Book excerpt: Readers have the opportunity to enter the world of college football and follow one player through his experiences on the gridiron of the Southeastern Conference for the Auburn Tigers. A Tiger's Walk observes him as he battles the highs and lows of championship and losing seasons, coaching hirings and firings, and personal success and tragedy. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, the self-proclaimed football capital of the South, Rob Pate grew up well aware of the significance of college football in his home state. At the age of five he embarked on a journey in football that carried him from a proud youth league ballpark in small-town Alabama to the splendor of SEC football, as well as to the National Football League. Readers can gain an understanding of daily life in college football and what today's game is genuinely like, not from the perspective of someone who never touched the gridiron a day in his life, but rather from someone who recently stepped off the field for the very last time. Pate talk about facing some of the issues that have been buried for too long by college football's big business bureaucracies. This is one Tiger's walk in the world of today's student athlete, helping fans watch from the sidelines and become one of the team.