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The last good website.

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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.

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Defector

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<p>Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups <i>Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. </i>He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. <span style="font-weight: 400">His new Substack, <a href="https://miketanier.substack.com/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.</span></p>
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Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON…

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Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

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Chris Thompson

Logo for The Messenger, with letters flickering out and then going blank. First the 'h', then the 'nge', then the 'T e e r.' Blue background, white text.

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Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

The Messenger Was Built To Fail, And Did

Enter Our Raffle To Win A Visit And Home-Cooked Meal From Drew Magary

The Messenger Is Circling The Drain

The Messenger Is Speedrunning The Media Startup Life Cycle

The Messenger Hasn’t Yet Disrupted Anything But Its Own Newsroom