- Can't decide if this is tacky, or just a part of the media world we live in now (both?) but here is everything I wrote this year. Some of the stories were fun, some of them quite serious, a few of them filled with contradictions and complexities. A lot of great editors played a big role in helping these come to life — Raina Kelly, Chad Millman, Scott Burton, Eric Neel, Jay Lovinger, Jena Janovy, Chris Buckle, Alison Overholt, Ryan Hockesmith — and I'm lucky to get to work with all of them, and countless great journalists.
The Book of MalzahnEarly one afternoon in the fall of 2005, 17-year-old Mitch Mustain -- who at the time was a senior at Springdale High School in Arkansas, and widely considered the best high school quarterback in the United States -- decided he was going to take advantage of a free period between classes and pop into the small office occupied by his high school football coach, Gus Malzahn.
Van Valkenburg: Why Seattle adores WilsonSEATTLE -- If you want to understand why Russell Wilson might go down as the most important player in the history of the Seattle Seahawks, maybe even the most important athlete to ever ply his trade in the Pacific Northwest, you can't begin with football.
NFL: Adam Muema's message from GodWE WAITED, huddled in small patches of shade beside a field of synthetic grass. We checked our watches, fiddled with our phones, made small talk with strangers. Surely, he was coming, right? If only to prove that he could still run as he always had, with bursts of speed and strength.
NFL: What to think about RiceTHREE YEARS AGO, when I was still a writer with The Baltimore Sun and Ray Rice was famous only for playing football, we sat on stools about a foot apart in the Ravens locker room and talked about how, as a kid growing up in New Rochelle, N.Y., he'd been something of a speed chess prodigy.
How Is Baltimore Feeling Right Now? Conflicted, To Say The LeastMelanie Brzozowski is an event designer by trade, and a Baltimore Ravens fan by heart. Watching her favorite team each week has always been an enjoyable way to combine the two passions, so the dining room table in her apartment -- and all the food on it -- has always looked like a carefully choreographed art project.- Voice of the Fan: Baltimore RavensAfter days of media scrutiny following the public release of the February 2014 elevator security video showing Ray Rice punching his then-fiancée, the Baltimore Ravens returned to the football field on Thursday night. And their fans came out to support them at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
ESPN.com - How to be a SaintHow to be a Saint STANDING IN THE hot Louisiana sun after a recent Saints practice, swarmed by a battalion of reporters with their television cameras, microphones and notebooks, Jimmy Graham couldn't help but feel as if he'd committed a heinous crime. The charges -- though ambiguous -- were serious: dishonor, disrespect, selfishness, immaturity.
Hal Mumme: Godfather of college footballHAL MUMME, THE not-quite-forgotten genius of college football's modern era, wants to show me the spot where William Travis died defending the north wall of the Alamo in 1836. "I'm going to give you the nickel tour," Mumme says, grinning like he's granted me membership into his private club.
How the Ray Rice scandal unfoldedThe seven-month scandal that is threatening Roger Goodell's future as NFL commissioner began with an unexpected phone call in the early morning hours on a Saturday in February. Just hours after running back Ray Rice knocked out his then-fiancée with a left hook at the Revel Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Baltimore Ravens' director of security, Darren Sanders, reached an Atlantic City police officer by phone.
Despite concussions, Welker insists on playingDENVER -- Wes Welker says he's going to be fine. Sometimes he forgets stuff -- Where did I put my keys? What's the name of that restaurant? -- but who doesn't? "My wife will be like 'How can you not remember that? Is it the concussions?'" he says.
I wrote a lot about football this year.
All my ESPN stories for 2014.
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