Grant Wahl lifted, popularized and pioneered soccer coverage in the U.S. Above all, he shared that giant, adventurous life with colleagues and strangers alike.
a four-episode documentary series that took him to the nether corners of Iceland, Argentina, Germany and Japan ahead of the 2018 World Cup. He opened his home to — and picked up the sushi bill for — anxious, angry co-workers in the wake of mass layoffs at Sports Illustrated in the fall of 2019. Even during the darkest, most uncertain days of the pandemic, he connected anyone who asked to Céline, an epidemiologist who would later serve on the Biden transition team’s COVID-19 task force.
“He pushed all the boundaries on that trip getting me access to interviews with the man who signed baby Messi to Barcelona on a cocktail napkin, the president of FC Barcelona, got me access to film a practice with Messi and did it all while helping slug camera gear around the city with a smile,” Kelly wrote on Facebook. “On that trip we shared stories, laughs, career highs and lows. We met in Barcelona as strangers who worked for the same company and left as colleagues, friends.
“As good as a writer as he was, I think his best professional quality was opening and holding the metaphorical door to everyone in the industry. He genuinely wanted to see everyone succeed and would lend a kind word, piece of advice or contact to anyone who needed it. That is the legacy he will leave behind. So, pretty please, be like Grant. Hold the literal and metaphorical door open for everyone you come across.”Christian Stone was a Sports Illustrated colleague of Grant Wahl for 23 years.
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