Frankly Put

“He wanted to show a largely non-sports audience that sports were closer to them than they thought.” From PBS Newshour: Frank Deford, who has died at 78, changed the way we see sports. His stories were really about life. Sports was a byproduct.

+ “At Princeton, coach Cappy Cappon called the bluff of Deford’s basketball career. Having noticed his contributions to The Daily Princetonian, he said, ‘You know, Deford, you write basketball much better than you play it.'” Remembering SI legend Frank Deford.

+ Longform: Five of our favorite articles by the longtime Sports Illustrated writer.

+ My favorite Deford pieces were on Real Sports. Among the best, was the piece he on Boomer Esiason. There’s an unwritten rule that reporters shouldn’t become the story. Frank DeFord proved here that there are times when that rule should be broken.