John Eisenberg

John Eisenberg is one of the country’s most acclaimed sportswriters. A native of Dallas, Texas, and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he started out covering the “Friday Night Lights” for the Dallas Times Herald in 1979. After rising through the ranks to cover pro basketball, he joined The Baltimore Sun staff in 1984. For the next 23 years, he wrote columns in The Sun about the Orioles, Ravens and Maryland Terrapins, and also covered major events such as the World Series, Super Bowl and Olympics. His honors included several firsts in the prestigious Associated Press Sports Editors’ contest. From 2012 until 2022, he wrote columns and game analysis for the Ravens’ website.

Via his latest venture, The Bird Tapes, Eisenberg delves into Baltimore Orioles history, in writing and on his podcast.

He has also authored 10 best-selling sports books, including "The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Baseball’s Most Historic Record." Published in 2017, it was a finalist for the Casey Award, which honors the year’s best baseball book, and was shortlisted for the PEN/ESPN Literary Sportswriting Award, which honors the year’s best sports book. In 2018, he published "The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire," a deep dive into the early days of pro football. His latest book, "Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football," looks at the history of Black quarterbacks in the NFL.

Eisenberg has also written for Sports Illustrated and Smithsonian Magazine. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Mary Wynne Eisenberg.