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Jeff Pearlman (born 1972) is an American sportswriter. He has written nine books that have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list: four about football, three on baseball and two about basketball. He authored the 1999 John Rocker interview in Sports Illustrated . [1]
Pearlman was born and raised in Mahopac, New York. He got his start in journalism in 1989, when he interned at a weekly newspaper in Cross River, titled The Patent Trader. After graduating from the University of Delaware, he was hired as a food and fashion writer by The Tennessean in Nashville. In 1996, Pearlman was hired by Sports Illustrated , where he spent nearly seven years as a baseball writer.
In 2002, Pearlman left Sports Illustrated and spent the next two years at Newsday , but left to focus on writing books. He also keeps a personal online blog, where he posts a weekly Q&A series, The Quaz, with athletes, politicians, actors, singers and many random people. He has also used the site to write about such intimate issues as seeing a rival book get publicity in Sports Illustrated, where he worked, [2] or finding blood in his feces after using the toilet. [3]
He was a frequent contributor to ESPN.com's Page 2, then as a columnist for SI.com. No stranger to controversy, Pearlman used his own website as a forum to call out the Christian missionary goals of Tim Tebow's father as "pretty evil." In the fall of 2007, Pearlman wrote several controversial articles on Page 2 regarding the lack of a rivalry between the University of Delaware's and Delaware State University's football teams. UD and DSU finally played a football game on November 23, 2007, at part of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. Delaware won the game with a score of 44–7.
Pearlman was advisor to the student newspaper at Manhattanville College from 2011 to 2012, but his contract was not renewed because, according to Pearlman, the college was more concerned about "image control" than about producing "a quality student newspaper." [4] [5]
Pearlman is the author of The Bad Guys Won, a biography of the 1986 New York Mets subtitled, "A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform--and Maybe the Best." In 2004, the book spent eight weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. [6]
Pearlman followed that up with his 2006 publication of Love Me, Hate Me, an unauthorized biography of Barry Bonds for which the author said he interviewed 524 subjects. Pearlman said that because Love Me, Hate Me was released three weeks after Game of Shadows , it quickly faded. His third book, Boys Will Be Boys, on the 1990s Dallas Cowboys dynasty, spent 10 weeks on the New York Times bestseller's list. [7]
Pearlman's fourth book, a biography of Roger Clemens titled The Rocket That Fell to Earth, was released by HarperCollins on March 24, 2009. The book is a detailed account of Clemens' life on and off the baseball field. [8] Pearlman next wrote Sweetness, a 2011 biography of Walter Payton, the Chicago Bears running back. [9]
In March 2014, Pearlman released Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, a biography of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. It became his fourth New York Times best seller. The book was adapted into the HBO docudrama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty , which was released in 2022. [10]
His seventh book, a biography of Brett Favre titled Gunslinger, was released in October 2016 and spent considerable time on the New York Times bestseller's list. In Gunslinger, Pearlman chronicles Favre's life, from his early years in Kiln, Mississippi and playing quarterback for the high school team coached by his father, through his years at the University of Southern Mississippi and his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings. In addition to reporting on Favre's football career, Pearlman also addresses Favre's life off the field, including his marriage and family life as well as his problems with alcohol and pain medication. Pearlman did not interview Favre for the book but he did interview some of Favre's family members and many teammates and coaches. [11]
Pearlman wrote Football for a Buck, released in 2018, about the United States Football League. [12] It spent several months on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2020, Pearlman released Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty. [13] In 2022, Pearlman released The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, a biography of Bo Jackson. [14]
William Roger Clemens, nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees. He was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time MLB All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
David Lee Wells is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Boomer", Wells was considered one of the league's top left-handed pitchers during his career and made three All-Star appearances. In 1998, he pitched the 15th perfect game in baseball history. Wells also appeared in the postseason as a member of six teams, tied for the most with Kenny Lofton, and won two World Series titles. Following his 2007 retirement, Wells served as a broadcaster for MLB on TBS and was the host of The Cheap Seats on FOXSports.com.
Daniel Okrent is an American writer and editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several books. In November 2011, Last Call won the Albert J. Beveridge prize, awarded by the American Historical Association to the year's best book of American history. His most recent book, published May 2019, is The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America.
Michael "Doc" Emrick is an American former network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. He was the lead announcer for National Hockey League national telecasts on both NBC and NBCSN. Among the many awards Emrick has received is the NHL's Lester Patrick Award in 2004, making him the first of only five to have received the award for media work, and the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. He has also won nine national Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting, the only hockey broadcaster to be honored with even one. On December 12, 2011, Emrick became the first member of the media to be inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017, Sports Illustrated listed Emrick as the sportscaster of the year.
Javon Liteff Walker is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers 20th overall of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles.
Donald Jerome Driver is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Alcorn State University, Driver was picked by Green Bay in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He spent his entire 14-season NFL career with the Packers and holds the franchise's all-time records for most career receptions and receiving yards. Driver was a member of the Packers team that won Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Every year in Cleveland, Driver holds the Donald Driver Football Camp for local kids which is held at the Cleveland High School Football field. Upon retirement, he won season 14 of Dancing with the Stars.
Brent Woody Musburger is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN).
Jason Alan Grimsley is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for seven teams during a 15-year career. He was a member of both the 1999 and 2000 World Series champion New York Yankees.
Paul Finebaum is an American sports author, former columnist, and television-radio personality. His primary focus is sports, particularly those in the Southeast. After many years as a reporter, columnist, and sports-talk radio host in the Birmingham area, Finebaum was hired by ESPN in 2013 for its new SEC Network. He produces a radio show out of the network's regional base in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jennifer Lynette Sterger is an American model, television personality, and former online columnist for Sports Illustrated. She has worked as the "Gameday Host" for the New York Jets and was a co-host of the Versus sports news show The Daily Line. She has worked for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
Brett Lorenzo Favre is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in league history. He was also the first NFL quarterback to obtain 70,000 yards, 10,000 passes, 6,000 completions, 500 touchdowns, and victories over all 32 teams.
Kellen Vincent Clemens is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon Ducks and was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. He was also been a member of the Washington Redskins, Houston Texans, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers.
Walter Jerry Payton was an American professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "Sweetness", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Payton is remembered as a prolific rusher, once holding records for career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards, and many other categories. Payton also retired with the most receptions by a non-receiver, and he had eight career touchdown passes.
Alan Schwarz is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and author, formerly at The New York Times, best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the National Football League's cover-up of concussions and brought the issue of brain injuries in sports to worldwide attention. His investigative and profile pieces are generally credited with revolutionizing the respect and protocol for concussions in youth and professional athletics. Schwarz's work was profiled in The New Yorker and several films, including the Will Smith movie "Concussion" and the documentaries "Head Games" and PBS Frontline's "League of Denial". The Columbia Journalism Review featured him on the cover of its 2011 Art of Great Reporting issue and wrote of his concussion work, "He put the issue on the agenda of lawmakers, sports leagues, and the media at large — and helped create a new debate about risk and responsibility in sports." The impact of the series was described by Hall of Fame sports writer Murray Chass as "the most remarkable feat in sports journalism history."
Mark Schlabach is an American sports journalist, New York Times best-selling author, columnist, and reporter for ESPN.com.
Derrick Binet Mayes is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning second-team All-American honors in 1995. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Mayes also played for the Seattle Seahawks, and was briefly a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Leigh Montville is an American writer and former newspaper columnist who worked for The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated.
Dirk Von Hayhurst is an American author and broadcaster, and formerly a professional baseball pitcher. Hayhurst played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres in 2008 and for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009. Following the end of his playing career, Hayhurst wrote four books about his experiences in professional baseball.
Kostya Kennedy is an American journalist and author. He is an editorial director at Dotdash Meredith, and a former senior writer and assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated. Kennedy has written several-best selling books. Before joining SI, Kennedy was a staff writer at Newsday and contributed to The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Alvin White is a former gridiron football quarterback and punter who played in the World Football League (WFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Oregon State.
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