The final fall edition of ESPN’s E:60 airs Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7pm ET. The series will return for another run in April 2008. Features on tonight’s episode:
Gunnar’s Dream Comes True Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason is a very visible presence around pro football as an analyst for television and radio. But behind the scenes, Esiason and his family have faced a difficult personal challenge, his son Gunnar’s battle with cystic fibrosis. In 1993, Gunnar was diagnosed with the disease which affects the lungs and digestive system. Today, at age 16, he still undergoes 90 minutes of treatment a day. He also plays quarterback for Friends Academy High School. He threw his first touchdown pass in October and after the game, players on both teams signed the football and Gunnar was awarded the game ball. E:60 correspondent Jeremy Schaap visits with Gunnar and Boomer Esiason to talk about that moment and what it meant to both father and his ailing son.
Kellen Winslow Kellen Winslow II is named after his dad, Kellen Winslow, one of the greatest tight ends to ever play in the National Football League. Winslow II wears his father’s old number, 80, as a mark of respect. But until now, their pro careers had little in common. Much like his father, Winslow II was a first-round draft pick. He missed his rookie season in 2004 when he broke his leg. Eight months later, Winslow suffered a serious injury in a motorcycle accident while clowning in a parking lot and missed the entire 2005 season. Now, in his fourth season, the younger Winslow is finally emerging from his father’s shadow and becoming one of the best tight ends in the game. In a revealing interview, Winslow talks to E:60 correspondent Michael Smith about his comeback and the lessons he learned the hard way.
Out of Africa E:60 correspondent Tom Farrey investigates the trafficking of young soccer players from West Africa to European clubs and an underworld of street agents who act as the middlemen. The exposé examines the case of Jumo Mendoza of Senegal, who, like many young men in this underdeveloped region, dreamed of someday playing professional soccer. At age 14, Jumo was sent to a professional team in Portugal but only after his mother paid agent fees well beyond her simple means. The second-tier team cut Jumo after a month. Now, Jumo remains stuck in Portugal, ashamed, penniless and without the proper documentation to return home. His mother still owes money to the agent. European clubs insist they are not culpable in the trafficking of young, marginally talented players from Africa, but their payments to the street agents suggest otherwise.
Parkour E:60 correspondent Lisa Salters examines the phenomenon of parkour, an underground street sport that is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. Parkour, which has its roots in martial arts, has been featured in films, including the opening scene of the James Bond film Casino Royale and, increasingly, in commercials. The underground sport is practiced by athletes called traceurs, many of whom hone their skills on a massive 50-foot wall outside Paris called the Dame du Lac, or Lady of the Lake. The climbing wall, considered the mecca of parkour, is now closed to the public after two climbers fell to their deaths. In the piece, E:60 cameras follow a young American parkour athlete, Ryan Ford, as he travels to Paris to meet some of the sport’s top practitioners and attempts to scale the Dame du Lac.
Other features include Bill Simmons visiting the Upper Deck trading card factory, an interview with N.Y. Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay as the “NEXT” athlete, and an all-access look at fantasy football league courts.
