Frank DeFord – Life as a Sports Writer

May 24, 2012, 12:31 pm

Frank Deford joined Brain Berger talking about his life as a sports writer back in early days of the NBA, the many athletes he met, and great sporting events.

Frank Deford is a graduate of Princeton University and began his career as a researcher in the baseball department of Sports Illustrated in 1962. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he has also been a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel since 1995, a regular Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio since 1980. His 1981 novel Everybody's All-American was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time

In 1989 Deford left Sports Illustrated and NPR to serve as editor-in-chief of The National, a short-lived U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published daily in tabloid format. After writing for Newsweek and Vanity Fair, Deford subsequently returned to Sports Illustrated as senior contributing writer. His new book is called "Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter" chronicles his over 50 years of sports writing and experiences being around athletes.