A week ago, Jim Murphy's book "Inner Excellence" was ranked No. 523,497 on Amazon. It's been holding steady at No. 1 on that same list after Eagles receiver A.J. Brown was spotted reading it on the sidelines during his team's playoff win on Sunday.
Brown is a big fan of the book, tweeting after the game that "This game is 90% mental and 10% physical for me. I bring it to every game and I read it between each drive. I use it to refocus and lock in despite what may transpire in the game good or bad. People tend to create controversy when they don’t know the truth."
Murphy grew up as a Seahawks fan, but he told Sporting News that he's rooting for the Eagles now in an interview discussing his book and the attention that it's received.
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Who is Jim Murphy?
Murphy is a former professional athlete who was drafted by the Cubs and played for five years in their minor league system before injuries forced him into retirement. He also played one year of college football.
After his dreams of becoming a Major League baseball player ended, Murphy spent five years in solitude, researching for 60-70 hours per week on how to have poise under pressure.
He started by drawing from his experience as a professional athlete. He then began calling sports psychologists. He would ask how an Olympic athlete could train for four years for an event that might last less than a minute, or how a player could perform in Game 7 of the World Series with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.
His research led to him writing his book "Inner Excellence," where he hoped to train the heart in order to have peace, poise, and confidence in pressure situations.
Murphy's book has resonated with a lot of high-level athletes even before the exposure that Brown gave him. He's working with Penn State alumni wrestlers on a national wrestling performance center program, and he has coached several other athletes across different sports.
This also isn't the first NFL exposure that the book has had. Eagles teammate Moro Ojomo gave the book to Brown. And Murphy told Sporting News that a quote from the book was even texted to Tom Brady before Super Bowl LI.
What is Inner Excellence about?
Inner excellence is a book that includes exercises, techniques and tools to maximize every area of one's life. The book helps to develop self-mastery, overcome anxiety, remove mental blocks, and train one's subconscious mind.
In short, it's a book on how to develop habits in order to be the person you want to become. Murphy describes it as "in some ways, like a very detailed manual" towards reaching that goal.
"What AJ is reading about is how to develop himself as a person and realize that football is just a small part of who he is. If you're going to become a great receiver, you have to be fearless. You have to be willing to go to those dark places, that place in the middle (of the field) when the guy wants to take your head off."
Murphy's book is for more than just professional athletes. He hopes Inner Excellence can help people on a path towards "deep contentment, joy, and confidence. A life with deep enriching relationships, incredible experiences, where you're learning and growing and making a difference. That path is the same as being the most mentally tough."
Jim Murphy's relationship with A.J. Brown
Prior to Sunday's game, Murphy knew that Brown had a copy of his book. He had no idea how dedicated Brown was to reading it, though.
Murphy didn't see Brown reading the book on the sidelines as it was happening. He was watching a recording of the Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame because he had not seen that game yet. "I looked at my phone and I saw all of these messages. It was amazing."
Since Sunday, the two have been in contact. Murphy learned that Brown was bringing his well-worn copy of the book to every game, reading it before kickoff and after every drive in order to get centered.
"He's a super nice guy, very humble, very down to Earth," Murphy said of Brown.
Brown was able to share personally how much he loved Murphy's book and how it has impacted his life. He told Murphy that it took him just a week and a half to read the 360-page book the first time. The well-worn copy has obviously been read several times since then.
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Murphy is thankful for the impact that his book has had on Brown and other readers.
"To be a small part of anyone's life, to help them do something meaningful, is so gratifying," he said.
While the book sales are great, Murphy is keeping the bigger picture in mind.
"It's fun and neat, but it's not about me. I want to make sure that everyone knows this is about developing yourself.
"There is so much fear in the world, so much tension and violence in America. People need to know that there's a better way to live. You don't have to live attached to your circumstances and live in fear. When you walk in love, you're fearless. And that's what A.J. is reading about."