The Ultimate Game

Book excerpt: Here's What Former NFL Players Think About "THE ULTIMATE GAME" “(THE ULTIMATE GAME) reads as if Tom Clancy hijacked Monday Night Football; it’s that cutting edge.” – Joe Kapp; Super Bowl Quarterback and CFL Hall of Fame Inductee “THE ULTIMATE GAME puts the sport of professional football in a futuristic setting and tells a tale of what technology could one day allow. It’s a positive, exciting thrill-ride for all ages. It’s a frightening and intriguing look at how the game could be manipulated.” – Dan Pastorini; Pro Bowl Quarterback “I cheer Kevin (Bakko) for writing a fast moving, fun, futuristic novel that thoroughly entertained me. And he found no need to load the book with the smut that has been filling most sports books to date.” – Phil Villapiano; Super Bowl Champion Linebacker “If John Grisham and Issac Asimov got together to write a novel about pro football – this is what they would write. You have to read it to believe it!” – Jeff Nixon; Former Player, and Editor / Nat’l Advocacy Committee Member of ‘Fourth and Goal Assists’ “Kevin Bakko does a great job of conveying the spirit of the players and their drive to be the World Champions of NFL football. He also points out the price that players pay to play in the NFL both mentally and physically.” – Carl Mauck; Thirty-Four Year NFL Veteran Player and Assistant Coach “THE ULTIMATE GAME is a book that honors the NFL alumnus of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” – George Martin; Super Bowl Champion Defensive End and President of the NFL Alumni Association IMAGINE THE MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED VIDEO FOOTBALL GAME EVER CREATED. IMAGINE SOME OF THE GREATEST PRO PLAYERS TO EVER STEP ON THE GRIDIRON AT THE CONTROLS. NOW IMAGINE BOTH, MANIPULATING A REAL NFL FOOTBALL TEAM... WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE... WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT. 2019 is the 100th Anniversary of the National Football League, and the Houston Texans have just won their second Super Bowl in a row. Now comes their quest for an unprecedented third consecutive trip to the championship game. Yet accomplishing this extraordinary feat will not be left to either dutiful preparation or divine providence. A glory-driven head coach (Walt Griffin) and a narcissistic neuroscientist in need of human guinea pigs (Dr. John McLane) have combined forces to reach the final phase of their respective life’s ambition. But murder, mayhem, and the pursuit of answers to gut-wrenching questions are driving veteran All-Pro quarterback Rod Mackenna to make sense of the resulting toll that has been taken by his team, his teammates, and his long – but no longer – unrequited love interest. On the day of the Super Bowl – with the final piece to an unimaginable puzzle firmly in his grasp – Griffin and McLane catch Mac within the confines of the clandestine command center used by their band of former gridiron heroes to control the active players, on-the-field, like a macabre video game. Only the threat of harm to his (now) fiancée keeps Mac on the sideline with a bogus injury as the final contest of the season kicks off.