The novel is about an American football player who can no longer get work in the National Football League and whose agent , as a last resort , signs a deal for him to play for the Parma Panthers , in Parma , Italy . The novel is about an itinerant American football player who can no longer get work in the National Football League and whose agent , as a last resort , signs a deal for him to play for the Parma Panthers , in Parma , Italy .