Sally Jenkins

Sally Jenkins is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Previously, Jenkins was a Washington Post columnist and feature writer for 30 years. Her work has also appeared in Sports Illustrated, GQ, ESPN, and Smithsonian magazines. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2020 and has been named Sports Columnist of the Year five times by the Associated Press. She is the author of 12 books of nonfiction including The Real All Americans, the story of the Carlisle Indian School and its use of football as a form of resistance. She has covered 10 Olympic Games. She is a native of Fort Worth, Texas; received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in 1982; and resides in New York.

Latest

  1. The Knives Are Out for Bill Belichick

    The celebrated coach’s football program at the University of North Carolina is under investigation. It’s hard to know what is of substance—and what is noise.

    Photo illustration of Bill Belichick
    Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Charles McQuillan / Getty. Kirk Wester / Getty.
  2. The Man Who Refused to Sit on the Sidelines

    Kevin Dowdell, a lieutenant in an elite FDNY rescue unit, taught his sons to take action. When he disappeared on 9/11, they went to Ground Zero to search for him.

    Grid of 11 color family photo prints of man in uniform, man with children, toddlers, firefighters.
    Photograph by Haruka Sakaguchi for The Atlantic. Source: Courtesy of the Dowdell family.
  3. A Very Bad Call

    The red card against Team USA’s Folarin Balogun at the World Cup wasn’t good. FIFA’s decision to overturn it after hearing from Donald Trump was even worse.

    a photo of Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino shaking hands
    Jia Haocheng / Getty
  4. As American as the Forward Pass

    To understand the history of the nation, look to the history of its sports.

    illustration with oil painting of colonial-era gentleman in profile wearing a New England Patriots football helmet with the old 'Pat Patriot' Minuteman logo
    Illustration by Paul Spella. Sources: Heritage Images / Getty; Connect Images / Getty; Jim Davis / The Boston Globe / Getty.