Not by the Playbook

America's most popular sport starts its new season this week. American Football is back and won't stop until the Super Bowl champions are crowned in Los Angeles on Valentines day! But maybe you're more of a baseball or bball fan. Maybe it's 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 that 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. But 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, the University of Central Florida and after many years of struggle Shaquem and Shaquil took to the filed together firstly at College and then in the NFL. This is the remarkable story of NFL star Shaquem Griffin.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." So said ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky and it's 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's grown up in a sports mad family - encouraged to get involved with anything and everything. In 2005 though 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, and it's 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 who said "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed" Of course 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 60's he was blackballed from the NBA for a crime he didn’t 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 & 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 August 22, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Andrea Jaeger takes us the behind the scenes and reveals the secrets of her remarkable rise to stardom as one of the youngest players to make a Grand Slam final. How she beat Billy-Jean King, in what was the legends final grand slam match, and the conversation they had after! Andrea's star burned exceptionally bright, but it was a shooting star, retiring at the age of just 19. What the early end of her career allowed her to do was pursue what has become a lifetime's passion. Charitable work supporting children with cancer!
Joanne Schickerling is a racquet wizard. Born in South Africa it was her tennis ability that brought her to the USA. In 2023 she became a Racketlon World Champion, and if you don't know what that is, you are not alone!  All you need to know is that you have to be very very good at many sports played with a racquet. Joanne explained what's needed to win and also how Street Squash, the non-profit she is part of run is helping the children of Harlem not only discover the joy of squash, and provides a safe place to be.
Sport is by definition a cutthroat business, but is it "The Cruellest Game" there is? Well, that's the question author and tennis journalist Matt Futterman has set out to answer in his new book of the same name. Is there something specific about tennis that seems to demand more than any other sport - and why do so many players walk away from the sport?
Nearly thirty years ago Australian tennis player Pat Rafter was the surprise winner of the Men's US Open. Dismissed as a “fluke” victory by John McEnroe, Rafter returned to Flushing Meadows the following year and retained the title, becoming world number one in the process. He tells his story.
Photo: The US Open at Flushing Meadow Credit: Joel Hammer/BBC)

The 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln once said "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." So this week, with the Paralympics starting in LA in exactly two years time, we can't wait to talk about para sport bringing you some truly outstanding stories from those who hustled their way to the top.
Kathrin Marchand is an athlete who has done something no one else has ever achieved. She rowed for Germany at two Olympics, no mean achievement in its own right. She stepped out of the boat for the final time in 2016 and embarked on a career as a doctor, then aged just 30, and without warning, she suffered a stroke. Sport became part of her rehabilitation and she went on to join an exclusive group of athletes to compete at both the Summer Olympics and Paralympics when she rowed again in Paris. But that wasn't enough for Kathrin! When she took part in cross-country skiing at the Winter Para Games in Milan she became a true one-off!
Pioneering Matt Scott is a 5-time paralympian. He picked up two golds and a bronze as part of the USA's wheelchair basketball team. Having left the court for the final time he is now fully focused on his "Fly Without Limits" foundation. It provides opportunities and adapted wheelchairs for individuals living with physical disabilities who want to compete in sport.
In Spain para sport is now on the rise and it all starts at the grass roots. The Tambien Foundation was set up twenty-six years ago with the aim to provide opportunities for those with disabilities to take part in adaptive sport. And it's starting to show in the medals table! Skier Audrey Pascual Seco, who won two golds at the recent Winter Paralympics, first visited the Foundation when she was eleven years old. This year they launched an adaptive climbing program aiming for more medal success at the Summer Games. Para climbing is making its debut in LA.
The story of US Navy bomb disposal officer Brad Snyder who a year after being blinded by an Improvised Explosive Device while serving in Afghanistan won Paralympic gold in the swimming pool.
Photo: Kathrin Marchand of Team Germany competes during the Women's 10km Para Cross-Country Skiing Standing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games (CREDIT: Luke Hales/Getty Images for IPC)

The future of one of the most progressive Polo clubs is under threat. For over twenty years Catherine Cairns has run Polo Africa on her farm in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. Over the years she has not only enhanced the lives of hundreds of children in the local community by introducing them to the sport of polo, she's helped reshape the sport itself.
Often seen as a sport for royalty and rich people, Polo Africa has made the sport accessible and changed the lives of many of those who had the chance to play... but now the work Catherine has put in over the years is under threat as she looks for alternative revenue streams... So she has enlisted former British army officer and Polo player Mark Cann who amongst many things has produced a stunning visual documentary of the farm, the surroundings and the lives of those that have been improved.
Cricketer Ross Taylor who has achieved legendary status in New Zealand. His list of record and achievements is immense. A former captain of the national team, he played more than a record 450 times and is the only person in the world to have played more than 100 times in all three formats of cricket. The son of a New Zealand father and Samoan born mother, Ross grew up immersed in both cultures and wore the New Zealand cricket jersey with pride. Ross retired from the sport in 2022 but as it turned out his career in international cricket wasn't entirely over, when a chance to represent Samoa in 2025 he couldn't but help to answer the call! Now having finally retired, (we think!) Ross was looking for opportunities to use the platform that cricket gave him to influence the next generation. He explains why he wanted to join the "ALL IN" initiative a high-level panel pushing for the funding and political will to end violence against women and girls.
Imagine competing in the same sport as your brother but having to watch him compete at the Olympics, but you can't. Why? Well the sport of Nordic Combined remained the last discipline at the Games not open to women. Well that's what has happened to Annika Malacinski. Nordic Combined is a combination of ski jumping and long distance endurance skiing. Now 25, Annika has fought hard to establish herself as one of the world's leading female Nordic Combined competitors but from the very first Winter Games in 1924 right up to and including the last Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina a few months ago, women are not allowed to compete.
70 years ago at the 1956 Olympics, the Czechoslovak discus thrower, Olga Fikotova, caused a scandal by falling in love with an American hammer thrower called Harold Connolly. Despite winning her country's only gold medal, Olga was treated as a traitor by the communist government and her achievements were ignored. A few months later, Harold Connolly visited Prague to marry Olga and take her back to America with him.

PHOTO: One of the players benefiting from the Polo Africa project (CREDIT: https://www.poloafrica.com/ © 2026 Poloafrica Development Trust)

Brady Kramer always dreamed of scoring the winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. And he got closer than most when he was drafted to the NHL by the Montreal Canadiens. But the challenges he faced off the ice caused his life to go in a very different direction. Challenges he's happy to share, in the hope he can help others. Brady excelled on the ice from a young age and earned himself a place at Providence College and a top tier, Division I hockey career. However, adapting to life away from his family was difficult, and he soon fell into bad habits. Despite Brady's unhealthy relationship with alcohol, his ability on the ice got him to Draft day in the NHL, but after a brief, unhappy spell in the Minor Leagues, Brady hung up his skates and faced his biggest challenge to date, life after hockey. He now spends his days helping those who also suffer with addiction, whilst continuing to navigate through his own difficulties.
No one has represented England at rugby union more than Ben Youngs, and yet of his achievement he said "People are patting you on the back and telling you how great you are. And you’re thinking: ‘But I don’t feel that.’" Playing professional sport was sometimes something of a contradiction for him. He also said he "felt guilty playing for England after family tragedy", both his brother and sister lost their partners to illness. Now retired Ben has had some time to look back on his long career and evaluate when playing helped him off the pitch and when it was a struggle. Evaluating this balance is something he's carried on in his post playing career as a businessman and podcaster.
When former Dutch boxing champion Barry Groenteman used to visit his grandmother at her retirement home, he would often see an older man shadow-boxing. "He showed me his ring with the Star of David on it. And my grandmother would whisper: 'That's Ben Bril.'" This is the story of a Jewish boxer from Amsterdam who had his life transformed by invasion, violence and anti-Semitism. A champion forced into hiding, then captured and sent to the Nazi concentration camps - after being betrayed by a former Olympic teammate.
In 2015 and Nepalese runner Mira Rai who took the international "sky running" scene by storm, winning gold medals in ultra-endurance running events ranging from 50-150 kilometres. And behind Mira's achievements was a personal story that shocked the ultra-running world. She been telling Not by the Playbook's Hunter Charlton about being a teenage combatant in the Nepalese civil war.
PHOTO: Ben Youngs of England acknowledges the fans whilst wearing his bronze medal following the team's victory during the Rugby World Cup 2023 Bronze Final match between Argentina and England (CREDIT: Hannah Peters/Getty Images)