Colin Kaepernick just reminded everybody that athletes are not only out here making history on the field — they’re writing it too. This week, Kaepernick announced The Perilous Fight, a new memoir dropping September 15, 2026, through Legacy Lit, with an audiobook narrated by Kaepernick himself and released exclusively through Audible that same day. The rollout is intentional: the book lands almost exactly 10 years after his 2016 national anthem protest, and the publisher is framing it as an “equal parts memoir and manifesto” about identity, sacrifice, and the cost of courage.
And honestly, that’s why athlete books always hit when they’re done right. Fans usually meet these people through highlights, interviews, and viral moments, but a book lets them slow down the story. You get the childhood stuff, the pressure, the ego, the pain, the politics, the family dynamics, the parts TV packages and social clips usually flatten it. In Kaepernick’s case, the publisher says the memoir digs into his upbringing in Turlock, his identity as a Black child adopted into a white family, and the years of reading, reckoning, and lived experience that led up to that moment the whole world saw.
That’s also why sports memoirs stay undefeated as a genre. The best ones are never just about wins and losses. They’re about obsession, discipline, reinvention, and what it costs to chase greatness while the whole world is projecting something onto you. Whether it’s a legend breaking down how they dominated, a champion unpacking how being Black in America impacted their journey, or a superstar keeping it painfully honest about burnout and doubt, these books offer readers more than a stat line.
So with Kaepernick’s new release putting athlete-authored books back in the conversation, here are 10 books by athletes people should absolutely be reading right now.
1. Open — Andre Agassi
Agassi’s memoir is still one of the gold standards because it’s brutally honest in a way a lot of sports books are scared to be. It’s not just tennis talk — it’s fame, resentment, pressure, family expectations, and what it feels like to be great at something you sometimes don’t even love. If somebody wants an athlete’s memoir that really peels back the layers, this is a layup.