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Late soccer journalist Grant Wahl left a lasting impact on the sport, and that could be seen at the end of the latest episode of “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV. Wahl died from an aortic aneurysm while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, shortly after he helped the show’s writers develop some key storylines.
The final scene of Wednesday’s episode featured Coach Beard, played by Brendan Hunt, holding a copy of Wahl’s book, “The Beckham Experiment.” The credits also dedicated the episode to Wahl’s memory.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hunt revealed that Wahl actually helped the writers craft the current season. Hunt said the writing team sent Wahl some questions about what the acquisition of a star player like Maximilian Osinski’s Zava character on the show would do to locker room chemistry.
Hunt was expecting some brief answers in return, but Wahl was a fan of the show and sent back some incredibly thoughtful responses.
“In what I now know to be his typical generosity with his time, he wrote very long, very detailed, very valuable answers to all our questions,” Hunt said. “He was hugely helpful.”
In October of 2022, Wahl spent some time with Hunt walking around Richmond, just west of Central London where the fictional AFC Richmond plays its games and the show is set. Hunt took Wahl on a tour of the town, and Wahl wrote about the experience on his blog.
The cast and crew of ‘Ted Lasso’ were not the only ones who paid tribute to Wahl after his passing. The United States men’s and women’s teams also announced detailed plans to honor Wahl through the 2026 World Cup.
