4th & Trenches — Chris Johnson

In football, the term 4th and inches means that it is too close to call, sometimes life can be just like that.

East Cleveland, Ohio, where dreams are shattered and destroyed, a single mother struggled to raise eight kids. She fought and prayed on a daily basis to keep her boys from turning left. Her youngest child, Tony, had one goal - becoming a professional football player. He wanted to save his family from poverty.

Tony walked in the shadows of his older brothers, all of them he looked up to and he learned from their mistakes. Unforeseen forces bonded them closer together. After watching his brothers succumb to the life of the streets, Tony went on to pursue his dreams as a professional football player. But on his journey of becoming pro, Tony and his family had to deal with horrendous barriers - some even tragic.

An urban fiction novel based on real life events where some names have been changed to protect those deemed guilty.