From the Book:

The snap thumped into Nick's chest, leaving his breast-bone stinging.
"Ow!" Who could hike a ball that hard? Coleman? Elliott?
He wheeled on his cleats -- cleats? -- and tucked the ball under his arm.
Why am I in the middle of a football game?
The ground under him shook with the pounding of thundering feet. Nick's eyes darted all around. Defenders were coming at him from everywhere -- huge people who could run like gazelles! Nick panicked. He'd be crushed like a bug!
His fear must have added wings to his feet. He scrambled away from the stampede.
I'm dreaming, Nick thought to himself. No way I can run this fast.
Suddenly, a linebacker came out of nowhere and lunged at Nick. Nick felt arms like the jaws of a bear trap clamp around his waist.
I'm dead! shot through his mind.
Before the thought even reached his brain, his body snapped into action. He swiveled a hip, stopped on a dime, and whirled ballet-style away from the tackle.
Holy Toledo, how did I do that?
His eyes zoomed in on the open receiver. His arm cocked back, and fired.
But I can't throw that far!
The pass took off like a bazooka rocket. It sizzled over the defense and into the end zone, where it struck the receiver right between the numbers. The referee -- referee?! -- raised both arms.
"Touchdown!"
The roar of the crowd was louder than anything Nick could have imagined. Yes, it was the same crowd he'd seen before. It wasn't a dream; all this was real! But how?
A teammate came running over and awarded him a mighty slap on the back. "Great pass!"
Nick gawked at the famous face in the football helmet before him. It was Terrell Davis, the star running back of the Denver Broncos.
"What are you doing here?" Nick blurted, flabbergasted.
Has my voice gotten deeper? he asked himself.
The well-known features relaxed into an amused grin. "I work here," Davis laughed. "Don't you?"
For the first time, Nick noticed that he too was wearing a Broncos' uniform. He looked down at the front of his own jersey.
His heart skipped a beat. The number was 7. It was impossible, and yet it was happening here in real life!
I can't believe it! he thought. I'm John Elway!

Copyright © 1997 by Gordon Korman

The first of Gordon's books written for a company other than Scholastic, Quarterback Exchange is also the first of six books in the Monday Night Football Club series, a set of sports books with a decidedly interesting twist.

Nicholas Farrel Lighter is probably the world's greatest football fan ... not only do his initials spell out NFL, but he eats, breathes and sleeps football. You might even say he is obsessed with it. At school, he and his friends Elliott and Coleman are constantly creating interesting trick plays, and at home they formed the Monday Night Football Club to ensure that they always get to watch the games, staying over at each other's houses every week.

Nick doesn't think much of the old, orange, heavy, scratchy Eskimos jersey that his grandpa left him in his will ... number 13 is perhaps the most miserable scrap of clothing on the face of the earth. But when Nick starts hearing the football plays before they are announced, he can't quite figure out what's going on. And when he soon finds himself in the body of John Elway during a football game, he decides that ol' number 13 is surely the best present he ever received.