Reilly began his career in 1979 as an undergraduate assistant with the
Daily Camera in Boulder, Colorado. He left the
Camera in 1981 to be a football writer on the sports staff of the
Denver Post, then on to the
Los Angeles Times in 1983 before joining
Sports Illustrated in 1985. Reilly has become a recognized name in the sportswriting industry because of his human interest pieces; his column, “Life of Reilly” was featured on the back page of SI from 1997 until 2007 when he announced that he would leaving
Sports Illustrated to join ESPN. The "Life of Reilly" was the first signed opinion piece in SI's history. Reilly officially left SI during the week of November 29, 2007, after 23 years with the magazine.
“Life of Reilly” now appeared in
ESPN The Magazine (also the last page) and on ESPN.com. On March 10, Reilly announced that he would no longer be writing his opinion column for the magazine, but was going to a regular essay on
SportsCenter. Reilly delivers essays from live sporting events for SportsCenter and other ESPN telecasts, such as the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and the British Open. He is host of “Homecoming”, an interview program, also on ESPN, taped in the hometowns of featured guests. The series launched in April 2009.
Awards
Reilly has been voted NSSA National Sportswriter of the Year eleven times. He is second only to the late Jim Murray of the
Los Angeles Times (14) in number of times winning that award. In 2009, he joined a roster of journalism notables as winner of the Damon Runyon Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His work has also been recognized by the prestigious New York Newspaper Guild's Page One Award for Best Magazine Story.
Film
Reilly co-wrote the screenplay for
Leatherheads, a film directed by George Clooney, starring Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski and released in April 2008.
Reilly’s first novel,
Missing Links, has been optioned for development as a feature film.
Style
The
New York Daily News called Reilly "one of the funniest humans on the planet."
Reilly does have a serious side and has written on a broad range subjects. His writing often focuses on themes of family, heroism, and human spirit. He has said in his columns that he doesn't write about sports, but writes "about people IN sports".
Slate's Josh Levin noted that Reilly had an affinity for discussing pro athletes and their accomplishments via tooth jokes. He is especially harsh on dental flossing. He described Tiger Woods's 2002 victory at Augusta as suspenseful as flossing, riding Lance Armstrong's team car about as boring as flossing sharks, would rather floss crocodiles than go skydiving, and stated John Elway's perfect endorsement product would be Johnson & Johnson dental floss.
Controversies
In 2002, Reilly responded to Sammy Sosa's assertion that he would "take a drug test if someone offered it to him" by spontaneously offering him a chance to drive to a local lab and take a drug test after a game; Sosa reacted by yelling and threatening him. Reilly responded in his column the next week.
Reilly has also been a frequent critic of former San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds for his treatment of his teammates, his off-field behavior and his alleged steroid use.
Nothing But Nets
In 2006, Reilly wrote a column in
Sports Illustrated about program dedicated to providing anti-malaria nets to African children at a cost of $10 per net. His request for contributions elicited a response from thousands and led to the creation the Nothing But Nets foundation in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. By mid-2009, the initiative has collected over $24 million dollars.
Bibliography
Reilly’s books include:
- Slo Mo! – (Doubleday) — A fictional diary of a naive 7'8" kid taken from high school to the NBA.
- Missing Links – (Doubleday) — A novel about an eccentric group of golfers who are regulars at the worst public golf course in America.
- Shanks for Nothing – (Doubleday) — This sequel to Missing Links cracked the New York Times bestseller list. Like Missing Links, it revolves around the antics and camaraderie of the regulars of the Ponkaquogue Municipal Golf Links and Deli.
- The Life of Reilly – An anthology of Reilly's best early works from Sports Illustrated. A New York Times bestseller.
- Hate Mail from Cheerleaders and Other Adventures from the Life of Reilly – An anthology consisting of one-hundred Reilly's best weekly articles from 2000-2006. An instant success, it hit the New York Times bestseller list in its first week.
- Who's Your Caddy – (Doubleday) — A collection of stories about Reilly caddying for several remarkable people ranging from Donald Trump to the blind golfing world champion. A New York Times bestseller.
- The Boz – Co-author of the best-selling autobiography of Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth.
- I'd Love to but I Have a Game – co-author with announcer Marv Albert.
- The Wit and Wisdom of Charles Barkley – co-author with Charles Barkley.
- Gretzky – The autobiography of hockey superstar, Wayne Gretzky. Reilly was the co-author with Gretzky.
