Grant Wahl: A remembrance of an accomplished sportswriter whose untimely death shook the World Cup

Mike Jensen: I’ve known Grant for almost 25 years, and, like so many, I’m just devastated. He was a great journalist and storyteller who happened to be a sportswriter and happened to choose soccer as his focus. This was a blessing for a sport, even if various coaches and many functionaries didn’t always see it that way.

I can’t remember the exact exchanges but I often thought of Grant covering men’s soccer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, how he was a bit relentless questioning the coach, Clive Charles, on why he wasn’t using his youngest player more. That player was Landon Donovan. Grant was so on target, from the start. This was a 20-something reporter aggressively questioning a veteran coach of great accomplishment. Grant wasn’t nervous about asking the questions, understanding early, that was the gig, why he was there.

Great college hoop writer, as good as anyone out there.

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I also think of Grant championing soccer fandom itself back in the days when BigSoccer.com, how those messages boards were gathering places, but Grant would turn them into literal gathering spots, organizing get-togethers. I’m happy and also so, so sad that my last little exchange with him on Twitter was making it clear he was the best in class. At least he knew what I thought of him.

Jonathan Tannenwald: In the fall of 2003, I was covering the women’s World Cup at RFK Stadium in D.C. It was the place where I grew up learning the world’s game as a fan in the stands, and it was the first time I’d been credentialed for a big soccer event.

Though I knew most of the stadium well, I didn’t know how to get from the media areas beneath the stands back up to the press box. I picked what I thought was the right ramp to go up. Then I saw Grant a few steps in front of me. He knew where he was going, of course, so I followed him.

Almost literally, I was riding his coattails to the press box.

It’s been over 19 years since then, so I don’t remember if Grant was actually wearing a coat. But I do know that was my first major interaction with him, and it became the first of a whole lot of them.

Grant championed my soccer writing long before I officially became The Inquirer’s soccer writer. A decade ago, he gave me a shoutout in a tweet with names of some of the top young soccer reporters in the U.S. to know. It meant the world to me, just like it meant something to every young writer he has given similar shoutouts to over the years.

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Grant became not just a friend of mine but a colleague and confidant. We often discussed the state of the soccer media landscape, praising outlets that made hires and criticizing the far-too-many outlets that made layoffs. That he trusted me was as big of a compliment as his frequent praise of The Inquirer on Twitter for sending me to cover big games and events.

In recent times, Grant hosted gatherings at his favorite soccer bar: Smithfield Hall in Manhattan, a short walk south from Penn Station. He lived in the city with his wife, acclaimed infectious disease expert Céline Gounder, and their two dogs.

If it was a UEFA men’s Champions League Tuesday or Wednesday, you’d find Grant and a collection of friends sitting at an outside table: fellow journalists, TV presenters, ex-players, social media creators, and more. I happened to be in town one day and went over. By coincidence, so did former ESPN president John Skipper, who teamed up with Dan Le Batard to hire Grant to Meadowlark Media.

John probably did more than anyone else in U.S. TV history to build soccer’s reputation in this country, thanks to his elevation of ESPN’s World Cup broadcasts. If you rank people beyond that, Grant must be very high up the list. The quality of his writing and reporting was matched only by the steel of his spine in asking tough questions of people in power.

The word is that Smithfield Hall will name Grant’s outdoor table in his honor. Another of the regulars, CBS Sports’ Christine Cupo, told me she’s going to try to keep the tradition of gatherings alive. Forgive me in advance, Andrea, if on a quiet day I happen to sneak up there.

Andrea Canales: I feel for all the journalists in the Qatar pressbox who watched their colleague and, for many, friend, collapse before their eyes. Tragic.

My memories of Grant are his instantly recognizable shaved head and constant grin. The first World Cup I covered with him in 2006, he laughed at me riding up on a rented bicycle to the USMNT hotel in Hamburg for their press conference, saying how I’d become a local already. It didn’t matter that he was long-established at Sports Illustrated and I was a contract writer at ESPN, because he never lorded his success over anyone. He was happy to swap stories about living in Argentina, argue tactics and lineups of world teams and coaches, and discuss the varied, dynamically changing landscape of U.S. soccer, while also acknowledging the constant of how Mexico was really the biggest team in the country.

In covering college basketball, where his writing first had major impact, Grant saw fan passion for teams, while admittedly not on the highest level of the sport, that came closest to matching the international fervor of many soccer supporters. I was surprised when he mentioned one day that he was transitioning away from all that he’d achieved in the college game to make his soccer beat an exclusive, dedicated one. He was betting not only on the sport’s growth, but also on himself, and he won big, because he was soon synonymous with the sport in the USA through a host of exclusive interviews he had and stories he broke, as well as with the books he wrote, including one centered around soccer icon David Beckham.

Yes, he was serious about his writing, but he was also just plain fun, and I recall him on the dance floor at MLS All-Star parties, or organizing outings to what he’d heard was a great restaurant in town or gathering people for a watch party of whatever big game was going on abroad.

The one thing I remember him bragging about was how brilliant and beautiful his wife Céline Gounder was. And he was fearless, whether, as Mike mentioned, asking hard questions in press conferences, or in Doha, wearing the rainbow shirt in support of LGBTQ soccer fans and people in general around the world. Rest in peace, Grant, you’ll be long remembered for the difference you made in many ways great and small.

DeAntae Prince: I was familiar with the name Grant Wahl long before we ever met. I still remember the moment Thornridge High School’s football coach walked in my direction and handed over a stapled, black-and-white pamphlet. As I looked down, I saw a photo of LeBron James, who played football at St. Vincent Saint Mary. It was far from this coach’s first attempt to spam basketball players, yet this time I decided to read the article. And devoured every word of Grant’s Sports Illustrated piece.

Ten years later, when I became an editor at SI, it was such a pleasure to talk to Grant about that article and the role it played in my career. But while I got to have my own moment with Grant, I derived even more pleasure from watching him treat others with respect at every turn. When my coworkers texted questions about the beautiful game, he answered. When Grant got wind of a coworker’s love for cooking, they broke bread. When SI employees formed a union, Grant fought by their side.

» READ MORE: US soccer journalist Grant Wahl dies at World Cup

In recent days, so many people have come forward with personal tales of his kindness. That same spirit made its way into his work and this recent World Cup, where he investigated worker mistreatment and wore a t-shirt to support the LBGTQ community under adverse conditions in Doha, Qatar. His bravery and passion under those circumstances was no surprise. That’s how Grant was. He always made time for everyone and treated people all over the world with dignity. He did that to the very end.