AJ Brown’s sideline read ‘Inner Excellence’ soars to No. 1 on Amazon

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Step aside, Oprah.

Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver AJ Brown could start his own book club after a little sideline reading inspired self-help author Jim Murphy to the hottest seller on Amazon overnight.

Eagles wide receiver passed on the playbook and checked out an inspiring title — Brown casually ignored the action in Philadelphia’s playoff run and flipped through the pages of Murphy’s book, “Inner Excellence.”

As of Monday morning, the little-known book by the mental skills coach was listed as no. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller list.

“I didn’t expect that. A real gift,” Murphy said by phone Monday. “I just looked on Amazon last night and it went to No. 1, so that was a surprise. It had probably never been higher than probably 8 or 9,000. In the thousands, somewhere.”

Nine thousand? Continue. Down. Way down.

The book took first place on the trend list after previously being ranked no. 523,497. That jump gave it another top spot in the marketplace Movers & shakers list.

It had not yet broken top 100 for sale in 2025 though. Mel Robbins, Rebecca Yarros, Christine Hannah and likes still reigned supreme there.

Without a doubt run by Eagles fans“Inner Excellence” was reviewed 375 times and rated 4.7 out of 5 on Amazon. In comparison, Freida McFadden had the critically acclaimed book “The Housemaid”. 431,491 reviews with a rating of 4.5, but was ranked nine places behind it on the bestseller list.

“AJ Brown recommended this book so I’m looking forward to reading it. Fly Eagles Fly,” one reviewer wrote on the site.

Murphy, a former minor league outfielder in the Chicago Cubs organization, told the AP in an interview Sunday night that his phone started blowing up with texts when his book was discovered.

After his career ended, Murphy became fascinated with the idea of ​​learning how to teach baseball players to have confidence under pressure.

“I spent five years full-time writing and researching the answer to that question,” Murphy said. “It became the book ‘Inner Excellence’.”

Brown, who had 67 catches for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns this season, described the lessons in the book as useful because football is “90% mental and 10% physical for me.”

Brown later shared a photo of the book on social media with several passages highlighted and underlined in yellow.

Brown said he was surprised his moment went viral because he says he often reads on the sidelines, but added, “You guys caught me that time.”

“If I score a touchdown or drop a pass, that’s something I focus on again,” Brown said. “I always go back to the beginning of the book. It says if you can just have a clear mind and remember that nothing else matters, clear conscience, nothing matters negative or positive. You are willing to take risks. It also says that if you are humble, you cannot be embarrassed.”

It must have worked. The eagles beat the Green Bay Packers and advanced in the NFL playoffs.

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