Seth Wickersham is a senior writer for ESPN, with a focus on the National Football League.
On Friday, January 5, the sports journalist published a contentious article on the relationship between New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, the team’s coach, Bill Belichick, and owner, Robert Kraft.
“For almost two decades, Bill Belichick has managed to subvert the egos of his best player, his boss, and himself for the good of the team, yielding historic results. This year, though, the dynamics have been different,” reads Wickersham’s tweet about the story.
Wickersham lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.
Here is what you need to know:
1. Wickersham Claims There’s Some Bad Blood Amongst the Patriots’ Top 3
Without naming names or getting into specifics, Wickersham made some bold claims about the relationship between Brady, Belichick, and Kraft. In his lengthy post, Wickersham writes that interviews were conducted and the consensus behind-the-scenes is that there’s serious trouble in Foxborough.
“According to interviews with more than a dozen New England staffers, executives, players and league sources with knowledge of the team’s inner workings, the three most powerful people in the franchise — Belichick, Brady and owner Robert Kraft — have had serious disagreements. They differ on Brady’s trainer, body coach and business partner Alex Guerrero; over the team’s long-term plans at quarterback; over Belichick’s bracing coaching style; and most of all, over who will be the last man standing. Those interviewed describe a palpable sense in the building that this might be the last year together for this group,” Wickersham writes.
Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of backlash and Wickersham has heard just about every name you could imagine from Patriots fans all over the world. Regardless, he’s not backing down.
“Well, I stand by my reporting, and it’s OK. That’s what makes it part of the fun,” he told Toucher & Rich on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
Not long after Wickersham’s interview, Brady, Belichick, and Kraft released a joint statement, which you can read below.
Joint statement from Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, Head Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady:
Patriots Nation has been up in arms over Wickersham’s latest article. In fact, shortly after it was written, one fan decided to take to his Wikipedia page and make a couple of alterations. You can check that out below.
Looks like a Bostonian already got to Seth Wickersham’s Wikipedia page.
Wickersham was a pretty big fan of the Denver Broncos when he was a kid. In fact, when he was asked by The Big Lead who his dream interview would be, he said Peyton Manning.
“I’d love to get with Peyton Manning again for more insight on how his brain processes so much football between when he takes the snap and throws. With his presnap jostling, he’s created a brand of football at the toughest position in professional sports that’s his and his alone. I did a Magazine feature a few years ago on his audibles, but I’d love to revisit it,” Wickersham told the outlet in 2007.
2. This Isn’t the First Time He Has Written About Tom Brady
Elevate the everyday, man.
Back in October 2017, Wickersham co-wrote another article about the Patriots, which was the cover story of ESPN The Magazine’s Nov. 13 QBs at a Crossroads issue. The piece, which was co-written by Tom Junod, assessed Brady’s remaining career potential. Together, Wickersham and Junod attempted to detail the phenomenon that is Tom Brady, considered by most experts to be one of the best quarterbacks in history.
“The oldest story in sports is not an athlete dying young. The oldest story in sports is an athlete getting old and playing past his prime, somehow hoping to avoid the inevitable. In September, Tom Brady released a book titled The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Peak Performance, in which he attempts to rewrite the oldest story in sports. It is a brief against the inevitable, irresistible not because it supplies its readers with their own blueprint for beating the clock or because it provides access to the teachings of Brady’s fitness adviser and business partner Alex Guerrero, but rather because Brady is living his method, and we don’t know how his story ends,” the story reads, in part.
3. He Has a Book That’s About to Be Released
With @cristinadaglas and @JustinNXT, pondering why the stadium DJ keeps playing Welcome to the Jungle when Mizzou is up 45-12.
Wickersham is working on a book, called Powerball, with fellow writer Don Van Natta. The book, to be released by Crown Publishing’s Crown Archetype imprint, will be the “definitive look at [National Football League] Commissioner Roger Goodell and the hidden power struggles that have shaped the modern NFL,” according to a Crown Publishing press release.
“Beginning in 2006, when Roger Goodell was elected NFL Commissioner on a secret ballot by the NFL team owners, Powerball will trace how the league’s owners evolved from a mainly cohesive group of legacy owners’ families to a raucous, divisive membership that has splintered into cliques, and it will examine how what happens in the inner circles of the league affects the games watched by millions every season,” the press release reads.
Van Natta is also a senior writer for ESPN. He has published other books in the past including Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias (2013) and First Off The Tee (2004).
A release date for the book has not yet been announced.
4. He Attended the University of Missouri-Columbia & Has Worked for ESPN Since 2000
Requisite pre-SportsCenter pic before my 9:30 ET hit to discuss my story with @DVNJr on last week’s anthem meetings. t.co/kGnn6DcnP9
Wickersham earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. According to his LinkedIn page, he graduated in 2000, the same year that he got a job working for ESPN, one of the biggest sports media outlets in the world.
In August 2017, Wickersham was signed to a new extension by ESPN.
“Seth has long been one of our most talented journalists whose stories on the inner-workings of the NFL have elevated our coverage and delighted fans. Re-signing him as well as adding Joel and Phil increases what’s possible for our editorial team and elevates our ability to serve fans,” Chad Millman, ESPN vice president, editorial director, domestic digital content said.
He has been featured on Outside the Lines, SportsCenter, NFL Live, The Ryen Russillo Show, and E:60.
Over the years, Wickersham has earned several accolades for his work in sports journalism.
Wickersham’s work has been featured in multiple anthologies, including, The Best American Sports Writing, Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists and Words Matter: Writing to Make a Difference. He received the Folio Award in 2015 for Best Single Story – Sports, and placed second for the National Headliner Award in Magazine Feature Writing. He’s also won several awards from the Pro Football Writers of America and was part of the ESPN The Magazine staff that captured the National Magazine Award for General Excellence three times.
5. He’s Married to the Editor-In-Chief of ESPN Magazine, Alison Overholt, & Has 2 Kids
Wickersham is married to Alison Overholt, the current Editor-In-Chief at ESPN Magazine. The two tied the knot in June 2007.
Overhold graduated from Harvard University in 1998 and started working as a Senior Management Analyst the following year. In 2000, she got into publishing and worked as an associate editor for Fast Company Magazine. Five years later, she landed a job at ESPN. She became the Editor-in-Chief of espnW in 2014, a position that she still holds, according to her LinkedIn page. She became Editor-in-Chief of ESPN Magazine in January 2016.
Wickersham and Overhold have two children together, a daughter named Maddie, and a son named Grant. They also have a dog named Tucker. They currently live in West Hartford, Connecticut.
