The People V. Football She had no idea, back then, that he was sick. She had no idea he was losing his mind. Something neurological, the doctors are now saying, some kind of sludge blocking pathways in his brain. Would it have made a difference if she knew? Of course it would have. But you […]
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“Now, thanks to that pampering, upon his retirement in the winter of 1988 as the NFL’s alltime leading rusher, Walter Payton found himself burdened by a realization that had struck thousands of ex-athletes before him: I am bored out of my mind. When strangers asked, he talked about how thrilled he was to be free […]
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The Green Bay Packers are a historical, cultural, and geographical anomaly, a publicly traded corporation in a league that doesn’t allow them, an immensely profitable company whose shareholders are forbidden by the corporate bylaws to receive a penny of that profit, a franchise that has flourished despite being in the smallest market in the NFL—with […]
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It’s been two autumns now since Russell last played a down of organized football. This fall, when capable quarterbacks have been in high demand and short supply, he’s gotten no calls. The Raiders lost his successor, Jason Campbell, to a broken collarbone on Oct. 16, and last week they acquired 31-year-old Carson Palmer, who had […]
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Doyle approached him and said, “Do you know there’s a retired number in Williams football?” “Williams doesn’t retire numbers,” Quinn replied. “Apparently it does,” Doyle said. On the Monday after that game Quinn called Boyer and asked, “Williams has a retired football number?” “I don’t know about retired,” Boyer said, “but there’s this box down […]
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Doyle approached him and said, “Do you know there’s a retired number in Williams football?” “Williams doesn’t retire numbers,” Quinn replied. “Apparently it does,” Doyle said. On the Monday after that game Quinn called Boyer and asked, “Williams has a retired football number?” “I don’t know about retired,” Boyer said, “but there’s this box down […]
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The broadcast started at eight-thirty, with final predictions from the booth. Gruden looked solemn. “I think the Kansas City Chiefs are in real trouble tonight,” he said. Jaworski looked at Gruden and Mike Tirico. “You guys can call me crazy, but I’m excited about Tyler Palko tonight,” he said. Tirico giggled, but Gruden just squinted. […]
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Writer Maria Bustillos: My Top Longreads of 2011
Maria Bustillos is a journalist who writes frequently for The Awl. *** The power of Allison Benedikt’s “Life After Zionist Summer Camp” (The Awl) derives from the purity of its point of view, which is that of one person’s lived experience, minutely and honestly detailed. Benedikt swings gracefully between humor and searing candor in this […]
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Writer Jessica Lussenhop: My Top 5 Longreads of 2011
Jessica Lussenhop is a staff writer for the Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages. See her stories on her Longreads page or find her on Twitter. *** The ones I couldn’t stop thinking about. *** • Jon Ronson , “Robots Say the Damndest Things,” GQ, March 2011 Besides the fact that Ronson is such a consistently fascinating writer, […]
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Nieman Storyboard's Andrea Pitzer: My Top 5 Longreads of 2011
Andrea Pitzer (@andreapitzer) is the founder of Nieman Storyboard. She is also writing what she hopes will be a very surprising book about Vladimir Nabokov. *** I’m contrary by nature. So when I sat down to pick my Longreads for 2011, I reviewed the lists that Mark had published to date and decided not to include a […]
