‘Ted Lasso’ Honors Sports Journalist Grant Wahl With Tribute Card

By Nicole Gallucci @nicolemichele5
Published April 5, 2023, 3:00 a.m. ET

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Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 4, “Big Week,” follows an emotional ending set to Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” with an even more emotional tribute card in memory of Grant Wahl, the 49-year-old U.S. sports journalist and soccer analyst who died while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

During the World Cup, Wahl was detained for wearing a rainbow flag shirt to the USA-Wales match, because engaging in a same-sex relationship is a crime punishable by death in Qatar. After his sudden death, Wahl’s brother Eric, who is gay, posted a (now deleted) Instagram video explaining that he was the reason Wahl wore the shirt and suggesting foul play in his brother’s death. But despite initial suspicions, Wahl’s family later announced that an autopsy revealed the journalist died from a rupture in a blood vessel leading from his heart.

Based on Wahl’s passion for the sport, his expertise and extensive coverage, and the many contributions he made throughout his career it’s no wonder that the Ted Lasso crew dedicated such a special episode, written by Brett Goldstein, to the journalist. But the tribute card is even more touching because Wahl was an ardent Ted Lasso fan, a Kansas native, like Ted and Jason Sudeikis, pals with members of the Ted Lasso team, and he even contributed to Ted Lasso Season 3.

After Wahl’s death, co-creator and star Brendan Hunt tweeted, “Today is tough. This first result of the day cuts through that with a modicum of joy, as football can do from time to time. Congrats, Morocco. Congrats, Africa. Grant would have loved to see this.” Hunt also paid tribute to the journalist on his podcast After The Whistle: An Unofficial World Cup Show with Rebecca Lowe, calling the tragedy “a massive massive loss” and sharing how Wahl’s Sports Illustrated World Cup previews helped educate him on the sport. Hunt also revealed that there was a Season 3 storyline Ted Lasso‘s writers needed the knowledge of an expert for, so he reached out to Wahl, who “responded with a incredibly generously long and detailed email answering all these questions I had…and it was so incredibly helpful.”

Wahl also visited London for an England-U.S. women’s match in October 2022 and dropped by Richmond for a Hunt-led Ted Lasso tour. And you can hear Wahl chatting with Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt about the sport and Ted Lasso on an episode of his own podcast, Fútbol with Grant Wahl.

The journalist was such a huge fan of the Apple TV+ series that a month after his death, his brother Eric tweeted the following touching message: “Grant, I finally watched the first season of Ted Lasso. I wish we could talk about it. You were right; it’s full of the dopey-seeming optimism we were brought up with. Ted sure seems like a Roy Williams riff to me. Looking forward to a Ssn 2 binge soon.”

After the episode premiered on April 5, Wahl’s wife Céline Gounder shared her gratitude for the tribute in a touching Twitter thread.

“This episode means so much to me and my family,” Gounder wrote, thanking Sudeikis, Hunt, and Goldstein. She went on to explain that Ted Lasso Season 3 was partially inspired by Wahl’s first book, The Beckham Experiment, and after comparing her late husband to Ted Lasso‘s beloved journalist Trent Crimm she wrote, “I can’t think of a better way to honor Grant…with an episode about love and love of the beautiful game.”

If you’re looking to hear more about Wahl’s prolific career and connection to Ted Lasso, Julie Stewart-Binks announced that an emotional discussion will take place on this week’s episode of the Richmond Til We Die podcast.

Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 4 is now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

Updated to include a tweets from Wahl’s wife, Céline Gounder.