Michael Silver, senior NFL writer at The Athletic Artwork

Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

Kevin Fishbain, senior writer at The Athletic, interviews sports media personalities about their origin stories. Each week, reporters, columnists, play-by-play announcers, sports radio hosts, television anchors, producers and more will tell Kevin about their first jobs in the industry, and how they broke in.

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Breaking In with Kevin Fishbain: A Sports Media Podcast

Michael Silver, senior NFL writer at The Athletic

December 24, 2025 • Kevin • Season 1 • Episode 38

In episode 38, Kevin chats with Michael Silver, senior NFL writer at The Athletic. Silver has been covering the league since he was on the 49ers' beat in the early 90's. He wrote more than 70 cover stories for Sports Illustrated and also worked for NFL Network and Yahoo Sports. An author of five books, Silver's latest, "The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry and Revolution" is now out in paperback. Silver's origin story goes back to seeing "All the President's Men" as a child, a very intense college newspaper at Cal, and then finding his niche covering the 49ers. Known for his incredible access, Silver will tell many stories about how he earns the trust of the league's power brokers. Hear how Michael Silver broke in.