Blog
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Last summer I had the opportunity to go to Israel with a group of past and present New England Patriots players. Team owner Robert Kraft was our host. Kraft has a habit of taking his players to the Holy Land during the offseason. Over the years he’s also taken many NFL Hall of Famers, from Jim Brow...
HBO DOCUSERIES AIRING IN DECEMBER
Global golfing icon Tiger Wood’s journey through success, scandal, injuries and one of the most amazing comebacks in sports history will be detailed in a two-part documentary series from HBO Sports and executive producer Alex Gibney.
TV MINI-SERIES
Rodney Barnes To Pen ‘Tiger Woods’ Scripted Miniseries, Entertainment 360 Comes On Board
THE DYNASTY
Jeff Benedict’s Inside Account of the New England Patriots Dynasty to be Published by Avid Reader Press in September New York, NY, May 19, 2020—The New England Patriots, the most dominant franchise in professional team sports over the past twenty years, are the subject of a new book by...
A GOOD COWBOY
T. Boone Pickens (courtesy of T. Boone Pickens) Today, T. Boone Pickens passed away at age 91. Eight years ago I had the privilege of shadowing him. Through that process, we became friends. He graciously hosted my family at his Texas ranch on numerous occasions. In his memory, I’m sharing here a sho...
PROUD
In the preface to his opus “The Best and the Brightest” (the definitive account of America’s involvement in Vietnam), journalist David Halberstam shared the secret to writing a bestseller: “A book that burns in your belly — something that has to be written before you c...
WRITE YOUR STORY
I love writing. I do it every day. And I never know where the stories may end up. Often, I go on a journey with the people I write about. The picture at the top of this post was taken while I was interviewing New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy back when he was a junior at Brigham Young Un...
VIC …BROTHER
In the photograph at the top of this blog, I’m talking to one of my best friends, Vic Gaska. The picture was taken four summers ago at a softball game. Earlier this week, on Wednesday, Vic left work early, telling co-workers he didn’t feel well. He went home, he said, to “sleep it...
ENGLAND
At Heathrow, I faced a British customs agent, who inspected my passport. “What is your occupation?” he said.
EXPOSURE
Note: The William Hill Sports Book of the Year will be awarded in London on Tuesday. “Tiger Woods” by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian is a finalist. In my first year of law school, I wrote a book about athletes and violence against women. I had no intentions of being a writer. At the t...
MERCURY
In the summer of 1985 I was 19-years-old and about to embark on a two-year mission for the Mormon Church when I heard on the radio that there was going to be a concert called Live-Aid to raise money for famine-ravaged Africa. More than 50 performers from Mick Jagger to Paul McCartney to Bob Dylan t...
LONDON CALLING
Last week the Tiger Woods biography was named a finalist for Sports Book of the Year in the United Kingdom. The winner will be announced at the end of November in London. I am headed there for the announcement.
SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT
A few days ago, I received an email from an editor at the New York Times, who asked if I’d be interested in writing an essay about Tiger Woods and his inspiring comeback. On the eve of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, I said yes. The next day, while watching Christine Blasey Ford and...
THE BIGGEST COMPLIMENT
Last week LeBron James returned to Ohio for the grand opening of a public school for at-risk children in his hometown of Akron. Two-hundred and forty children who are under-performing in math and reading comprise the inaugural class in the I Promise School. The LeBron James Family Foundation and it...
ROPES
I was zipping down the Merritt Parkway, nighttime summer air blowing through the windows, the radio tuned to an 80s station. My 12-year-old daughter cranked up Kim Carnes. All the boys think she’s a spy. She’s got Bette Davis eyes.
