Joel Reese

So today, deadspin.com is running my story “Down and Out,” which originally appeared in Texas Monthly, December 1995, and was anthologized in The Best American Sports Writing of 1996. The deadspin version is my retelling of the story, using some quotes that were in the full-length version (which is available here). I originally intended to make it shorter and funnier, but even now, some 14 years after it all went down, there’s still not much humor in a man unable to conquer his drug addiction.

But there are many more details in the full-length version, including interviews with former NFL stars such as Mike Ditka, Cliff Harris, and Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson. The story begins after the introduction, “The Story Behind the Story.” Check it out — and feel free to peruse my other work to the right as well.

This website is, literally, hours old. Soon, though, it will have all sorts of fancy graphics, pictures, video, and hopefully minimal photos of my 11-month-old daughter (I might not be able to help myself, though). Unfortunately, we are not there yet, so I’ll have to make do with this. For now.