While most of my writing energy has been spent on WhyHockey and the Florida Panthers of late, most of my favorite experiences as a writer have been covering soccer. I’ve been lucky to cover the Gold Cup, Copa America Centenario and US Men’s World Cup Qualifiers for various outlets. In each instance, I was lucky enough to share a spot in the press box with Grant Wahl.
His sudden and shocking death has brought about a flood of tributes from his colleagues, those he covered and everyone in between. I didn’t know him well, and I didn’t have many professional interactions with him outside of a brief chat after the US Men/Curacao quarterfinal at the 2019 Gold Cup in Philadelphia. That chat was one of the rare times I’ve ever been a bit star struck as a journalist. There are wonderful tributes from colleagues who knew him better professionally and personally than I did, but his impact was so profound that even I had a chance to cover soccer the way I have in the first place.
Very few journalists are so talented, so dogged and determined that their coverage elevates the sport and the people they are covering while simultaneously maintaining integrity as a reporter, and Grant was certainly one of them. He felt it his obligation to elevate the sport he loved no matter who was playing it, where it was being played and when it was being played, and that translated not just to the people in the sport but those covering it too. All of the tributes from his colleagues have highlighted how he helped support their careers, whether by giving a positive reference, fighting to help them get access or even a simple retweet. Sports media is a cutthroat business, with egos and competition rampant. Grant understood that, but he also understood that in order to elevate soccer and soccer media in this country, he needed to support and lift those trying to do what he did; he couldn’t accomplish his coverage goals on his own.
Your favorite soccer journalist in this country, and some abroad, have a great Grant Wahl story because he made it a point to help as many people as he could. In this business, where self-interest is rampant but also at times necessary, that is a rare trait. If he had competition, but friendly competition, the sport would benefit and his coverage would benefit too. All journalists try to help the next generation, but few have done it on the level Grant did and as consistently as he did it. Iron sharpens iron.
He elevated the sport of soccer through his coverage and his dedication to the core tenets of journalism too: hold the powerful to account. He was never afraid to say what needed to be said about the sport and the people in it if the moment required it. His coverage in Qatar was as much about their shameful treatment of migrant workers, to their homophobic laws and culture as it was the soccer itself. He covered the scandals around the NWSL just as seriously as he did the games on the field. He had an innate knack for elevating a story while never sacrificing the core values of journalism in doing so. That is an incredibly tough tightrope to walk and he did it effortlessly time and time again.
I’m not as good a journalist or broadcaster as Grant Wahl, and I’ll probably never be. Some of the lessons he taught everyone through his work and determination are ones I can easily write out but ones that are much tougher to follow in practice. His example is one that will stay with us even though we won’t see his byline anymore. Soccer coverage in the United States, and globally, is better off because Grant left his mark, but in other areas of journalism, and life, we could all use to learn a few lessons from him.
I owe a small piece of whatever my career is to this point to him and the path he laid down for those who followed. It’s been difficult reconciling his impact while knowing he’s gone, but the collective sharing of grief has numbed the pain some. The best way to honor him is to do our jobs the way he would want, and in soccer, and in hockey, and wherever the future takes me, I hope to do at least some of that, somewhat as well, as he did.