Richie Hall's book not all smoke and mirrors about time in the CFL

Richie Hall's new bookSmoke and Mirrors: Life in the CFL with Richie Hallisnot just a football book.

Hall spent 35 years in the CFL, as a player and as a coach.

Now he has co-authored a book with Guy Scholz.

"We like to think that whether you like football, whether you don't like football, you'll get something out of it," Hall said.

"It's kind of the lessons I've learned through athletics or through my life, sharing them to other people."

Hall played in the CFL for eight years, splitting his time between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Calgary Stampeders.

As a coach, he directed the defensive rosters of the Riders, Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Before Saskatchewan's win in 2007, Hall was on the second-everGrey Cup winning Riders team when they beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1989.

Before that, the Riders hadn't won the trophy since the 1960s.

"In order to be successful at anything in life, it takes a team and a team involves more than one person," Hall said of one of the lessons picked up over the years.

Hall said he had some apprehension about the book because he describes himself as a private person.

"Any time you open your life to somebody, you're open to criticism," Hall said.

"It's not about all good things that have happened to Richie; it's the struggles that I've had, it's adversities I've had to overcome."