Invincible

Invincible

By. Vince Papale

My overall reason for choosing Paple’s Invincible was because it was a football novel and it was a perfect portrayal of the classic rags to riches story. I also enjoyed the fact that the story was based upon true events and it was told by the person that went through it making it all that much more authentic.

In this novel Vince was a poor young kid who loved to play sports. He was never the biggest but he was always the fastest by far. As he grew up he went on to college to get his degree. After finishing school in 1976, Vince Papale was a down-on-his-luck substitute teacher, part-time bartender, and season ticket holder for the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he'd grown up rooting for. He had always loved football, but the closest he'd ever come to playing on Sundays was in local rough touch leagues. Until fate stepped in. Vince was thirty years old and wondering what he would do with his life, when he heard that Coach Dick Vermeil was holding open tryouts for the Eagles. He had nothing to lose, and with the coaches eyeing him, he ran an explosive 40-yard dash in just 4.5 seconds - a world-class time - and was offered a contract on the spot. But, as much as his speed, it was Vince's heart that impressed Vermeil. But there was more to the story Vince's success was tempered by a complicated family life, a past that continued to haunt him, even as a hometown football hero.