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American Football is back and won't stop until the Super Bowl champions are crowned in Los Angeles on Valentines day. But maybe you are more of a baseball or BBall fan. Maybe it is the action on the ice that really does it for you. This week, one athlete from each of America's most popular sports details the amazing and inspiring stories of their lives on and off the field of play
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said: "Winners never quit and quitters never win". American Football is a tough physical sport played in all weathers, with nuances and strategy. Only a tiny percentage ever make it to the NFL. Shaquem Griffin did. He was a Linebacker for the Seattle Seahawk. When he made his debut in 2018 he made history, becoming the first known one-handed player in NFL history. Born with a condition that caused him great pain in his left hand, by the time he was four years old, he had attempted to cut off his own fingers with a knife. Eventually he had surgery to amputate his hand and never looked back. Shaquem's journey to the NFL was always going to be an extra ordinary struggle, but this is not just his story, it's the story of his twin brother and fellow NFL star Shaquil. Both attended UCF (University of Central Florida) and after many years of struggle Shaquem and Shaquil took to the field together, first at College and then in the NFL.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". So said ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky and it is that philosophy that propelled Zoe Boyd to become a professional ice hockey player for the PWHL Hamilton, an expansion team in the Professional Women's Hockley League. She has grown up in a sports mad family - encouraged to get involved with anything and everything. In 2005, aged just five years old, everything turned upside down. Zoe's mum Tammy was involved in a car accident that left her with brain damage that irrevocably changed both of their lives. Zoe is part of a new generation of players with the opportunity to make a career in Ice Hockey, a responsibility she takes very seriously. She hosts a podcast called No Straight Answers and wants to be a role model and show others what is now possible.
Michael Jordan said "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed". But you have to have the opportunity to play to get that chance. Not something that was afforded to Connie Hawkins. A once-in-a-generation basketball superstar, in the early '60s he was blackballed from the NBA for a crime he did not commit. His downfall? His association with Jack Molinas, an ex-NBA All-Star turned mob fixer. The story is the subject of a new podcast called Connie and Jack: A Rigged Game.
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” So said Babe Ruth and Tommy John certainly proved that. Back in 1974 baseball pitcher Tommy John suffered a serious elbow injury. His career was over, until he underwent a revolutionary surgery that was named after him. He became known as the Bionic Man. Tommy passed away just a few weeks ago, aged 83. A couple of years ago he told his story
(Photo: Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on after the preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on 22 August, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
