Should the ‘AJ Brown Sideline Book Club’ be a thing?

Move over Oprah and Reese Witherspoon! In victory for librarians and English teachers everywhere, Philadelphia Eagles superstar AJ Brown proved this weekend that there is no wrong place to read after going viral for reading the book on the sidelines of the Eagles-Packers NFL playoff game.

Even better, he’s now made that book a #1 bestseller. Which begs the question, is AJ Brown the next big literary influence?

In the Eagles’ win over the Packers, Brown is shown in the margins reading Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy.

The book — by a former minor league baseball player — is about mental skills and staying calm in high-pressure moments.

Before it was trending, Inner Excellence was ranked 523,497 on Amazon’s bestseller list.

After AJ Brown was shown reading it on Sunday? It skyrocketed to #1.

Brown admitted he does a lot of side reading, but this was the first time the broadcast caught him. And he said Murphy’s book gives him a sense of peace.

Gesture it was highly regarded by the author himself, Jim Murphywho told Sports Illustrated: “It is truly an honor to be a part of his life.”

Now Inner Excellence is a viral sensation and an Amazon bestseller.

All because AJ Brown accidentally promoted him.

Is AJ Brown the new Oprah Winfrey or Reese Witherspoon?

This could be music to the ears of the publishing industry! Books endorsed by Oprah Winfrey and, more recently, Reese Witherspoon, as part of their “book club” selections are often on bestseller lists.

But there is a definite lack of literary influencers for, well, guys (for lack of a better term… I really need to read more).

A superstar football player reading a different book on the sidelines every week could be just the thing to get your sports bros reading more!

Especially if you put a football-shaped sticker on the book that says “AJ’s Sideline Book Club.”

AJ could save his best books for the playoffs and his book of the year pick for the Super Bowl! The whole thing makes almost TOO much sense.

Soon we could see NBA players reading on the bench, MLB players reading in the dugout, and hockey players reading in — nah, never mind, too far-fetched (hockey players don’t read).

The point is, anytime anyone in popular culture gets people to read more books, it’s a good thing. The more books people read, the less time they have to read fake news, fear-mongering tweets. AJ Brown may not have known it, but he was doing his part to combat our growing national ignorance by reading one page at a time.