ESPN’s award-winning news magazine, E:60, makes its Fall 2013 season premiere on ESPN Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. ET.  The premiere episode showcases an in-depth feature on Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver A.J. Green whose extreme catches that border on the impossible have endeared him to his teammates as “the easy button.”  However, that moniker belies the difficulties the All-Pro receiver encountered on his way to the NFL.  Growing up in rural South Carolina, Green had to persevere through tragic loss, not once but twice.  He fought through it all to become a star at the University of Georgia and a first-round pick in 2011. Now he is one of the league’s premier receivers, admired by peers like close friend Calvin Johnson, who trains with Green. E:60  Lisa Salters brings viewers the journey of a self-described country boy who juggled hardships — and just plain juggled — to become one of the game’s most electrifying players.

Tuesday’s episode will also include the unforgettable story of 11-year-old Jody Plauche, whose father Jeff Doucet took matters into his own hands after learning a karate coach kidnapped and sexually abused his son, as well as a look at Rush Propst, a once revered coach at one of the top high school football programs in the nation who was discovered to be leading a double life – with two wives and two families, in the same town.

For its fall line-up, E:60 will feature athlete profiles including Adrian Peterson, A.J. Green, Tony Gonzalez, Terrell Suggs, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Dominic Moore and Tom Coughlin.  In its investigative mode, E:60 will look into sexual abuse in the military, as well as muay thai (violent martial arts). Other highlights include: how an invite to be an honorary bat boy for the Cincinnati Reds changed both the life of  a 30-year-old with down syndrome and the team itself; the story of a little girl from Sierra Leone who was once a poster child for the atrocities committed in her homeland and now a star high school athlete living in Washington DC with the American family that adopted her; and a story about arguably the most dominant athlete in sports, a 1700 pound bucking bull set a PBR record with 42 consecutive buck-offs named Bushwacker.

Fall Highlights of E:60

*Air dates & stories subject to change

Embarking on its seventh season, E:60 continues to innovate long-form storytelling, enterprise reporting and production technique.  Highlights can be found here from E:60’s first six years and upcoming season.

E:60’s veteran team of reporters features Chris Connelly, Tom Rinaldi, Lisa Salters, Bob Woodruff, and Jeremy Schaap. E:60 is led by Executive Producer Andy Tennant and Coordinating Producer Michael Baltierra.

Since 2007 E:60 has reported from Kenya, Sudan, India, Dominican Republic, Morocco, Mexico, Senegal, Philippines, Netherlands, Haiti, Costa Rica, South Africa, Ukraine, Serbia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Panama, Liberia, and the Middle East.

–30–