John Clayton brought his vast NFL knowledge -- and prodigious list of contacts -- to ESPN in 1995 after a long career covering the NFL as a newspaper reporter in Pittsburgh and Seattle. His presence across the network is ubiquitous, from ESPN.com and SportsCenter to ESPN Radio and ESPN The Magazine. A 1976 graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Clayton was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2001.
 

Paul Zimmerman

Paul Zimmerman, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated since 1979, videotapes and charts as many as eight NFL games a week from his home. It's safe to say that Dr. Z has watched more NFL games than any other person on the planet. In addition to his regular columns for SI, he contributes Insider, Power Rankings and Mailbag columns to SI.com.

Dr. Z is the author of seven books on the NFL, including The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football. His inside analysis and opinions are rooted in more than 50 years of playing and watching football.

As a 15-year-old, Zimmerman sparred with Ernest Hemingway in a Manhattan gym. He sustained four broken noses as an offensive lineman in high school (Horace Mann High in the Bronx, N.Y.), at two colleges (Stanford and Columbia) and for his Army team (the Western Area Command Rhinos, in Germany). He also played semi-professionally in New Jersey for the Paterson Pioneers and the Morristown Colonials.

Before joining SI, Zimmerman worked for the New York Journal-American and the New York World-Telegram & Sun, and spent 13 years at the New York Post, where he covered pro football and three Olympic Games. He was one of the few journalists to get close to the Israeli compound during the 1972 hostage-taking in Munich; he bucked two lines of security guards and took a rifle butt to the head.

Zimmerman and his wife, to whom he often refers in his columns on www.CNNSI.com.

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Debbie Meyer

Debbie Meyer joined Johnny Weismuller, Mark Spitz, and Don Schollander when she was named among the world’s best swimmers of the century by sportscasters across the country.
More than 20 years after her phenomenal performance in the Olympics, Debbie Meyer is still considered one of the greatest female swimmers of all time. For someone who never took a swimming lesson, her accomplishments are impressive.

After retiring from competition in 1972, one of her priorities continues to be working with young people. “I have had such a rewarding career and I enjoy sharing it with others. Perhaps I may inspire someone else to strive for their best,” said Meyer. She has conducted motivational clinics nationwide and in 10 foreign countries, and has coached from the grass roots level to NCAA Division I schools. She has been color commentator for CBS Sports Spectacular and ESPN.
Coca Cola, Sports Illustrated, M&M Mars, Life Savers, Rainbow Bread Iron Kids, Speedo and Xerox are some of the companies she has done promotional work for.

Meyer continues to devote her time to helping youth in the Sacramento area. She works with People Reaching Out, a local organization, educating youth about drug, alcohol and tobacco prevention. She currently resides in Folsom, California with husband Bill Weber and their three children, Carlinn, Rachel and Colin. She is owner and operator of the Debbie Meyer Swim School working with infants to adults, competitive and adaptive swimmers.
 

John Naber

Olympic Champion medal winner and network television and radio sports broadcaster, John Naber has observed and personally attained excellence and goal achievement throughout his 26-year professional career. Through his two books, over 1,000 keynote speeches and his “Going For Gold Sales Improvement Program" and “Award Winning Presentation Skills Program” John teaches how to set world-class goals and achieve world-class results.

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Louis S. Csoka, President & Founder of Apex Performance, has designed, developed, and implemented Leadership Development programs with primary focus on sustained peak performance.

Prior to his current work with business leaders, Louis Csoka worked extensively with elite athletes at the intercollegiate and Olympic levels while serving as Director of West Point’s Center for Enhanced Performance, which he created in 1989. He has published numerous articles and book chapters in the areas of leadership, performance psychology, organizational development, and teambuilding. Louis Csoka had a distinguished career as an Army officer to include leading troops in combat. Capitalizing on his personal experience as a senior human resources executive, he brings great insight and knowledge to the development of a business leader’s ability to attain and sustain peak performance under the most demanding conditions.

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Len Dawson

Kansas City's Len Dawson is one of the most respected sports figures in America. Though not a native son, Len made Kansas City his home after he joined the Chiefs in 1963. He led the Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl 4 versus the Vikings.

He quarterbacked the home team until he retired in 1975. In 1966, while still playing for the Chiefs, Len became Sports Director for KMBC 9 NEWS. In addition, Len is the former host of "Inside The NFL" on HBO. Len has also offered his expertise to NBC and numerous radio stations as a commentator. For the last 16 years, he's been a member of the Chiefs Radio Broadcast Team and is in the NFL Hall of Fame.  

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Steven D. Solomon, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in La Jolla, California specializing in couples therapy. A former President of the San Diego Psychological Association, Steve is co-authoring a book due out soon entitled Intimacy After Infidelity that reveals the secrets of making love work after an infidelity has occurred. Being successful at long-term love relationships, just like professional athletics, is all about rising to the challenge when times are tough and the pressure is on. Steve will talk with us about the keys to being a winner at love.

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Peter Roby is Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University.  A former Harvard University Basketball Head Coach and senior executive at Reebok, Peter will talk to us about the key issues the dramas of Sport are confronting and revealing: including different notions of competition, role models, gender roles, and growing commercialism and violence, including emphasizing the role of the bystander in resolving conflict.

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Lt. Colonel Bill Adams

Lieutenant Colonel Adams, former paratrooper, Army ranger and a 2:49 marathoner, has served as the Director of the Center for Enhanced Performance at the U.S. Military Academy since 2001, providing applied performance psychology and academic skills training to over 4,000 cadets and staff and faculty in order to maximize their potential in athletic, academic and leader development. He has advised the Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy on incorporating peak performance training for all cadets and the Army Chief of Staff on instituting a program of life-long peak performance training for all Army soldiers.

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My co-host for Wednesdays is the author of Overachievement (www.overachievement.com) and Professor of Sports Ethics at Rice University, Dr Eliot and I are working together to support a National Center for Human Performance with NASA, the Texas Health Center, and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

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World Record Holder and 1996 Olympic Champion Gold Medal Decathlete who earned the title "World's Greatest Athlete", whose story of dogged persistence and mental toughness after a stinging disappointment in 1992 Olympic Qualification is at the root of the Headgames Philosophy: "How do we use the lessons of the playing field to understand and confront pressure to ultimately do our best when it matters most in whatever field of endeavor we choose?"

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Dr. Andrew Jacobs has been involved in sport psychology since 1980. He received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1976 and his doctorate in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in 1981. Dr. Jacobs has been in private practice in Kansas City since 1981. He has hosted a radio show on sport psychology in Kansas City for 15 years, the past two with Headgames Host Nick Lowery on The Sports Psychology Hour on WHB 810 am. He has written dozens of articles on sport psychology, has produced numerous audiotape programs on visualization and success and has worked with athletes at all levels of competition from youth sports to the Olympic and professional level. His main passions are youth sports and sportsmanship. Dr. Jacobs' extensive credentials and experience in the world of youth sports, as a parent, coach and sport psychologist, assists Headgames listeners at making the best decisions for your athletes and children. This past year he has appeared on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" and ESPN's "Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith" to discuss the problems and solutions that face youth sports. Dr. Jacobs can be reached at his website at www.winnersunlimited.com or by calling his office at 816-561-5556.

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Fred Engh

Fred Engh is the founder and president of the National Alliance For Youth Sports, a nonprofit organization that he started in 1981 that works to provide safe and fun sports for children worldwide. He has been involved in youth sports for more than 30 years as a coach, athletic director and sports educator, and he is one of America’s leading experts in the youth sports field.

He is the author of Why Johnny Hates Sports, which explores the disturbing state of organized youth sports in America. As the father of seven children, as well as having an extensive youth sports background, Fred provides a unique perspective on the many problems plaguing youth sports, and what can be done to correct them.

He has appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show, CNN, A&E, MSNBC, Geraldo, the NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, 20/20, Dateline NBC, CNN/Sports Illustrated with Nick Charles, the Jim Rome Show, and Court TV, among others, discussing all aspects of youth sports. He also appears on more than 150 radio shows nationwide each year.

He grew up in Ocean City, Maryland and is a graduate of the University of Maryland. He resides in West Palm Beach, Florida with his wife Michaele.

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