Ex-NFL star tackles writing for children

For eight years in the NFL Tim Green went head to head with some of the largest offensive tackles the game has seen. Today, the former Atlanta Falcons defensive end turned best-selling author considers video games and Hollywood to be his toughest competition.

During one of his many Thursday stops in Naperville Community Unit School District 203 schools, Green talked to a few dozen children and their parents at Kennedy Junior High School about his passion for reading and his mission to get children hooked on reading.

"Reading books is exercise for your brain just like lifting weights is exercise for your body, so reading books makes kids smarter," he said before reading from and autographing his second children's best seller "Football Hero." "If kids will read, they'll do better in school, and the thing that excites me about reading is that I believe books should be entertaining and fun."

A few years back, a publisher was reading one of his 15 earlier books and appreciated his knack for telling a story and his ability to hold her interest until 3 a.m. to finish the book. Green said she called him a short time later and asked if he could tell the same type of stories, with the same page-turning thrills, to children.

Remembering how much he loved books as a child and having children of his own, he gave it a shot.

The main characters in his children's books are modeled after his own children and share their names. But their biggest contribution comes into play during the editing process.

"When I would read them the stories from my laptop computer, at the end of every chapter I would stop and wait," he said. "If the kids didn't say 'Dad keep going,' I'd have to rewrite the end of the chapter because it wasn't good enough.

"When kids are reading, they're reading by themselves, and I wanted kids, on their own, to say 'I've gotta keep reading.' So when I write the books for kids, my competition is people who make games for Xbox 360 and people who write Hollywood movies."

Oak Park resident Jim Olson and his son Hank, 13, were both excited to meet Green and pick up "Football Hero" since Hank just finished reading the first book, "Football Genius."

"I saw this in the book store and I had never heard of it, so I got it for Hank," Olson said. "He can't put it down. It's great."

Green will continue his book-signing tour from 9 to 11 a.m. today at North Barrington Elementary School, where he'll talk to fourth- and fifth-grade students about his writing and athletic career and where he gets his inspiration.