Frank Deford

Benjamin Franklin Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist.

Deford in 2007

Quotes

• I grew up in Baltimore and that's why I root for the Orioles. I'm very suspicious of people who move and take on a new team. You should stick with the team of your youth all the way to your grave. That shows a sense of loyalty and devotion.
  • Deford, Frank (2004-08-14). Sweetness And Light. Morning Edition. National Public Radio.

• My first protocol on rooting in sports is that you should stick with the teams that you grew up with. I know we're a transient society, but that's just it: Continuing to cheer for your original hometown teams is one way of displaying the old-fashioned value of allegiance.

If you grew up in Cleveland, say, and moved somewhere Sun Belt-ish, I know how hard it is, but the measure of whether you are a good person is that you must remain loyal to the Browns and Indians and that team that LeBron James left behind.

That's what's left of roots in America. You must root where your roots were laid down.

• • Deford, Frank (2012-10-10). It's Good To Root, Root, Root For The Home Team. Morning Edition. National Public Radio. Retrieved on 2012-10-10.

• "… the National Football League needs "a guardian, not a CEO" to deal with the fact that "the sport is simply more and more identified with violence, both in its inherent nature and in its savage personnel."
  • White House Honors For Frank Deford, Joan Didion & Others. Morning Edition. National Public Radio (2013-07-10). Retrieved on 2013-07-10.