Frank Deford, the legendary sports writer and commentator, died Sunday in Key West, Florida, his wife confirmed to The Washington Post. He was 78.
Deford was a contributing writer at Sports Illustrated, where he got his start in 1962. He retired from NPR's "Morning Edition" earlier this month after giving his 1,656th commentary.
He was also a correspondent for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."
Former President Barack Obama awarded Deford the National Humanities medal in 2013. Obama said Deford transformed "how we think about sports."
Sports columnist Bill Simmons paid tribute to Deford on Twitter with a link to his favorite story the sports writer wrote.
"I loved reading Frank Deford in SI and I loved The National. Sad to hear he passed away," Simmons wrote on Twitter.
Frank Deford was an engaging personality and gifted sports writer who richly deserved the National Humanities Medal. How nice for him that it was presented by an intelligent and moral President who cared about the people of the United States.
ReplyDeleteRIP, Frank.
ReplyDeleteLoved your writing style.
Who cares what a twat like Bill Simmons thinks. Frank Deford was a sycophant.
ReplyDeleteRIP.
ReplyDeleteRIP he was a tremendous writer.
ReplyDeleteMoral? LMAO!!!! Did you even pay attention to the kinds of deals Obama signed off on with Iran? On top of all the surveillance and drone-bombing that took place under his watch?
ReplyDeleteI guess not.
+1 you are so correct. Disappointed in whoever voted down on your comment. Classy gent who was the best sportswriter of his generation.
ReplyDelete3...2...1...til the three times married Putin-sucking rapist goes to prison and shares a cell with his son-in-law. They will talk about porking Ivanka.
ReplyDelete