key themes to be trampled by external variables. Irrational--leaping from one couch to another to high-five my father-in-law when Donovan McNabb hit DeSean Jackson for the go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter, capping what would have been the greatest comeback in team history. In the moment they took the lead, I completely forgot about my book, marketing, themes--everything except the game.

They still lost--of course they lost--and the book was unharmed, and we were all dejected; everything back to normal. But in that moment after Jackson's touchdown, I realized that no matter what other factors are in play, no matter what else was on my mind, I couldn?t just stop being an Eagles fan for the day. If you?re truly invested in the team, then you find yourself cheering for them even when it might not be good for you.

Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members.