Frank Deford played sports when he was growing up. However, he soon realized that he was not good enough to play professionally. So he realized that he wanted to be a sports writer. He graduated from Princeton University in 1962. He eventually wrote for Sports Illustrated and started "The National" which was the first daily sports newspaper in the United States. After 18 months, the newspaper folded because it could not deliver copies to their customers. In any event, Deford had an interesting career as a sports writer. Deford died in 2017.
Deford and his wife Carol were married since 1965. Deford was survived by his wife, his son, Christian and his daughter, Scarlet Crawford. The Defords lost their first daughter, Alex, to cystic fibrosis. After the loss of Alex, Deford served as Chair of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundations board of trustees from 1982-1999. Deford also wrote a book in honor of his daughter entitled "Alex: The life of a child." Additionally, the Defords had two grandchildren.
His autobiography "Over Time: My life as a Sportswriter" was published in 2012. The autobiography chronicles his life as a sports writer and his perspective on writing.
When he graduated from Princeton, Deford applied for different jobs as a writer. He visited "Time.Inc." One of the references that he submitted said that Deford "was not very bright, but perhaps may have a passable way with words." Deford joked that the first thing the people at "Time.Inc" read about him was that he was "not very bright." This is not the first impression that every job applicant dreams of. However, Deford's writing ability was good enough to land him a job at "Time.Inc"
The person who wrote Deford's reference was blunt. Deford's basketball coach at Princeton, Cappy Cappon, was also blunt when he told Deford "You know Deford, you write basketball much better than you play it." Deford took such candor in stride, because he realized the assessment complimented his writing: Deford said "I wasn't hurt when Cappy Cappon told me I couldn't play basketball very well, because he didn't say just that; he also implied, in counterpoint, that there was something else I could do well: I was able to write." The exchange shows the importance of honesty. Deford was made aware of his limitations and his strengths through the blunt assessment of his coach.
Deford grew up in Baltimore - a city that he always respected. Deford said "As I grew older, I came to believe that my outlook had been affected simply because I came from Baltimore...There was, after all, a humility to Baltimore that was sweet and enriching; simply because Baltimore was, altogether, looked down on, we did not tolerate arrogance." As a teenager, Deford worked as a copyboy at the Baltimore Evening Sun. Deford recalled getting a tattoo as a youth. Deford said "I'm the soul of moderation, though, even when being extreme, and so the tattoo I got was rather small and in a discrete location, on the underside of my forearm."
Deford associated Johnny Unitas, former quarterback of the Baltimore Colts, with his upbringing in Baltimore. Deford said "No one is more associated with my youth than was Johnny Unitas. He meant so much to Baltimore."
Deford also enjoyed his time at Princeton. While he was there, Deford had two plays that were produced. As a student at Princeton, he covered sports and became the editor of a daily newspaper. One of his English professors asked the students to name the three writers that influenced them the most. Deford chose J.D. Salinger, Shakespeare and Red Smith. The professor was aghast that Deford would choose Smith, a sports writer. However, Deford always believed that the professor secretly admired Deford for his honest answer.
Deford wrote a lot while at Princeton. Deford said "In college, at Princeton, I continued apace with my writing. I had a couple of plays produced. On the newspaper, I wrote everything: stories, editorials, humor, columns, movie reviews. I covered the basketball coach, who told me I was no good, and the dean of students who threw me out once." Deford did not achieve the highest grades in college, because his study habits were inconsistent. However, he developed his writing skills while at Princeton. This helped him prepare for a career as a sports writer.
After Deford graduated from Princeton, Bill Bradley started there. Bradley was an excellent high school basketball player who had decided to go to Duke. However, he changed his mind and went to Princeton because it would help him to achieve his goal of becoming a Rhodes Scholar. Deford covered Bradley while he was at Princeton. Deford said "By the time Bill was a senior and became national player of the year, I had written even more about him. I liked him a lot. Yes, he was serious, an old soul, but he had a good sense of humor."
Deford said that Princeton seemed separated from other places. Deford said "Princeton was then a very contained place. You could not call it "isolated," for goodness sake, because it was only a hop, skip, and a jump from both New York and Philadelphia, but still it certainly had a sense of insulation." This may be true of many college campuses. Often campuses are designed to help students learn and study. A certain amount of insulation helps students to focus on their education. Nevertheless, this was a quality that Deford noticed about his alma mater.
Grandland Rice was a sports writer that Deford liked and learned from. Deford said that Rice "was the author of something like a thousand magazine articles, edited a magazine (American Golfer) put together a book collection of his works, had his own radio show, narrated movie shorts, provided endorsements, and picked the only certified official annual all- American college football team." Deford admired all of the writing that Rice did.
Deford also respected all of the events that Rice attended. Deford said "Rice beamed himself up everywhere - accumulating as many as sixteen thousand miles a year by train alone. It's amazing all the games he saw, never mind that he managed to actually have the time to write about them as well - and it seems, never, without taking off his grey fedora." Deford points out that during this time, without the internet and cable television, that a sports writer had to be at the events in order to write or comment about them. Rice attended so many events and wrote about so many events. It's amazing to think of the number of events Rice witnessed and wrote about.
Deford interviewed many athletes and ex athletes. Three ex athletes that he met and interviewed were Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Bob Feller. Deford said that DiMaggio semed "uncomfortable around people. You never hear any endearing anecdotes about him." Deford was not critizing DiMaggio. He was simply pointing out a quality of his personality.
Feller and Williams were different than DiMaggio. Deford said "Feller and Williams had been the grandest of rivals. Feller told me how they would both just sit alone and contemplate, with utter delight, the joy of facing each other two or three days hence - the greatest hitter versus the greatest pitcher of their time." Additionally, Deford spoke of Feller's barnstorming days and Williams's outspokenness.
Deford was known as the editor of the "National Sports Daily." He thought it would be cool for the country to have a national sports paper. He received financial backing from a wealthy sponsor and they gave the paper a try. The paper had good writers and a good format. However, it was difficult to circulate the newspaper. Deford said "Unfortunately, we couldn't deliver the "National" at a reasonable cost. Readers in other countries buy their sports papers at kiosks, next to where they take public transportation. Americans want their papers on their doorstep at six-thirty, before they have breakfast and get into their car." Deford said that he knew the "National" would struggle when he ordered a subscription and it was never delivered to his house! The inability to deliver the newspaper to customers proved to be the undoing of the "National."
Deford did different things after the "National" folded. Deford said "After the 'National' folded, I worked on novels. I bounced around as a contact writer, for "Newsweek" and "Vanity Fair" However, Deford always seemed to return to sports writing.
Deford also wrote about the NBA. He covered games, events and different teams. Deford said "My first assignment in the NBA was with the Lakers. Young Leggert was going to write a story about the Laker-Celtic rivalry, and since he was going to travel with Boston, I was designated to go along with Los Angeles, embedded as Young's reporter. This must have made a strong impact upon Deford. It must have been a plum assignment to cover the rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics. There were so many good players and coaches on both sides. It must have been a dream come true for a sports writer.
Deford remembered the initial impact of the experience. Deford said "Anyway, I was supposed to officially meet the Lakers in the hotel lobby the next morning, where we would jam into cabs, our long legs all entangled, and go to the airport...This was, if you will, my debut as a travelling sports writer." One could only imagine what Deford was thinking. What a great assignment for a beginning sports writer.
In addition to covering the NBA, Deford played some basketball for the New York Nationals in an exhibition game against the Harlem Globetrotters in Italy. Deford said "I played against the Globies in Bologna. This violated my promise to myself that I would never, on a story, try to do with any of my subjects what they do for a living." Deford scored 8 points for the Nationals in a loss against the Globetrotters. After this game, Deford would jokingly tell people that he played some profressional basketball in Italy. In addition to being a talented writer, Deford always had a good sense of humor.
In 1992, Deford convinced "Newsweek" to put the Olympic men's basketball team on the cover of the magazine. He asked them to do this before they had actually won the Gold medal. After the United States defeated Brazil, the team appeared on the cover of "Newsweek" the next day. The magazine took a chance because if the United States' team lost the championship game, "Newsweek" would have looked foolish for putting them on the cover the next day. However, since the United States won, the editors at the magazine looked wise.
Deford was asked once in a while who he thought the best athlete of all time was. People often expected him to cite Michael Jordan as the greatest athlete of all time. However, Deford thought that Jackie Robinson was the best athlete of all time. Deford pointed out that Robinson was a hall of fame baseball player who also excelled in football, basketball and track while in college.
Deford had a very successful career as a sports writer. He offered good perspectives about many topics and events. On July 10th, 2013, former President Barrack Obama presented Deford with the 2012 National Humanities Medal. The medal citation said the following: "Frank Deford for transforming how we think about sports. A dedicated writer and storyteller, Mr.Deford has offered a consistent, compelling voice in print and on radio, reaching beyond scores and statistics to reveal the humanity woven into the games we love." The citation aptly described Deford's career.
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