HOW THIS PLAYBOOK WORKS
JEFF GRAHAM, COACH, RECOVERY ADVOCATE, AND AUTHOR OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYBOOK FOR RECOVERY
I created The Championship Playbook for Recovery with an accompanying workbook, after realizing that knowing what you should do isn’t the same as being prepared to do it when the pressure hits.
Football taught me to study the film, understand the opponent, prepare for different situations, make adjustments, and trust the work I had put in before game day.
That changed the way I looked at my own recovery. I started applying those same lessons to my own experience with alcohol. This book exists to help you do the same. Not to hand you somebody else's playbook, but to build your own and run the plays.
My goal with this book is that you can follow a journey to recovery as it relates to football plays, and use the book for a better and loving future.
NOT READY FOR AA?
Here is another way to begin your sober journey
This book is a different starting point. There are no labels. No public confessions. And the only one to answer to is the man in your mirror.
Because maybe you’ve thought about walking into a meeting before. Or you’ve even shown up, but sat in the parking lot.
And something kept you in the car. The folding chairs, the word “alcoholic,” and the idea of standing up in front of strangers before you’ve figured out what’s going on in your own head.
That doesn’t make you a lost cause. It makes you a man who hasn’t found his starting point yet.
WHY AM I OK UNTIL I'M TIRED, STRESSED, BORED, OR CELEBRATING?
Triggers, patterns, and pressures are specific to you. Your recovery plan should be, too.
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN A CRAVING HITS?
With the Playbook for Recovery, you'll prepare the play before the pressure arrives.
WHY CAN'T I USE MORE WILLPOWER OR COURAGE?
Because willpower or courage were never supposed to carry the entire game by itself.
WHY DO I KEEP GOING BACK TO THE SAME OLD HABITS?
Start understanding what happens before the drink, not only what happens after.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE TEAMMATES FOR LIFE
This chapter of the playbook is for the people who love him. You've watched him promise "not tonight" and mean it, and you've watched five o'clock win anyway. You've tried talking, pleading, counting, and covering, and every conversation ends in the same fight. You are not crazy, you are not overreacting, and you are not powerless.
You can't run his plays for him, but you have plays of your own. TEAMMATES FOR LIFE is a chapter written for you. For when to talk and when to wait, exactly what to say in under a minute, which habits to stop, how to keep yourself and your kids safe, and how to take care of yourself while you help the man you love.
It's built on CRAFT, a research-tested approach that gets more loved ones into treatment than confrontation does. If you purchase this book for someone you love, start here.
★★★★★
An Absolute Game-Changer for Recovery
"As someone who has struggled with drinking for years, I found this book incredibly empowering. It was as if the author could read my mind—he knows exactly what I'm going through, how I think and feel, and even how I've been justifying my drinking to myself. I can already see how this is going to change my life, and I have no doubt it will do the same for countless others."
— valdora4, Amazon review, August 24, 2026
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One practical recovery idea in your inbox each week. We’ll look at a real-life situation, the old play alcohol taught us, and one new play you can practice before you need it.
