Mike Florio, an NFL commentator for NBC Sports and owner of ProFootballTalk, has released a sequel to his fictional mob-based book that came out last year. Titled Son of Mine, the two-part story follows the plot of the aforementioned Father of Mine and brings readers a continuation of the novel. The latest novel, which was released last Tuesday, marks Florio’s quest to maintain his writing of these books while also continuing to closely follow and cover the NFL.
Since beginning ProFootballTalk in 2001, Florio estimates that he has written well over 20 million words pertaining to the NFL. Outside of his writing ventures, he frequently appears on Football Night in America where he contributes to studio coverage leading into the prime-time broadcast of Sunday Night Football. Although he has no plans to cease his coverage of the NFL, Florio is intrigued by authorship and has explored both fictional and nonfictional literature.
“I just wanted to start creating things that didn’t have that short fuse where they would become, by literally tomorrow, completely meaningless,” Florio said. “So that’s what led me down that path, and I enjoy it. It’s a nice balance to what I do.”
While Florio had other ideas about another book, he recognized that he and the readers wanted to know what occurred after the last page of Father of Mine. Following the conclusion of Super Bowl LVI in Las Vegas, he dedicated time to writing, editing and revising a draft that he had previously authored with a goal of completing it before the football season. Florio was successful in fulfilling his goals and feels good that he was able to finish the undertaking. Being able to actualize that goal came in putting time every day, utilizing his aptitude to work fast that he learned from ProFootballTalk.
“It was really this process of making sure and basically not rewriting it from scratch, but almost rewriting it from scratch and getting it into the right format, making sure the various tentacles of the story held together, making some pretty significant revisions that make the story work even more,” Florio said, “and you just get to a point when you know it’s ready, and that’s exciting.”
There are parallels between writing these fictional novels and Florio’s work with NBC Sports and ProFootballTalk as it pertains to the entertainment value within the writing. Florio is trying to make positive contributions to society, citing instances where people who read his articles appreciate that it serves as a diversion from elements of the real world. In the end, he hopes that the books he writes provide somewhat of an oxymoronic predicament in which the audience is involved because of their captivation and interest in the writing.
“What I want to give somebody is an experience of, ‘I have a book I’m reading, and I love it, and I want to finish it right now, but I also don’t want it to be over because then I got to go find another book, and chances are, I won’t like that book,’” Florio said. “That is, to me, the ultimate experience for somebody who loves to read, and I read a lot, and I know the difference between trying to slog through a book that I really don’t like but I feel like I need to finish it versus, ‘Man, this book is great. I want to read one more chapter before I fall asleep.’”
The repetition of the craft is something Florio feels has refined his writing and subsequently rendered something that has more action and storylines in Son of Mine. The story is set in a two-year period that combines three novellas within the work, all of which ultimately tie together by its conclusion.
Akin to how he felt after Father of Mine was released, Florio has personal curiosity as to what will happen with the characters following the denouement and resolution in the new book, and people in the industry have suggested a series. Florio discerns that there will be a third novel that is part of this progression, along with a potential fourth and fifth thereafter, but he has another story down the road that ties in both of his professions.
“It is ostensibly a cautionary tale for the NFL about what could go haywire with gambling in the mob and pro football players who have inside information and realize there’s a way to use it to supplement their football income,” Florio said, “and I may end up with a traditional publisher for that, but that will slow down the publication process, maybe more than I want to when I do these on my own. I’ve got a great team that I can tap into that will help me get things ready quickly, and I can get this thing to market by, let’s say the run up to the Super Bowl, which is what I quite possibly will do.”
