Visiting Professor of Practice, The University of Iowa School of Journalism & Mass Communication. Previously: 23-year writer, reporter, storyteller at ESPN.
Chicago
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Excited to share this one with you all. My profile of the entertaining Pete Crow Armstrong and the fight within himself to achieve greatness. chicagomag.com/chicago-magaz…
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
A bad night for Trump also means this is becoming a bad night for Gianni Infantino. Expect major scrutiny of his and FIFA’s ties to Trump administration if/when Democrats take the house.
nytimes.com/athletic/7622770…
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Tired of the election map? The yellow states are the states where you can legally own an otter.
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Iowans react to NBC New’s @SteveKornacki projecting the Democrats will take control of the U.S. House.
@TheDailyIowan
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That’s right. I vote in the same county as the Pope.
NEW: Will County, Illinois, election officials confirm they received Pope Leo XIV’s ballot today, completing the historic first vote cast in a democratic election by a reigning pope in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history.
Leo has said Catholics cannot be “unengaged spectators.”
Over the past 18 months, he has clashed with the Trump administration over the Iran war, immigration raids, the death penalty, and climate change. thelettersfromleo.com/p/pope…
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Erik Wemple of the New York Times wrote about my years-long battle for access while covering Iowa state government.
She’s Fighting to Cover Iowa Politics, One Closed Door at a Time
nytimes.com/2026/11/03/busin…
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Now that the Bears are good and getting legit national attention, I can fully appreciate Ben's remarkable ability to teach football, a sport that I don't believe the majority of America truly understands.
Bears last night had one of the coolest goal-to-go game plans I've seen from an offense. Got Seattle exactly where they wanted them.
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Ten years ago today, my amazing editor at ESPN, @JenaJ34, asked me to write about the @Cubs winning the World Series as I waited for open heart surgery. I told her nobody cared. I was wrong. A decade later, people still ask. I'm doing great. @UIOWA_SJMC
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1796…
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There are a lot of people in the NFL hoping for Caleb and Ben to fail who aren't having a great night.
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Simmons is fun to watch on literally every play, whether he gets there or not. Appreciate the orange sleeves, JS
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Not a request, but a rare demand: you must read this.
In the early days after Amy's diagnosis, she made The Athletic's tennis writer @MattFutterman promise her that he was not going to let this illness get in the way of his routines.
Letting that happen would make her feel worse.
On Sunday, he ran the New York City Marathon for the 16th time.
nyti.ms/4iBiEvx
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Hey Hawk fans @W_Drehs & I wonder: What’s MORE surprising?
How bad we played last week
How flawless we played today
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Bad last week
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Flawless today
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57 votes • Final results
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As great of a Hawkeye football half as that was, damn it makes last week sting that much more. I know, I know. Less rearview mirror. More windshield.
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
Travel softball has become big business. But who's holding national organizations accountable for what happens under their watch?
My latest column questions a growing accountability problem and why protecting young athletes should come before profit.
si.com/onsi/softball/youth/a…
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Wayne Drehs retweeted
And then I've got a second column on the Jeffery Simmons trade. Teams trading two first-round picks for established veterans in the modern era are batting about 25%. Why haven't those trades lived up to expectations? And can Simmons be the exception?
espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/5031…
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Inquiring minds …
In writing a story about Jonah Jackson, Darnell Wright asked me to find out something about him.
“He’s always gotta take a shit for some reason."
Yes, this is a thing in the Bears O-line room.
My feature story on Jackson, the heartbeat of the Bears.
allchgo.com/bears/from-mean-…
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I learned something about myself today with this Bears trade. I’d be an awful GM. Every season my team would finish .500. I don’t have the stomach for high risk high reward. I only see worst case scenarios.
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This is far too sensible of a take for Twitter.
After diving into Jeffery Simmons’ film and weighing the cost, here’s my unfiltered take on the Bears trade.
THE GOOD: Simmons is an absolute GAME WRECKER.
He can line up anywhere along the defensive line, rarely misses time, dominates against the run, and is a legitimate interior pass-rushing threat. He’s the type of player offenses have to game-plan around.
Since 2025 (among DTs):
◾️15 sacks (1st)
◾️23 TFL (1st)
◾️85 pressures (1st)
◾️28 pressures after double teams (1st)
◾️9.5 third-down sacks (1st)
◾️8 forced fumbles over the last 5 seasons (1st)
THE BAD: The price tag.
When I first heard the news, I figured a first-rounder and a mid-round pick. TWO firsts and a fourth? That’s a MASSIVE investment.
Look at the Bears’ five most recent first-round picks:
Dillon Thieneman
Colston Loveland
Caleb Williams
Rome Odunze
Darnell Wright
Not to mention Luther Burden III (2nd round) and Malik Muhammad (4th round).
That’s a LOT of young, affordable talent you’re potentially giving up. And yes, I understand the hope is that those first-rounders end up being late picks.
MY TAKE:
I love the player. I love the aggression. I’m just not in love with the price.
This trade makes the Bears significantly more dangerous RIGHT NOW, but it comes at the expense of future draft capital and flexibility.
You’re going all-in on winning, and that changes expectations. This team doesn’t just need to be competitive anymore. It needs to WIN, and win BIG.
Two firsts and a fourth would’ve been a little too rich for my blood. But I’m also not getting paid millions to make these decisions.
I respect the swing, and I genuinely hope I’m wrong about the cost because Simmons is a hell of a football player.
Bear Down! #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears
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