Man I Never Met

A powerful true story of loss and hope by one of the biggest names in sports media, Adam Schefter’s The Man I Never Met.

On September 11, 2001, Joe Maio went to work in the north tower of the World Trade Center. He never returned, leaving behind a wife, Sharri, and 15-month old son, Devon. Five years later, Sharri remarried, and Devon welcomed a new dad into his life.

For thousands, the whole country really, 9/11 is a day of grief. For Adam and Sharri Maio Schefter and their family it’s not just a day of grief, but also hope. This is a story of 9/11, but it’s also the story of 9/12 and all the days after. Life moved on. Pieces were picked up. New dreams were dreamed. The Schefters are the embodiment of that.

The Man I Never Met will give voice to all those who have chosen to keep living. It’s gratifying and beautiful. But also messy and hard. Like most families. Except that one day every year history comes roaring back. How do you embrace that? How do you honor that?

This book is also a peek at Adam Schefter (“Schefty”), the man behind the headlines and injury reports; a real person who has a real family. It will follow in the path of other ESPN books by Tom Rinaldi and the late Stuart Scott – books that have transcended sport to examine the raw emotion of life.

Author Biography

Adam Schefter is one of the most influential voices in football today. He is ubiquitous across all of ESPN’s platforms—TV, radio, and digital. And his more than 8 million Twitter followers are the most of any personality in football—player, coach, or journalist. He lives in New York.

Michael Rosenberg is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and author of the critically acclaimed War As They Knew It. He is the collaborator on Joe Buck’s memoir, Lucky Bastard.