From left, A 73-year-old President Ronald Reagan meets with Sen. William Cohen and a 42-year-old Sen. Joe Biden in the Oval Office in 1984. Though Americans discussed Reagan’s age and mental agility at the time, the discussion of age and politics did not have the desperation it has now. There was also a bipartisanship that doesn’t exist now. *Courtesy the White House Photographic Collection.*

The not-so-'golden' age of American politics

February 15, 2024

Recently, I was talking with two of my writers about an older person in the workforce. When asked how old this person was, I said, “88,” and the two, a married couple, let out shrieks of horror.

“Isn’t there a rocking chair and a porch somewhere?” the husband asked. Just so. These are not the best of times for older people in the workplace, particularly when that workplace is American politics. Many Americans polled are worried about an 81-year-old President Joe Biden squaring off yet again against a 77-year-old former President Donald F. Trump.

The Eagles have landed

February 6, 2018

Was that a great Super Bowl game or what? It had everything – an underdog (the victorious Philadelphia Eagles), a villain (the New England Patriots and Mr. “I’m Tom Brady and you’re not”), seesaw drama, frustrated placekickers, sleight-of-hand plays in the end zone and a modest hero (Eagles quarterback Nick Foles, the un-Brady). It was a most satisfying night, one that proved, as my beloved Aunt Mary always said, that if something is meant for you, it will be there for you – even if you’re an improbable second-string QB like Foles ...

Twilight of the gods – Giants sack Eli Manning

November 30, 2017

After 13 years and 210 games, including two Super Bowl titles in which he was named MVP, Eli Manning will not be starting at quarterback for the New York Giants this Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

Manning – who has always been gracious to me as editor of WAG magazine in his role as spokesman for Guiding Eyes for the Blind – fought back tears as he told reporters, “I don’t have to make sense of it.”

No, Eli, you don’t, because in a way it doesn’t. It takes a particularly lousy group effort for a team to be 2 and 9. And while a 36-year-old Manning – a healthy 36-year-old Manning – may no longer be the answer, does anyone think successors Geno Smith and David Webb necessarily are? ...

Dead ‘innocent’

April 19, 2017

In “The Penalty for Holding” (Less Than Three Press, May 10) – the second novel in my series “The Games Men Play” – quarterback Quinn Novak wonders which is more depressing: prison or a hospital.

I think on this day you would have to say prison ...

Achilles in San Francisco: Cam Newton and the art of the gracious loser

February 8, 2016

So as the world knows by now – or at least the world that cares about American football knows by now – the Denver Broncos’ D got inside Cam Newton’s head at the Super Bowl Sunday night, frustrating the Carolina Panthers’ QB, who sulked on the sidelines and then through the postgame press conference he walked out on.

Outrage was swift among the Twitterati, who admittedly have their share of anti-Cam fans for a variety of reasons.

Roger Federer once observed that the athletic loss is doubly painful: You lose and then you have to discuss it immediately with the press. It’s enough to disturb anyone’s equilibrium. Newton can be forgiven his disappointment, of course. No one likes to lose or see his team – a surrogate for the self – lose. But losing with grace, like winning with grace, is a necessary part of the athlete’s arsenal. A sore loser just gives his opponents and detractors ammunition. ...

Ken Stabler’s CTE and the threat to quarterbacks

February 4, 2016

A few days before Super Bowl 50 this Sunday comes sobering news: Onetime Oakland Raiders quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Ken Stabler had CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a kind of dementia related to concussions and sub-concussive hits.

Stabler, who died in July of cancer at age 69, left his brain to be studied by researchers in Massachusetts.

Of the 91 brains of ex-players that have been tested – you can’t test for this except after death – 87 had brain trauma. ...

Colin Kaepernick, from stud to dud?

November 9, 2015

The San Francisco 49ers benched starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons in favor of Blaine Gabbert, who played better but was promptly hit in the head, necessitating the return of Colin, who was booed by the fans. The 49ers beat the Falcons 17-16.

Needless to say, Kaepernick – who just turned 28 – was not happy about being told to take a breather.

"I'm not out of breath, so I don't understand that reference,” he told reporters. “I don't believe in pressure. Pressure is not being prepared for what you want to do. To me, I've played full seasons and had success. Mentally, I've been through it before. I'm not incapable of going through this." ...