Dan Wetzel is a New York Times best-selling author who has written more than two dozen sports-related books, including the Epic Athletes series of biographies for children.
As a sports writer, Dan Wetzel has worked as the national columnist for Yahoo Sports and Yahoo.com, covering events around the world, including the NFL, college football, the NBA, NASCAR, MLB, NHL, mixed martial arts, men's and women's World Cups and the Olympics. His columns appear in the sports section of Yahoo.com.
He has appeared repeatedly in the anthology the Best American Sports Writing, been honored more than a dozen times by the Associated Press Sports Editors and is regularly a finalist for "National Sportswriter of the Year" which is awarded by the National Sports Media Association.
At Yahoo! Sports he has been part of major investigative stories on pro and college sports, including scandals at Miami, Ohio State, Connecticut, Oregon, USC, the IOC, FIFA, various sports agencies and with in the NCAA itself. He also specializes in sports crime, including covering high profile cases and trials of Jerry Sandusky, Larry Nassar, Aaron Hernandez and others.
As a screenwriter he cowrote the 2014 movie Life of a King, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Dennis Haysbert. He is an executive producer of the Netflix three-part docu-series Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez about the life, crimes and death of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez. It is in conjunction with Blackfin Entertainment and Momentum Content, both in New York. He also appears in the series.
He cohosts a weekly radio show on Yahoo Sports Radio with Pat Forde. He was a fill-in host on The Sports Inferno in Detroit, Michigan on AM 1270. He anchors the twice-weekly Yahoo Sports College Podcast with Pat Forde and Pete Thamel. Wetzel is a native of Norwell, Massachusetts. He can be found at https://sports.yahoo.com/author/dan-wetzel/
Q: You seem to cover almost every sport out there. What are your favorite sports, as a journalist and/or participant?
A: Football is my favorite sport to watch. Golf is now my favorite to play. However, when I was younger I enjoyed playing almost any sport -- football, basketball, baseball and hockey in particular. What interests me when writing about sports is the story and the drama more than the actual sport itself. Whether it is throwing a last-second touchdown pass, hitting a game-winning three pointer or delivering the perfect dismount in gymnastics, the ability of the elite athlete to perform under pressure is fascinating. Simone Biles is more than two feet shorter than Kevin Durant, for example, but their mentality to prepare, work and win is very similar.
Q: Tell us something about your childhood, and particularly your teen years, that influenced your interest in sports and writing.
A: I attended the University of Massachusetts and joined the student newspaper as an activity. I hadn't planned on being a writer, but I found I enjoyed telling stories. My career went from there. I had always been a big sports fan so it was a dream to be able to write about great athletes and big games.
Q: What inspired you to write sports biographies, especially those aimed at children?
A: I have two daughters who both play numerous sports, soccer in particular. When my oldest got to middle school, I noticed there was a lack of high-quality biographies about current athletes. There were plenty for young grade schoolers and plenty for adults, but the ones in between either didn't exist or didn't really tell the story. They were mostly rewrites with little to no original reporting or interviews.
Since I knew so many of these star athletes and had interviewed them and their families for my job as a columnist, I decided to start writing biographies that would perfectly appeal to this age group.
I made sure to focus especially on what these stars were like as middle schoolers. For example, Stephen Curry is a two-time NBA MVP now, but in sixth grade he was considered "too small" to be great. Serena Williams is the greatest female tennis player ever, but at that age she wasn't as good as her older sister, Venus. Tom Brady sat on the bench for his freshman football team. I think those kinds of universal stories really appeal to the kids reading the books.
Q: Kids who read about sports aren’t always the keenest of readers overall, so books on sports can go far in making such students more comfortable with reading. Can you offer some thoughts on your role in connecting sports enthusiasts with reading, and readers with sports?
A: One of the main goals was to appeal to the kid who isn't a devoted reader. The ones who rip through every book enjoy these as well, but I take particular pride in hearing from teachers, parents and even kids who got into reading because it was about their favorite player. They may not like fiction or comic books, but they love Patrick Mahomes. So they gave it a shot.
I received an email once from a father of two middle school boys who are very, very active but will never crack a book. He said he walked into his house one afternoon and was surprised how quiet it was. There is usually some noise or commotion going on. When he got to the living room he was stunned to find his sons each silently reading an Epic Athlete. He couldn't believe it. I love those stories.
Q: Do you do school presentations?
A: I am always willing to do zoom sessions with schools or libraries. Teachers usually contact me through Twitter: @DanWetzel. It's fun to give a brief presentation and encourage reading or answer questions about what it’s like to be a sports reporter and writer.
Q: Please share an anecdote about working with the celebs you’ve written about.
A: The books are biographies, not autobiographies, which allows me to tell a more complete picture of the player. However, all of the athletes I have told about this specific project are excited to help and answer any questions. They usually get a kick out of the fact I tracked down their seventh-grade coach or some old teammate.
Almost every one of them grew up reading books like these about their favorite athletes. They were inspired by those stories and I think it is a bit humbling to know that there is another generation doing the same thing.
Obviously. social media is a great way to connect with people, but there is nothing like a book. These are some of the biggest stars in the world, so they don’t need more publicity. They are always very helpful, however, with the project when I ask. It’s fun to see that side of them.
-P.W.