Who is Grant Wahl? The ‘Ted Lasso’ season 3 dedication, explained

Ted Lasso, the ground-breaking favorite, is on its third and final season. Fans of the show aren’t ready for this exit, and the feel-good hit will surely be missed. There have been lessons learned, hearts have been warmed, and yes, resentments developed at times. A story with so much heart that has spawned countless inspirational memes will leave a gaping hole in our viewing schedule and our very souls. We have so many questions, which will hopefully be answered — or at least addressed — this season. Why would Roy break up with Keeley? What happened with Sam and Rebecca? And will Richmond take down West Ham? But after viewing the current episode, fans of the series are asking, “Who is Grant Wahl?”

Who is Grant Wahl?

Grant Wahl, sports journalist and author of the bestselling book The Beckham Experiment, about “the world’s most famous athlete,” soccer player David Beckham, passed away from a ruptured aortic aneurysm on Dec. 10, 2022, in Q’atar while covering the 2022 World Cup. Wahl was a prolific journalist and podcaster, having written for Sports Illustrated for more than 20 years and interned at The Miami Herald in the early days of his career, and hosting his own podcast, Fútbol with Grant Wahl. Considered “the leading voice in American soccer,” he reputedly reached out to Nate Scott of USA Today after Sports Illustrated laid off multiple journalists in 2013, imploring him with a list of four writers who he “needed to hire right away,” in an effort to help out his former co-workers.

He was survived by his wife, Dr. Céline Gounder.

What was Grant Wahl’s connection to Ted Lasso?

For one thing, Wahl had been a fan of the series, but there was also a time when he consulted the writers of Ted Lasso on character Trent Crimm’s book. Brent Hunt — co-creator and executive producer of Ted Lasso — told The Hollywood Reporter about how they sent Wahl a list of questions “hoping he might have time to toss up a few answers. In what I now know to be his typical generosity with his time, he wrote very long, very detailed, very valuable answers to all our questions. He was hugely helpful.”

But the connection doesn’t end there. In October of last year, when Wahl was covering a match between the U.S. women’s national team and England, “On his way to the airport he came to Richmond,” Hunt recalled, “he came to my house, he met my family, I showed him around Richmond and we had a f*cking great day talking about football. Like everyone, we were all shocked and affected by his loss. To carry on the train of salutes to his memory was something we felt obligated to do.”