Grant Wahl was the founder of Fútbol with Grant Wahl, a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, and the author of The Beckham Experiment and Masters of Modern Soccer. He died on December 10, covering the World Cup in Qatar. This interview was recorded in January 2016.

“I never would have predicted I would do soccer full time. And that’s happened. I’d love to say that this was all planned and inevitable but it really wasn’t.”

Show notes: 

• Fútbol with Grant Wahl
• Wahl's Sports Illustrated archive
• “Soccer Journalist Dies at World Cup After Collapsing at Argentina Game” (The New York Times)
• “RIP Grant Wahl” (Chris Wittyngham, Fútbol with Grant Wahl)
• “Remembering Grant Wahl: A Sterling Example of How to Work With Principle” (Sports Illustrated)
• “Remembering Grant Wahl, a champion of American soccer” (The Atlantic)
• “Live like adored soccer writer Grant Wahl and smell those roses” (Indy Star)
• “There was something Bourdain-like about the big, soccer life Grant Wahl led” (Los Angeles Times)
• “Grant Wahl's housemate Guillem Balagué pays tribute to US journalist” (CNN.com)
• “Grant” (Joe Posnanski)
• “He was the best of us” (former U.S. Men’s National Team Coach Bob Bradley)
• “US Soccer statement on the passing of Grant Wahl” (US Soccer)
• “Grant Wahl was my idol and my friend. A selfless, wonderful man” (The Athletic)
• “To the end, Grant Wahl fought fearlessly for what he believed” (CBC)
• “He championed soccer in the U.S. and human rights throughout his career” (CBS Mornings)
• “A love letter to the writing of Grant Wahl” (Holding the High Line)
• “Mia Hamm 'Heartbroken' Over Grant Wahl's Death: 'Our Game Was Better Because Grant Wahl Was in It'” (People)
• “How Grant Wahl Changed the Place of Soccer in America” (The New Yorker)
• “Remembering Grant Wahl” (Medium)
• “The Best of Us: A Tribute to Grant Wahl” (The Nation)
• “LeBron James remembrance” (Twitter)
• “Remembering Grant Wahl” (Sports Illustrated)
• “The Life and Legacy of Grant Wahl” (Hang Up and Listen)
• “Witnesses Recount Last Moments Of Soccer Journalist Grant Wahl” (HuffPost)
• “Billie Jean King remembrance” (Twitter)
• “Grant Wahl Was a Kind, Wise Champion of the Voiceless in Soccer” (The Guardian)
• “Grant Wahl's Wife Remembers the Late Soccer Journalist” (NPR)
• “Soccer Writer Grant Wahl Was the Type of Journalist — and Person — I Want to Be” (Colorado Sun)

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