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Derek Jeter Opens Up in ESPN’s Upcoming Docuseries, ‘The Captain’

Also in Traina Thoughts: Zach Wilson trends for wild reason; ‘Good Morning Football’ names new host; Aaron Rodgers impresses and much more.

Jimmy Traina

1. I don’t need to explain this to most of you, but in case someone is reading Traina Thoughts for the first time ever, I’m a Derek Jeter fanboy. I’ve interviewed him, I’ve stalked him, and he’s my all-time favorite Yankee.

So while it’s not shocking that I’d give ESPN’s upcoming seven-part docuseries, The Captain, a rave review, let me explain why even non-Yankees fans should tune in.

I’ve seen five of the seven episodes and was pleasantly surprised that almost every topic you’d want covered is covered. While The Captain doesn’t have tons of never-before-seen footage like The Last Dance, it does have Jeter opening up like we’ve rarely seen before. 

I’m going to do my best to not give you full spoilers, but if you don’t want any spoilers at all, stop reading now.

The Captain, which debuts at 10 p.m. ET July 18 after the Home Run Derby, superbly covers Jeter’s entire career, starting with his high school baseball days. It explains how the Yankees were able to get him with the sixth selection in the 1992 draft. It details how Jeter was almost not given a chance with the Yankees because the club considered trading Mariano Rivera to the Mariners for shortstop Felix Fermin, and then it reminisces about Jeter’s five World Series wins as well as the devastating postseason losses of 2001 and ’04.

Watch ESPN and The Captain live with fuboTV: Start a 7-day trial today!

Along the way, Jeter discusses controversies and story lines that popped up during his 19-year career like we’ve never seen before. Among the topics Jeter finally talks about in depth:

  • The deterioration of his relationship with Alex Rodriguez
  • His surprise that Rodriguez would want to join the Yankees and switch from shortstop to third base
  • An on-the-field incident with teammate David Wells
  • Getting called out by teammate Chad Curtis for laughing and joking around during a fight with the Mariners
  • George Steinbrenner’s concerns with Jeter’s “partying”
  • The infamous gift baskets
  • Being tagged as “overrated” by some baseball people
  • His rocky relationship with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman

In addition, two of the more compelling parts of the docuseries center on race. Former Yankee Gary Sheffield talks about (and Jeter responds to) his accusation that manager Joe Torre treated black players differently from white players and that Jeter “wasn’t all the way black.” 

Later in the series, a reporter claims that Jeter is “colorless.” That description doesn’t go over well with Jeter and his family, all of whom respond on camera.

Whenever a sports documentary comes out, many people ask one question: Do we learn anything? When I tweeted praise for the series last week, I got this question over and over. 

After seeing five episodes, I can assure you that you will absolutely learn new things about Derek Jeter if you watch The Captain.

2. Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has been trending on social media since Sunday because his ex-girlfriend alleged that Wilson was intimate with his mom’s best friend.

While two consenting adults are allowed to do whatever they want, people on Twitter are also allowed to make jokes. Lots and lots of jokes. Normally, this is where I’d pull a bunch of tweets and post them here for your viewing pleasure, but there are way too many out there for me to wade through. So just click this link and go through the hilarity yourself. 

My favorite part of the Wilson story is that shortly before it was haywire on Twitter, Pro Football Talk dropped this story/tweet.

3. Former CBS Sports sideline reporter Jamie Erdhal has officially been named as Kay Adams’s replacement as host of Good Morning Football.

4. Very impressive putt here by Aaron Rodgers on Sunday at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.

5. The latest episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features an interview with ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst.

Windhorst talks about his experience of going viral after a clip of him speculating about a possible Jazz trade on First Take went viral. Did he know Rudy Gobert was going to be traded when he talked about Utah’s “strange” trade of Royce O’Neale? Did producers say anything to him during his lengthy segment? What was his reaction when Gobert did get traded? Did he have a favorite meme?

Windhorst also discusses his relationship with LeBron James, the one question he’d like to ask LeBron, the one question he'd like to ask Kevin Durant, whether he feels competitive with Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania and much more.

Following Windhorst is the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York. Jimmy and Sal discuss Jimmy’s hatred of the hot-dog-eating contest, college realignment in college football, Kevin Durant’s trade request and Jimmy’s day trying New Haven, Conn.’s very overrated pizza.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.

6. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: If I have one criticism with ESPN’s docuseries on Derek Jeter, it’s that it didn’t include this clip.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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