Pete Axthelm (August 27, 1943 – February 2, 1991) was a sportswriter and columnist for the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' and its '' Inside Sports''. During the 1980s, his knowledge of sports and journalistic skill aided him in becoming a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

for '' The NFL on NBC'' and '' NFL Primetime'' and

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. While on the pregame telecasts for the NFL in the early 1980s, Axthelm was NBC's answer to CBS' Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder on '' The NFL Today'', providing betting angles to the games. Later in the decade, he would be hired in a similar role by

at the urging of John Walsh, who had been the editor of ''Inside Sports''.

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Axthelm grew up in Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York. He attended Hewitt School, a neighborhood public elementary school, and Chaminade high school in Mineola, NY. Axthelm is a 1965 graduate of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, his senior thesis was published in book form by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

as ''The Modern Confessional Novel''. Axthelm took the

Law School Admission Test The Law School Admission Test (LSAT ) is a standardized test administered by the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess reading comprehension and logical reasoning. The test is ...

in his senior year, earning a perfect score, but only did so to please his mother. While at Yale, he had met ''

'' columnist Jimmy Breslin, who recommended him to his editors; Axthelm was hired by the newspaper and served as its

beat writer before graduating from Yale. Axthelm skipped his Yale graduation to cover races at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

for the ''Herald Tribune'Pete Axthelm grew up with his mother 3 siblings, his step father and 2 step siblings'.

Early journalism career

He went to work for ''Newsweek'' in 1968 and covered the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. While in Mexico City, Axthelm played a minor role in the

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the medal ceremony for the 200 meters. Axthelm, who covered the Games wearing a button bearing the letters OPHR (

Olympic Project for Human Rights The Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) was an American organization established by sociologist Harry Edwards and multiple Black American athletes, including noted Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, on October 7, 1967. The pu ...

, an organization founded by Harry Edwards), had befriended Smith and Carlos during the Games. Instead of sitting in the press box for the 200 m final, Axthelm was in the stands with their wives. The two sprinters won medals, Smith gold and Carlos bronze, and Axthelm then ran out of the stands to meet them before the medal ceremony. Carlos had worn an OPHR button during his run, but Smith had not; when Smith asked for a button, Axthelm took his button off and handed it to Smith. In 1970, ''The City Game, Basketball in New York'' was published. The book explored one season of the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

along with players who were legends in neighborhoods of New York but who never played professionally. He is perhaps best remembered for writing ''The Kid'' in 1978, a biography of then eighteen-year-old Triple Crown winning jockey

Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen (born May 1, 1960) is a retired American jockey. In 1977 he became the first jockey to win over $6 million in a year working with agent Lenny Goodman, and in 1978 he became the youngest jockey to win the U. S. ...

. While with ''Newsweek'', Axthelm also worked for ''Inside Sports'', a failed attempt by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', then the owner of ''Newsweek'', to compete with ''

''.

Later life and death

Axthelm was a longtime heavy drinker, which eventually developed into

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. By the late 1980s, his drinking had seriously affected both his health and the quality of his work. In a 2021 story for ''

'', his daughter Megan Axthelm Brown said about this period, "He was never falling-down drunk or face-planting in the birthday cake, but more and more, he would be slurring his words." According to multiple accounts, Axthelm's drinking affected his ESPN work to the point that Walsh gave him an ultimatum, telling him that his job was in jeopardy if he didn't stop drinking. Axthelm responded, "Yeah, my daughter says the same thing." Jon Wertheim, author of the 2021 ''SI'' story, would write, "Then and there Walsh realized the hopelessness. ''If he’s not going to quit for his own daughter, he sure as hell ain’t quitting for me.''" (emphasis in original) Axthelm also had numerous extramarital affairs, with Megan saying "He had a girlfriend in every port." He and his first wife Jill split when Megan was young, but remained friends, and did not formally divorce until about 20 years later. Axthelm eventually developed acute

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

and died of

liver failure Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute- ...

on February 2, 1991, at the age of 47. At the time of his death, he was awaiting a liver transplant at Presbyterian Hospital in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, and was survived by his second wife Andrea and daughter.

Awards

*1975 Penney-Missouri Award

References

Works

*''The City Game'', Harper's Magazine Press, New York, 1970 () *''The Modern Confessional Novel'' (Yale University Press, 1967) *''Tennis Observed: The U.S.L.T.A. Men's Singles Champions, 1881–1966'' with William F. Talbert (Barre Publishers, 1967) *''The Kid'', a portrait of the racing prodigy Steve Cauthen (Bantam, 1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Axthelm, Pete Sportswriters from New York (state) 1943 births 1991 deaths American columnists NFL announcers Writers from New York City 20th-century American non-fiction writers Yale University alumni