‘Ted Lasso’ Honors Late Soccer Journalist Grant Wahl

Ted Lasso paid tribute to late soccer journalist Grant Wahl during the latest episode of the Apple TV+ series’ third season.

At the conclusion of the “Big Week” episode that premiered this week, the words “In memory of Grant Wahl” appeared on the screen as the end credits, which included one for Wahl, rolled. Earlier in the episode, Coach Beard, played by Brendan Hunt, is seen carrying Wahl’s 2010 book The Beckham Experiment, in which the writer followed star David Beckham as he made the move from Europe to Major League Soccer.

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Wahl’s widow Celine Gounder expressed her thanks to stars Jason Sudeikis, Hunt and Brett Goldstein along with an image of the tribute card.

“It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe… Thank you,@jasonsudeikis, @brendanhunting, @brettgoldstein. This episode means so much to me and my family,” Gounder wrote.

Hunt, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, said Wahl was extraordinarily helpful in developing the character of Trent Crimm (played by James Lance), a journalist who covered the fictional Richmond F.C. in the first two seasons of the Emmy-winning series. This year’s plot sees Crimm writing a book about the team.

“So we reached out to him [Wahl] with a few questions, hoping he might have some time to give us some quick answers,” Hunt told IndieWire in an interview. “He gave us voluminous responses to every single question that were so helpful. Putting the Trent story together, he was just so generous with his time. It’s a really, really terrible loss.”

Wahl died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurism December 9 while covering the World Cup in Qatar. He collapsed in the press room shortly before the end of the Netherlands-Argentina match. Wahl was 49.

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