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Jeff Pearlman | |
|---|---|
 Pearlman at theGaithersburg Book Festival inGaithersburg, Maryland, May 2023 | |
| Born | 1972 (age 52–53) Mahopac, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Delaware |
| Period | 1996–present |
| Spouse | Catherine Pearlman |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
| jeffpearlman | |
Jeff Pearlman (born 1972) is an American sportswriter. He has written 10 books which areNew York Times Best Sellers: four about football, three on baseball, two about basketball and a biography of rapperTupac Shakur. In 1999, he interviewedJohn Rocker for an infamousSports Illustrated article in which Rocker made a number of racist and controversial comments.[1]
Pearlman was born and grew up inMahopac, New York. He got his start in journalism in 1989 when he interned at The Patent Trader, a weekly newspaper inCross River, New York. After graduating from theUniversity of Delaware, he was hired as a food and fashion writer byThe Tennessean inNashville. In 1996, Pearlman was hired bySports Illustrated, where he was a baseball writer for nearly seven years.
In 2002, Pearlman leftSports Illustrated, spending the next two years atNewsday, but left to focus on writing books. He keeps a personal online blog, where he posts a weekly Q&A series, The Quaz, with athletes, politicians, actors, singers and many random people. He has also used the site to write about intimate issues such as seeing a rival book get publicity inSports Illustrated, where he was working,[2] or finding blood in his feces after using the toilet.[3]
He was a frequent contributor toESPN.com's Page 2 and then a columnist for SI.com. No stranger to controversy, Pearlman used his own website as a forum to call out theChristian missionary goals of Tim Tebow's father as "pretty evil." In the fall of 2007, Pearlman wrote several controversial articles on Page 2 regarding the lack of a rivalry between theUniversity of Delaware's andDelaware State University's football teams; Delaware State University is inDover. UD and DSU finally played a football game on November 23, 2007, part of theNCAA Division I FCS playoffs. Delaware won the game with a score of 44–7.
Pearlman was advisor to the student newspaper atManhattanville College inPurchase, New York from 2011 to 2012, but his contract was not renewed because, according to Pearlman, the college was more concerned about "image control" than about producing "a quality student newspaper."[4][5]
Pearlman is the author ofThe Bad Guys Won, a biography of the1986 New York Mets subtitled, "A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform--and Maybe the Best." In 2004, the book spent eight weeks onThe New York Times Best Seller list.[6]
In 2006, he publishedLove Me, Hate Me, anunauthorized biography ofBarry Bonds for which the author said he interviewed 524 subjects. Pearlman said that becauseLove Me, Hate Me was released three weeks afterGame of Shadows, it quickly faded. His third book,Boys Will Be Boys, on the 1990sDallas Cowboys dynasty, was on theNew York Times bestseller's list for 10 weeks.[7]
Pearlman's fourth book, a biography ofRoger Clemens titledThe Rocket That Fell to Earth, was released byHarperCollins on March 24, 2009. The book is a detailed account of Clemens' life on and off the baseball field.[8] Pearlman next wroteSweetness, a 2011 biography ofWalter Payton, the Chicago Bears running back.[9] In March 2014, Pearlman releasedShowtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, a biography of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers. It became his fourthNew York Times best seller. The book was adapted into theHBO docudrama seriesWinning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, which came out in 2022.[10]
His seventh book, a biography ofBrett Favre titledGunslinger, was released in October 2016 and spent considerable time on theNew York Times bestseller's list. InGunslinger, Pearlman chronicles Favre's life, from his early years inKiln, Mississippi and playing quarterback for the high school team coached by his father, through his years at theUniversity of Southern Mississippi inHattiesburg and his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings. In addition to reporting on Favre's football career, Pearlman addresses Favre's life off the field including his marriage and family life as well as his problems with alcohol and pain medication. Pearlman did not interview Favre for the book but he did interview some of Favre's family members and many teammates and coaches.[11]
Pearlman wroteFootball for a Buck, released in 2018, about the short-livedUnited States Football League.[12] It was on theNew York Times Best Seller list for several months. That year, Pearlman also served as the guest editor forThe Best American Sports Writing 2018. In 2020, he releasedThree-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty, about the 2000s Los Angeles Lakers.[13] In 2022, Pearlman releasedThe Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, a biography ofBo Jackson.[14] In 2025, Pearlman pivoted away from sports, interviewing more than 600 people for a biography ofTupac Shakur.[15]
Pearlman and his wife, Catherine, have two children: a daughter and a son.[16]
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