To tweet: https://es.pn/1rU1coi
“Kelly Tough”
Outside the Lines (Sunday 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
SportsCenter (SC debut Sunday 10 a.m., ESPN)
Photo credit: ESPN
Jim interviewed in his home
Jim Kelly’s life has been a series of the highest highs and the lowest lows. He enjoyed a Hall-of-Fame career and played in four consecutive Super Bowls, but he and his Buffalo Bills teammates lost all four. And now, Kelly is taking on cancer, diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments have caused Kelly to lose weight, hair and part of his jaw which had to be surgically removed. He’s “not afraid to die” and continues to live his life by being what he calls, “Kelly Tough.”
Guests will include Steve Tasker (former Bills WR 1986-97) and Scott Berchtold (Bills Sr. VP of Comm., with Bills since 1989).
“A guy asked me, ‘Did you ever think about dying?’ No, but until you hear the word cancer, yeah, you, you, you think about it.” – Jim Kelly
“Little did I know how brutal the experience would be on Jim’s body, on his emotions, on everything about him. How brutally he would be attacked by this disease.” – Jill Kelly, Jim’s wife
“I’ve beaten pretty much everything, except Super Bowls. But for me, that’s how I was brought up, that’s how my father raised us, to never ever give up on anything you have.” – Jim Kelly
Photo credit: ESPN
Jim Kelly with kids on first day of Kelly Football Camp
Photo credit: ESPN
Addressing crowd at Kelly Football Camp
Family photos: Courtesy Jim Kelly
Jim with Andre Reed at hospital
Family photos: Courtesy Jim Kelly
Jim with his daughter Camryn at hospital
Capital Games: Should Russia host the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
ESPN Radio
As political pressure increases on Russian president Vladimir Putin, co-hosts Andy Katz and ABC News’ Rick Klein are joined by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) who call for FIFA to reconsider Russia’s status as the host for the 2018 World Cup.
Nine for IX Shorts: Uncharted Waters
espnW.com
It was a stunning announcement. America’s Cup winner Bill Koch had hatched a plan to recruit and train an all-women’s team to try to win the 1995 Cup. Uncharted Waters explores the inspiration behind the move, as well as the agony and controversy when the experiment didn’t work out. Gary Jobson provides this special feature for espnW.
Triathlete’s Goal to Combat Human Trafficking
ESPN Deportes SportsCenter (Sunday, 11 p.m.)
https://youtu.be/De4qV7xI8Yw
A victim of sexual abuse as a child, Norma Bastidias later became a casualty of human sex trafficking as a young woman. Years later, she found in sports a means to heal her wounds and a way to shine a light on a topic that many chose to ignore.
League of Denial, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, was among the winners of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards announced Wednesday by the PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world’s leading literary and human rights organization. The PEN Awards celebrate some of the most outstanding voices in literature, spanning a wide array of genres and including both distinguished and emerging writers alike.
“What an honor to be in the company of such amazing writers,” Steve Fainaru said. “From the beginning, we wanted to tell the stories of the former pro football players and scientists who, at great risk, provided a counter-narrative on the subject of football and brain damage. This award is another validation of the truth and power of their stories.”
League of Denial captured The PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing which honors a nonfiction book about sports. Eligible titles are of a “biographical, investigative, historical, or analytical nature and of the strongest literary character.”
The Judges’ Citation noted: “There was a time when concussions were merely dismissed as temporary and harmless setbacks, a case of football players “having their bell rung.’’ League of Denial has shredded that myth, and serves as a cautionary tale for all football players, professional and amateur alike.”
“What an incredible joyride we’ve been on with League of Denial, and to be honored with the PEN is truly special,” Mark Fianaru-Wada said. “The book grew out of our interest simply in telling the story of what the NFL knew about the dangers of head trauma from football, when it knew it and how it sought to manage its growing crisis. To see the work play a role in an ongoing national dialogue and to receive this kind of validation is beyond anything we imagined. We’re grateful to many people who helped and supported the reporting throughout, particularly our ESPN bosses (coordinating producer) Dwayne Bray and (espn.com deputy editor) Chris Buckle.”