Intercepted: The Rise and Fall of NFL Cornerback Darryl Henley

This tormented tale of hubris and corruption, loaded with seedy characters, reads like a legal thriller. But McKnight's thorough examination of former Los Angeles Rams cornerback Darryl Henley's sordid fall from grace is a cautionary, all-too-real story of sex, drugs, and murder. Henley was named first-team All-American at UCLA and drafted in 1989 by the Rams, where he became a role-model teammate and anti-drug spokesman. But a chance reunion with a boyhood friend-turned-drug dealer in 1993 set Henley on an irreversible path of destruction; he is now serving more than 40 years in federal prison for conspiring to traffic cocaine, bribing a prison guard, and plotting to murder both the federal judge handling his case and the prosecution's star witness (Henley's former girlfriend and Rams cheerleader Tracy Donaho). Sports Illustrated writer McKnight's meticulous research and attention to detail nearly indicts the U.S. justice system and its own glaring flaws. And while he cites Henley as his primary source, the author also interviewed more than 100 other individuals associated with the case, although Donaho and others refused to cooperate. Additionally, McKnight draws comparisons between Henley's drug trial and O.J. Simpson's murder trial, which took place simultaneously in neighboring Southern California counties. (Oct.)