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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Randall Cunningham--The greatest player who never was

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Aug 20 2008, 3:00 PM ET Comment

Talk about a guy with Hall of Fame talent but a Hall of Very Good career. I'm a weird fan, in that, I usually end up developing a great degree of admiration for great players from division rivals. Randall Cunningham is tops on the list of players who I rooted for, on teams I rooted against. The flawed case that people make against Emmitt Smith for Barry Sanders (better overall team) is the same flawed case I make for Randall--admittedly. In the 90s, an era of exciting players, I thought Randall was king. Below are some of his greatest hits, and, for me, quite simply one of the greatest feats of football athleticism every committed.








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