David S Klein

Dave Klein, a lifelong New Jersey resident born in Newark, covered the New York Giants for an extraordinary 64 years. He began his career in 1961 at The Newark Star-Ledger and went on to serve as a sportswriter, managing editor, and publisher of his own publications, The Giants Newsweekly and E-GIANTS.

A fixture in sports journalism, Dave covered every Super Bowl, from the inaugural game—Super Bowl I in Los Angeles, CA—to Super Bowl 54. He also reported from multiple Olympic Games, including those held in Lake Placid, NY; Albertville, France; Lillehammer, Norway; Sarajevo, Yugoslavia; and Montreal, Canada.

Dave authored more than 20 books, including The Game of Their Lives, which chronicled the legendary 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Giants and the Baltimore Colts—the first sudden-death overtime game in NFL history. His other works include Tom and the ‘Boys, about Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry, as well as the novels Blind Side, Fourth Down, and Tel Arad.

When not writing about football, Dave cherished time with his family—especially his granddaughter—and had a lifelong love for dogs, fishing, old Westerns, and baseball. He was a devoted fan of the Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Cleveland Indians), the 1948 World Series champs.

Dave is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Carole Chetkin Klein; his son Aaron and daughter-in-law Meg McCarthy-Klein; his daughter Mindy and son-in-law Scott Rittenhouse; and his granddaughter, Talia. He is also survived by his brother, Moss Klein.

He was predeceased by his father, William Klein, former sports editor of The Star-Ledger; his mother, Sandra Tolchinsky Klein, a former teacher; and his younger brother, Barry Klein.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Dave’s memory to The Valerie Fund.

A funeral service for David will be held Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels, 2130 Highway 35, Ocean, NJ 07712. Following the funeral service will be a sanctuary of israel from 1 at Beth Israel Cemetery, 1098 Woodbridge Center Dr, Woodbridge Township, NJ 07095.