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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

Albert Burneko

Politics

Lindsey Graham Dead, World No Worse

Dave McKenna

Alan Greenspan, Influential Economic Policymaker Whom I Once Terrified At A Party, Is Dead

Samer Kalaf

Jason Collins warms up for the Brooklyn Nets

Jason Collins Got To Tell His Own Story

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Brandon Clarke concentrates before a game.

Brandon Clarke Found Dead In California

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

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.

Cowboys Defensive End Marshawn Kneeland Dies By Suicide At Age 24

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, father of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), listens to daughter's remarks during a primary night event August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming.

Dick Cheney Departs The World He Made

Patrick Redford

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 26: Daniel Naroditsky during Day 1 of the FIDE World Rapid Championship 2024 on December 26, 2024 in New York, NY. (Photo by Lennart Ootes/Getty Images)

Chess

Beloved Grandmaster Dies Suddenly Amid Harassment Campaign By His Former Idol

Israel Daramola

American actress Diane Keaton during the filming of 'Love and Death', November 1974. The film was written and directed with Woody Allen, who also co-starred in it.

Arts And Culture

Diane Keaton’s Face Told The Story

Soraya Roberts

American actor Robert Redford wearing a grey tweed blazer over a matching waistcoat and a white shirt, with a diagonally striped tie, with a grey fedora, in a scene from 'The Sting', filmed in the United States, 1973.

Robert Redford Made An Art Of The Double Take

The scene after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.

This Is Who Charlie Kirk Was

James Dobson poses for a portrait in 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

James Dobson Is Dead, Was A Monster

Terry Bollea performs as Hulk Hogan at a Donald Trump campaign rally.

Pro Wrestling

Hulk Hogan Is Dead

Rick Derringer performs at Oakland Stadium in Oakland, California - July 23, 1977

Rick Derringer Made Rock And Roll Fun

David Roth

Octavio Dotel pitches for the Detroit Tigers pitches against the Minnesota Twins on August 15, 2012 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Octavio Dotel Made A Life In Baseball

Muhammad Ali smashes a right to the head of George Foreman.

The Fights

George Foreman Got As Good As He Gave

College Basketball

John Feinstein Never Stopped Doing Everything

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.

Drew Magary

Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington being held at gun point in the control room in a scene from the film 'Crimson Tide', 1995.

A Small Gene Hackman Memory for You

Barry Petchesky

George Lowe Had To Be Brilliant To Make Space Ghost That Stupid

LAGRANGE, GA - JUNE 10: Former US President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalyn Carter attach siding to the front of a Habitat for Humanity home being built June 10, 2003 in LaGrange, Georgia. More than 90 homes are being built in LaGrange; Valdosta, Georgia; and Anniston, Alabama by volunteers as part of Habitat for Humanity International's Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003.

Jimmy Carter Was The Iron Man Of Hospice

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

Dan McQuade

During an interview with sportscaster Greg Gumbel (right), American disc jockey (from WLUP radio, 'The Loop') Steve Dahl breaks a disco record over his head prior to hosting an anti-disco promotion at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, July 12, 1979. The event, held between games of a doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers, allowed fans to attend the games for 98 cents along with an unwanted record and, following the detonation of those records, eventually resulted in the White Sox forfeiture of the second game due to unsafe playing conditions when fans stormed the field causing serious damage to the venue and playing surface.

Greg Gumbel Kept It All In Perspective

Quincy Jones on stage at The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz and The Recording Academy Los Angeles chapter honoring Herbie Hancock all star tribute concert at the Kodak Theatre

Quincy Jones Was Greater Than Any One Era

LANDOVER, MD - CIRCA 1992: Jerrod Mustaf #0 of the Phoenix Suns warms up prior to playing the Washington Bullets in an NBA basketball game circa 1992 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Mustaf played for the Suns from 1991-94.

Sadly, Jerrod Mustaf Was More Than A Basketball Player

Ray Ratto

Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds dives head first into home plate during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field during the early 1970s in Chicago