Sports People

Linda Kay Cooper was Jimmy Johnson’s first wife and the mother of his two sons. She watched him build his entire coaching career from the very beginning, from college assistant jobs through the University of Miami national championship, through the transformation of the Dallas Cowboys into a dynasty. Then she was gone from that story, […]

Rhonda Rookmaaker met Jimmy Johnson in 1984. He was the new head coach at the University of Miami, and she was cutting hair at a salon in Coral Gables. At that point, he was still married to someone else. They became friends, stayed friends, and eventually built one of the most private and durable relationships

Theodora Holmes grew up in a football family. Her father played at Michigan. Both her brothers played at USC and reached the NFL. Then she met Troy Polamalu, one of the most decorated defensive players in NFL history, through her own brother on the USC practice field. Football runs through her entire life, not just

Dana Dokmanovich spent fifty years with one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. She was with Franco Harris before the Immaculate Reception. She was with him through four Super Bowl championships, through the Hall of Fame induction, through decades of Pittsburgh business and community work. On December 21, 2022, he died unexpectedly at

Joy Murrath was married to Brian Piccolo for six years. She was 27 when he died. She had three daughters under the age of five. Fifty-five million people watched a movie about her husband’s life the following year, and the version of Joy they saw on screen was played by actress Shelley Fabares. That is

Brennan Carroll spent over two decades building a legitimate football coaching career. He won two national championships at USC. He developed NFL-caliber players. He turned the Arizona Wildcats into a 10-win team. By any reasonable measure, he earned his place on the sideline through real work, not just through his last name. Then came Las

Becky Petrino has been married to Bobby Petrino since July 1985. That is over 40 years of marriage across more than a dozen coaching stops, one NFL resignation, the most publicized scandal in college football, and a redemption arc that eventually brought them both back to Fayetteville. She did not just survive those years. She

Debby Clarke Belichick was the first wife of Bill Belichick, the most decorated coach in NFL history. She married him before the trophies, before the dynasty, and before the Patriots became a football empire. For nearly 30 years, she stood beside one of the most demanding careers in American sport. Then, quietly, she built a

Drew Ann Reid is the youngest daughter of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. She has stayed out of the spotlight her entire adult life. But the sports world is closer to her than most people realize. Her husband, Devin Woodhouse, built a full NFL career. He started it right under her father’s roof.

Most people find out about Caressa Suzzette Madden by searching for Delonte West. They find the videos. The panhandling photos. The footage from 2020 showing West in handcuffs on a Washington DC highway. Then they search for the wife, wondering how any of this fits together. The answer is that it barely does, and that