‘Inner Excellence’: This self-help book is now Amazon’s #1 bestseller after Philadelphia Eagles player A.J. Brown was seen reading it on the sidelines

Eagle-eyed NFL viewers witnessed a peculiar sight during the Philadelphia Eagles’ Sunday afternoon playoff game against the Green Bay Packers: wide receiver A.J. Brown flipping through the pages of a paperback book.

The three-time pro-bowler was reading the self-help book Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy, a “mental skills coach” to athletes. By Monday morning, the book became the #1 bestseller of all books on Amazon.

The book’s Amazon rating boosted from 4.4 to 4.6 stars after Eagles fans flooded the review section with positivity.

Brown brings the book, which was written to “train your mind for extraordinary performance and the best possible life,” to every game and reads on the sidelines. He uses it to “lock in and refocus” no matter what is happening on the field, he said on X Sunday night.

The Eagles beat the Packers 22–10, with Brown himself catching only one pass for 10 yards. After the game, a reporter asked if Brown was frustrated while reading.

“I wasn’t frustrated at all. I figured that’s what y’all probably thought,” Brown said in the locker room. “Why do you always think I be frustrated? Dang. I like to read.”

Some of Brown’s highlighted passages include reassuring messages reminding the reader to stay calm in the face of stress: “In the pursuit of extraordinary performance, it’s easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because so much is out of your control.”

Murphy, the book’s author, told Sports Illustrated that he does not have a personal relationship with Brown but is honored to be a part of his life. He plans to reach out to the athlete.

Teammates of Brown call the book “the recipe,” as Brown leans on it for mental guidance. Books can certainly be part of a recipe for success; some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs devote significant time to reading each day. Warren Buffet once said he spends 80% of his day reading, and Bill Gates has said he reads 50 books a year.

Frequent reading habits offer a litany of benefits, including lowered stress levels and heightened decision-making skills. However, almost half of Americans don’t even read one book a year.