defector-orange-no-empty-space

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_post_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_post_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_16x9_full_width

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_3x2_full_width

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_1x1_full_width

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_featured_flexible_full_width

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

lede_leaderboard

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

defector-no-empty-space

Defector

ratto-ray_400x400

Ray Ratto

Chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta of the Cleveland Browns stands on the field prior to a game on December 17, 2017 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens v Cleveland Browns

November Is When The Colorado Rockies Do Their Best Work

Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in The Normal School, New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere.

Jae Towle Vieira headshot

Jae Towle Vieira

KidsBooks (1)

Arts And Culture

Here Is What Reading To My Child Has Done To My Brain

image0 (5)

Israel Daramola

Notre Dame v Boston College

College Football

We Got Our First Peek At What The Playoff Committee Values

Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks to Bo Nix (10) after a failed third-down conversion during the third quarter of Denver's awful, awful game against the Raiders on November 6, 2025.

DENVER BRONCOS VS LAS VEGAS RAIDERS, NFL

Bad Football! No!

headshot1

Patrick Redford

Stephen A. Smith playing solitaire on his phone during the NBA Finals

stephenasmith-papaya

Gambling

Stephen A. Smith And Other ESPNers Partner With Obscenely Scuzzy Mobile Casino

-b9trzb

Lauren Theisen

A general view of the Enterprise Center during a game between the St. Louis Blues and the Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers v St. Louis Blues

How To Watch Hockey

skalaf-photo

Samer Kalaf

Andrew Cuomo delivers a concession speech on Election Night.

Mayoral Candidate Andrew Cuomo Holds Election Night Party In New York City

Politics

Let’s Check In With People Who Threatened To Leave Zohran Mamdani’s NYC

VictorPortraitWClaw

David Roth

A screenshot of Matt Damon getting bad news from Paddy Considine in The Bourne Supremacy. The Distraction logo is at lower left.

BourneUltimatum

Podcasts

Pretending To Be Someone Else In An Uber, With Rohan Nadkarni

IMG_3819

Tom Ley

FBI and Border Patrol officers arrest Sean Charles Dunn, after he allegedly assaulted law enforcement with a sandwich, along the U Street corridor during a federal law enforcement deployment to the nation's capital on August 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to Washington, DC in an effort to curb crime.

Trump Increases Federal Law Enforcement Presence, Deploys National Guard In Nation’s Capital

Life's Rich Pageant

If The Sub Didn’t Split, You Must Acquit

Investigations Editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

DFM New Headshot

Diana Moskovitz

Marshawn Kneeland #94 of the Dallas Cowboys looks on from the sideline during the national anthem prior to an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. He is wearing his Cowboys jersey and his helmet is off.

Kneeland

Cowboys Defensive End Marshawn Kneeland Dies By Suicide At Age 24

No! Don't even think about setting a screen

nbrfinal

A Deep Dive Into The Architect Of The Miami Heat’s Weird New Offense, With Rohan Nadkarni

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

drewkid-1-e1599592436888

Drew Magary

Kareem Hunt #29 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs with the ball against Cole Bishop #24 of the Buffalo Bills during the game at Highmark Stadium on November 2, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York.

Kansas City Chiefs v Buffalo Bills – NFL 2025

Jamboroo

And Now, Rude Midseason Notes For Every NFL Team

Image from iOS (36)

Luis Paez-Pumar

Carlos Forbs of Club Brugge celebrates after scoring the team's first goal against Wojciech Szczesny of FC Barcelona and Alejandro Balde of FC Barcelona during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Club Brugge KV and FC Barcelona at Jan Breydelstadion on November 5, 2025 in Bruges, Belgium.

Club Brugge KV v FC Barcelona – UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4

Soccer

Barcelona Is Falling Into Its Own Offside Trap

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Profile Pic

Chris Thompson

ESPN Bet logo

ESPN Will Not Let Failure Push It Out Of The Gambling Business

Dave McKenna

17817913_091425-otrc-delivermefromnowhere-trailer2-img

Don’t Watch ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Unless You Want To Cry About Your Dad

GettyImages-2243511052

Music

The Zohran Mamdani Mayoral Rap Playlist

<a href="https://josh-levin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://josh-levin.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2tqysV4T7Gh0gV7M0_bz7p">Josh Levin</a> is the creator and host of the sports history podcast “<a href="http://www.replaybooth.show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.replaybooth.show&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1-rpGWGr1dKP0HBTa_zohZ">Replay Booth</a>.” He’s also the author of <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/josh-levin/the-queen/9780316513272//?lens=little-brown" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/josh-levin/the-queen/9780316513272//?lens%3Dlittle-brown&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw357vGVOyJU7dDVIkjqFQxu">The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth</a>, the creator of the podcast “<a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/one-year/s6/1990" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://slate.com/podcasts/one-year/s6/1990&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1LJrco6Xq1YK3vAueOtmRC">One Year</a>,” the host of two seasons of “Slow Burn” (on <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s4/david-duke" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s4/david-duke&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PiV8w71WaqaTvzDwNTrOS">David Duke</a> and <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s10/rise-of-fox-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://slate.com/podcasts/slow-burn/s10/rise-of-fox-news&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762023504534000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3LTehX3p4ZiFY9vhna8azk">Fox News</a>), and the former cohost of “Hang Up and Listen.”

23f8a840-a814-4493-940c-682c92b36184

Josh Levin

Illustration of Mr. Met wearing a deerstalker cap investigating some buttons reading "Huckle."

Mr. Met Wilbur Huckle

Stories

Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery

Abigail Segel is a writer based in Montreal.

Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 10.34.24 AM

Abigail Segel

Chicago Stars FC fans chant Trans Rights are Human Rights while holding up a Transgender flag behind Alyssa Naeher #1 of Chicago Stars FC during the first half during a game between San Diego Wave FC and Chicago Stars FC at Seatgeek Stadium on April 26, 2025, in Bridgeview, Illinois.

San Diego Wave FC v Chicago Stars FC

The Anti-Trans Grifters Are Coming For The NWSL

AJSfPYY9_400x400-1

Kelsey McKinney

Paul's finished framboisier, looking gorgeous.

Screenshot 2025-11-05 at 8.52.21 AM

Food

The Not-So-Great Defector Bake Off Gives Hell To Pâtisserie Week

Cat Fitzpatrick is the Editrix at <a href="http://www.littlepuss.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.littlepuss.net&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw32JizYx318M3PPu4pk8ywT">LittlePuss Press</a> and teaches at Rutgers University—Newark. Her novel-in-rhyme <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4458-the-call-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4458-the-call-out&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0x1xQpV0dOeP9rAfMJufQ_">The Call-Out</a> won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Fiction. Her next book The Dinner Party: A Book About Love is due out in May 2026 and you can pre-order it <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4817-the-dinner-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4817-the-dinner-party&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2GA0SB3SAFIWLj_EdeVhey">here</a>.

Yang Cat on the Fire Escape

Cat Fitzpatrick

kiss 16-9-min

Unearthing The Hidden History Of A Singular Trans Punk Zine

New York Mayor Eric Adams sits with Independent candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after Cuomo participated in the second debate for the upcoming mayoral election on Wednesday evening during the game between the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden on October 22, 2025 in New York City.

Cleveland Cavaliers v New York Knicks

Defeat Isn’t Enough For Andrew Cuomo And His Pack Of Lunatics

headshot

Barry Petchesky

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 26: Tom Brady looks on from the field during warmups prior to an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on October 26, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles – NFL 2025

Animals

Tom Brady Cloned His Dead Dog As A Brand Activation

Tech leaders, including Sam Altman (C), CEO of OpenAI, and Tim Cook (2nd L), CEO of Apple, attend a dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump with tech leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Capital

An Evening With Sam Altman And Steve Kerr

image

Kathryn Xu

A genreal view of the ball as Filip Misolic of Austria serves against Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina (not picture) in their first round match during day four of the Erste Bank Open 2025 at Wiener Stadthalle on October 21, 2025 in Vienna, Austria.

tennis ball

Tennis

Tennis Deserves Better Than These Worthless Metrics

IMG_5859

Giri Nathan

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - NOVEMBER 03: Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies reacts during the second half against the Detroit Pistons at FedExForum on November 03, 2025 in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)

Detroit Pistons v Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant’s Melodrama Tips Into Tedium

All Articles