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Frank Deford is among the most honored and versatile writers in the country, and his work has appeared in virtually every medium. In magazines, he is Senior Contributing Editor at Sports Illustrated. On radio, he may be heard as a commentator every Wednesday on "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio. And on television, he is a correspondent on the HBO show, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Previously, he has worked as a commentator at both NBC and CNN.
Deford has been a correspondent on HBO's Real Sports since the show's inception in 1995. The scope of his work includes compelling reports on Juan Antonio Samaranch and the Olympic Movement, the Masters, the dangerous world of "Toughman" fighting competitions, and the proliferation of fantasy football leagues; plus revealing profiles of Bobby Knight, Manute Bol, Ichiro Suzuki, and David Beckham, among others. His 2001 report on the "Miracle League," a Georgia-based program that allows handicapped youths to play on specially crafted baseball diamonds, sparked national interest in the concept and led to the development of similar leagues around the country.
In addition to his work on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Deford's writing credits at the network include "Bill Russell: My Life, My Way," "Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports," "Rebels of Oakland: The A's, the Raiders, the 70's," "Sports on the Silver Screen," and most recently, the 2007 HBO Sports documentary "Barbaro."
Moreover, Deford is the author of more than fifteen books. His most recent works include a history of baseball and New York at the turn of the twentieth century, The Old Ball Game, and a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball called The Entitled. His other books have ranged from biography to history to mystery to humor. Two of his books—a novel titled Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life of A Child, his memoir about his young daughter who died of cystic fibrosis—have been made into films. Deford also wrote the original screenplay for two other films, Trading Hearts, a comedy, and Four Minutes, the story of Roger Bannister's quest to run the first four-minute mile. Another of his novels, Casey on the Loose, is currently being adapted into a Broadway musical. Cathy Schulman, producer of award-winning Crash, is producing Deford's next film, a comedy titled The Sister-in-Law.
Among his many honors, Deford is a member of the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters. He was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of the Year six times. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sports writer, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of the Year by the Washington Journalism Review.
He has been presented with a National Magazine Award and a Christopher Award, and with awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University for distinguished service to journalism. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and GQ has called him "the world's greatest sportswriter."
In broadcast, Deford won an Emmy in 1988 for his work at NBC during the Seoul Olympics. He received a Cable Ace award for writing the 1994 HBO Sports documentary "Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World."
For fifteen years, Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he is now chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, Connecticut with his wife Carol. They have two grown children—a son, Christian and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University. He has taught there, in American Studies, and has spoken at more than 90 American colleges and universities.
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Frank DeFord Interview NEW!
"When Samuron said the Olympics are more powerful, they're larger than the Catholic Church, I just couldn't believe it..." more
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