A youth football team – the Mo Better Jaguars – from the gritty streets of the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the focus of “Never Ran, Never Will.” Author Albert Samaha, who normally works as a criminal justice reporter for Buzzfeed News, was attracted to their story as a fellow Brooklynite. He spent a season following the boys as they learn lessons about football and life while practicing and playing on a dusty field that serves as a refuge from the violence in the area. It’s a more complex story than one might imagine, a human drama that is told in more than 300 pages.
