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Total access to "Total Access": Behind the scenes with NFL Network host Rich Eisen. Plus: NFL Week 16.

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Dec. 21, 2007 | Rich Eisen's "Total Access: A Journey to the Center of the NFL Universe," is a breezy, entertaining look at the first few years of the NFL Network, where Eisen hosts the flagship show, "NFL Total Access."

Eisen, 38, takes the reader through an NFL year, which both ends and begins again at the Super Bowl. Along the way he tells stories, none of which reveal any breathtaking secrets, but most of which are good for a laugh. You probably didn't know that NFL all-stars at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii spend a whole week trying to find out each other's room numbers so they can run up charges. Now you do.

The NFL Network may or may not be the center of the NFL universe, but it's certainly the nexus of coverage. Nowhere else can football wonks get live looks at the scouting combine and spring workouts. But what interests Eisen, who grew up on Staten Island with baseball as his favorite sport, is the NFL as a lifestyle.

"It's not just about the Cover 2 defense," he said about the NFL Network last week by phone from a Houston hotel room -- No. 1504 -- after hosting coverage of a Thursday night game. "It's about 'What is it about this game that we love so much?'"

Let's start with what editors always ask me when I ask if there are any questions about my story: Why'd you write it?

I guess why I wrote it was twofold. One was just personal. There were so many different stories and so many different moments in the first four years of launching NFL Network, which has been a joy and a pleasure, I just wanted to get them all out and share them with a populace that appears to be in a frenzy over this sport right now.

The other part of the reason is all these cable companies that are holding out from putting us on the air, their response is, "Well, people don't want a niche network. It's only eight games they broadcast every fall, and the rest of the year it's just NFL Films replays." You know, my book is 310 pages of proof against that. We're a year-round venture putting out an entertaining product on a cultural lifestyle, not a sport.

Were you encouraged from upstairs to write it?

[Laughs.] No, actually it was completely my idea. The league has been supportive of it even though there's a rule against NFL employees writing about their experience while they're on the job. They made an exception for me. It's not like I know any trade secrets to tell. It's my job to promote the National Football League every day, and I think this book is an excellent promotion of not only what the NFL is, because it shows the players in so many different lights, but our network. This is what our network is about. It's not just about the Cover 2 defense. It's about, what is it about this game that we love so much? Diving into that.

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