The recent homage to legendary football writer Grant Wahl in AppleTV’s Ted Lasso was more than a throwaway sentence. It’s just one example of the many Easter Eggs hidden throughout the series.
The series, starring Jason Sudeikis, chronicles American college football coach Ted Lasso’s (real-life coach Mike Shanahan) adventures as the new manager of the English soccer team AFC Richmond. As retaliation for her ex-husband Rupert Mannion’s adultery, club owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddington) employs Ted in the hopes that he will fail miserably.
The club’s sincere enthusiasm and determination may be traced to Ted’s surprisingly successful leadership. Ted’s devoted but sometimes resentful right-hand man, Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), is a voracious reader who significantly contributes to the program’s success. The third season’s fifth episode referred to a book by football journalist Grant Wahl.
Who is Grant Wahl in Ted Lasso?
Famous sports reporter Grant Wahl was k!lled in a freak accident at Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the April 5, 2023 edition of Ted Lasso, Beard reads Grant Wahl’s book The Beckham Experiment, which discusses the great football player’s decision to leave Europe and join Major League Soccer with the LA Galaxy.
Inspired by Wahl, who was a fan of the program, the series’s narrative has former Independent columnist Trent Crimm (James Lance) implanted with AFC Richmond to write a book about the club and the arrival of superstar Zava (Maximilian Osinksi).
Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter,
“When we knew we were going to have the storyline of Trent embedded with the team, we thought about reporters who’ve done that—John Feinstein came to mind [for his book A Season on the Brink, about Indiana University’s basketball program], and Grant as well.”
“Specifically, because Grant’s book is about football but also about the arrival of a superstar and the change of a culture with David Beckham, we went to him right away.”
The writers “hoping he might have time to toss up a few replies,” as Hunt put it, to a list of questions submitted to Wahl about the impact of adding such a famous player to the team. As I’ve come to expect from him, he took the time to send extensive, detailed, and helpful replies to our queries. He was really helpful.
The following articles are a homage to other celebrities who have just passed away:
- Logan Betts De@th: What Happened to Him?
- Lance Reddick Cause of Death: What Happened to Actor “The Wire” and “John Wick”?
What caused Grant Wahl’s De@th?
Tragically, Wahl passed away at 49 while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He abruptly collapsed when covering the match between the Netherlands and Argentina in the press box at Lusail Historic Stadium.
His injuries were fatal, and after 30 minutes of CPR and other treatments at Hamad General Hospital, he passed away on December 9, 2022. “Grant’s passion for soccer and commitment to enhancing its visibility across our sporting scene played a vital impact in helping to generate interest in and respect for our beautiful game,” the United States Soccer Association said in a statement.
MLS commissioner Don Garber paid homage to Wahl, calling him “a kind and generous guy whose love for soccer and devotion to journalism was unequaled.” Sadly, misinformation proliferated following Wahl’s de@th. Anti-vaxxers wrongly blamed the COVID-19 vaccination for his de@th.
Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious illness and epidemiology specialist, penned an op-ed in the New York Times supporting her husband.
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