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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

David Roth

Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions warms up prior to the NFC Championship NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on January 28, 2024 in Santa Clara, California.

Podcasts

Lessons Of Collapse And The Christian Version Of Limp Bizkit, With Jason Kirk

Boeing CEO David Calhoun speaks during a joint press event with United Airlines at the Boeing manufacturing facility in North Charleston, on December 13, 2022.

Capital

How Will The Golden Age Of “Making It Worse” End?

October 16, 1972 Sports Illustrated cover and signed limited edition Wilt Chamberlain sports porcelain figurine on display during the press preview at Sotheby's Auction House on August 01, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Radicalized, Sleepy, And Sick Of Brock Purdy

Tom Ley

Justin Ellis

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

A bad guy reacts to having a grill thrown through his windshield by Jack Reacher

Arts And Culture

It Is Now Time To Discuss Jack Reacher Throwing A Grill At A Guy

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy seeming to look side-eyed at The Distraction logo at upper left, in a photo taken before the team's Wild Card loss to the Green Bay Packers.

There Is Some Crying In Football, With Ray Ratto

A screenshot of one of the scammy AI-generated listings on Amazon; the product's name is just the boilerplate apology text created by OpenAI when it's asked to do something it can't do.

The Future Of E-Commerce Is A Product Whose Name Is A Boilerplate AI-Generated Apology

Tua Tagovailoa makes a semi-Jim Face during warm-ups before the Dolphins' Week 18 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Pantsless On New Year’s Eve, With Rohan Nadkarni

Investor Bill Ackman, wearing one of those goofy headsets you can rent that play the radio broadcast, watches Emma Radacanu play at the 2021 U.S. Open in Queens, NY.

Politics

Hiding And Seeking With The New York Times

Michael Penix Jr, seen here pointing at The Distraction logo at upper left during Washington's win over Texas in the Sugar Bowl on 1/1/2024.

Wolfgang Amadeus Penix Jr.

Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on in the first half at Lumen Field on December 18, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

Yelling At An Infant About Fake Punts, With Dan McQuade

Andre Braugher in a black and white portrait taken in 2015.

The Good Guy

Shohei Ohtani smiling in the dugout during an Angels game on September 17 of 2023.

Infinite Bonilla Mode

Tommy DeVito looking right, his mouth pretty wide open, after leading the Giants to a Monday Night Football win in New Jersey.

Never Count Out Touchdown Tommy

A photo of the cross-section of the samosa sandwich from Punjabi Junction in Manhattan. It has classic deli sandwich stuff on it but is most notable for containing smushed up samosas.

Food

Time For My Weird Sandwich

Shohei Ohtani sits on the bench during a September Angels game in 2023.

Shohei Ohtani Just Got Super-Duper Paid

A man wears a bootleg Bart Simpson t-shirt—black, with the words Ay Carumba (sic) in heavy metal font over an image of Bart displaying GUD and BAD finger tattoos—on the streets of Bangkok, in 2018.

Professor Frink Is Real, And Strong, And My Friend, With Matt Selman

Ron DeSantis poses with a supporter, or anyway with a guy in a baseball hat, in Newton, Iowa in December of 2023. He is smiling in a very unsettling way.

What Puts A Smile On Ron DeSantis’s Face?

Irish boxer Katie Taylor exulting after defeating Chantelle Cameron in a title bout in Dublin on November 25, 2023.

Great Irish Champions, With Dave McKenna

A coffee table with some Vogue magazines on it, and a Sports Illustrated on top. It's the famous "Why the University of Miami should drop football" cover but it's been edited to say "Why it's hard to play volleyball without a volleyball."

Journalismism

Scorn Illustrated

Mark Sanchez looking forlorn after a Jets game on October 31, 2010.

Gratitude, Triumph, And The Butt Fumble, With Jasper Wang

Atlanta Braves pitcher Kyle Wright throwing a pitch against the Washington Nationals in a September 2023 road game.

What Do The Kansas City Royals Know About Shoulders?

Aaron Barrett and Derek Gibbs of Reel Big Fish perform at Southampton University on March 5, 2011.

When Ska Was King, With Rob Harvilla

TWO HARBORS, MN - NOVEMBER 9: A bright moon shone over the horizon near the Split Rock Lighthouse on November 10, 2019. It was lit to honor the lives of the 29 men that died aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald 44 years ago. The lighthouse is only lit for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes each year. (Photo by Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

College Football

The Edmund Fitzgerald Is Inspiring Jim Harbaugh And Michigan Football To Achieve “Lake Mindset”

New Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs exults after leading his team to a comeback win against the Falcons in Atlanta.

A Dad’s Guide To Joshua Dobbs Mindset

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

Split image. Roth stands outside the Stroud Mall holding a CD he purchased. Dan stands inside the Stroud Mall in front of the "Pennsylvania Skill" machine parlor.