Mark Kriegel
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Mark Kriegel is an American author, journalist, and television commentator.


Early years

He is the son of author and essayist,
Leonard Kriegel Leonard Kriegel (May 25, 1933 – September 25, 2022) was an American author and self-proclaimed "cripple". His writing included essays, stories, and novels. He contracted polio at the age of 11, leaving him confined to steel braces and crutc ...
. He grew up in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and attended Stuyvesant High School,
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...
, and the
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...
.


Author

Kriegel is the author of critically acclaimed ''New York Times'' bestsellers, ''Namath: A Biography,'' about Hall of Fame quarterback
Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...
, and ''Pistol: the Life of Pete Maravich''. His 2012 book, ''The Good Son: The Life of Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini'' – about a boxer's relationship with his father, and a man who died at his hands in the ring – was made into a documentary by the same name. Kriegel's work often focuses on conflicts between fathers and sons in sports – especially boxing. A front-page column he wrote for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'', detailing the relationship between boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, Mafia figure Sammy (“the Bull”) Gravano, and Gravano's son, became the basis for his novel, ''Bless Me, Father'', which drew praise from the writer Richard Price, and the Los Angeles Times (which called it “mesmerizing.”)


Journalism

He worked as a general assignment reporter at ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.The New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
''. In 1990, his piece for the ''Daily News Sunday Magazine'', “The People’s Court” – an examination of basketball culture in New York – was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
in the Feature Writing category. The following year, he became a sports columnist at the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
''. From 1994 to 2001, he was a columnist at the ''Daily News''. He has also been a national columnist at FOXSports.com, and a contributing writer for ''Esquire''. His ''Esquire'' profile of boxer Oscar De Hoya – “The Great (Almost) White Hope” was anthologized in ''At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing'' and ''The Book of Boxing'', edited by W.C. Heinz.


Television

In 2011–12, Kriegel hosted a sports-themed interview show, ''Barfly'', for
FOX Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
. In June, 2012, he joined the
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
as an analyst on the launch of its morning show, ''
NFL AM ''NFL AM'' (also known as ''NFL All Morning'') is an NFL morning television program on NFL Network. The program premiered on Monday, July 30, 2012. It aired from 6a to 10a ET. On May 8, 2015, the program went on hiatus. Network executives state ...
''. He now does essay pieces for the network's ''Total Access'' show and Sunday features for ''Game Day Morning''. Kriegel also writes the Emmy-winning ''All Access'' series for Showtime. His ''All Access: Chávez'', about the turbulent relationship between the great Mexican boxer,
Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...
, and his son, Julio Jr., explores the same father-son themes Kriegel focused on as a biographer. He has been part of Emmy-winning teams for the
NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...
(2013 for “Outstanding New Approaches”) and Showtime (2015 for “Outstanding Sports Documentary Series”) In January, 2016, Showtime launched a digital series, “The Reveal with Mark Kriegel,” featuring deep dive, often emotional interviews with boxers and other sports personalities." In 2017, he wrote and co-produced a feature-length documentary about
Prison Fight Prison Fight is a rehabilitation program for inmates through combat sports founded in 2012. The program gives Thai prisoners, majority incarcerated former fighters, the opportunity to take on foreign fighters in exchange for sentence reduction a ...
“Prison Fighters: 5 Rounds to Freedom,” the story of a controversial government program that allows inmates to fight for their freedom in Muay Thai matches. The program, as Kriegel told the New York Post: “Can violent men redeem themselves through violent acts?” In 2022, Kriegel narrated a tribute package for
Shad Gaspard Shad Javier Gaspard (January 13, 1981 – May 17, 2020) was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with WWE, where he performed under his real name, or mononymously as Shad. Gaspard signed with World Wrestli ...
's posthumous induction into the
WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...
as the class of 2022's Warrior Award recipient “He's been a part of three Emmy-winning teams for the NFL Network and Showtime.


Personal

Kriegel lives in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
, with his daughter, Holiday.


References


External links


NFL.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriegel, Mark Living people American sports journalists NFL Network people Year of birth missing (living people)