Hi! I’m Kalyn Kahler. I’m a senior NFL writer at The Athletic.
At The Athletic, I cover the NFL with a critical eye, specializing in plugged-in reporting without drinking the Kool-Aid. Before joining the Athletic, I was a staff writer at Defector, wrote for Bleacher Report, and spent five years at Sports Illustrated, as a key part of the Monday Morning Quarterback team that covers the NFL. I arrived at The MMQB straight out of Northwestern, and worked my way up from the site’s editorial assistant to staff writer. I’m a relentless reporter with fresh ideas on how to cover a 100-year old league.
1. Report the heck out of a story.
2. Take the readers where they cannot go.
3. Write quickly and be smart.
- Peter King, my mentor
While at Bleacher Report, I found out that the Bears brass told Patrick Mahomes that he was their top QB, and that the Lions celebrated the end of Matt Patricia’s rookie season with a mimosa party in the locker room. While at Sports Illustrated, I uncovered the problems with the 2018 Packers, just before Mike McCarthy was fired. I tracked a cow on the journey to becoming a football, from the pasture to the practice field. While the rest of the media moved on, I dove into a kicker search that was weird on the surface and found unparalleled levels of weirdness. I searched for the truth, the middle ground, between player and team in a strange and dramatic separation mired in the misunderstandings of head trauma. I love reporting stories that start with the question, hmm, I wonder what’s going on there?
Thanks for reading,
KK
