{"id":208646,"date":"2025-07-15T09:45:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T09:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/208646\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T09:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T09:45:22","slug":"espns-my-wish-returns-for-18th-season-with-star-studded-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/208646\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN\u2019s &#8216;My Wish&#8217; returns for 18th season with star-studded lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My Wish \u2014 the beloved SportsCenter series that\u2019s granted unforgettable moments to children facing critical illnesses \u2014 is returning for its 18th season on Sunday, July 13. <a href=\"https:\/\/espnpressroom.com\/us\/press-releases\/2025\/07\/my-wish-returns-to-sportscenter-july-13-with-justin-jefferson-c-j-stroud-canelo-alvarez-and-the-savannah-bananas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN officially announced the news Wednesday<\/a>, confirming that the 2025 edition will once again feature longtime host Chris Connelly and a lineup of some of the biggest names in sports.<\/p>\n<p>Since its debut in 2006, My Wish has paired more than 85 young fans with their favorite athletes in collaboration with Make-A-Wish. <a href=\"https:\/\/awfulannouncing.com\/espn\/sportscenter-my-wish-segments-mike-trout-josh-allen.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The 2023 season<\/a> included Mike Trout and Josh Allen, while <a href=\"https:\/\/awfulannouncing.com\/espn\/my-wish-sports-center-returns-katie-ledecky-tua-tagovailoa.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2024<\/a> saw appearances from Olympic champion Katie Ledecky and Tua Tagovailoa, all while keeping alive My Wish\u2019s tradition of pairing young fans with the biggest names in sports.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 edition will spotlight Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud, boxing champion Canelo \u00c1lvarez, and the viral baseball sensation Savannah Bananas. Each night from July 13\u201317, SportsCenter will follow a new wish fulfillment, culminating in a Thursday night recap special.<\/p>\n<p>The series will also feature an updated rendition of the song that\u2019s become its signature. Rascal Flatts\u2019 \u201cMy Wish\u201d \u2014 the series\u2019 signature anthem since 2006 \u2014 returns this year with a reimagined version featuring fellow Grammy winner Carly Pearce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearly 20 years after I started hosting My Wish, I am just as inspired by these children and their families as I was in 2006,\u201d said Connelly in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m honored that I can play even a small part in making these well-deserving kids\u2019 dreams come true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though SportsCenter keeps evolving, My Wish remains a powerful reminder of how sports can uplift, heal, and bring joy exactly when it\u2019s needed most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My Wish \u2014 the beloved SportsCenter series that\u2019s granted unforgettable moments to children facing critical illnesses \u2014 is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[1028,44143,44144,7,221,253,2368,2780,44145,6,14608,4231,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-208646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-c-j-stroud","9":"tag-canelo-alvarez","10":"tag-chris-connelly","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-texans","14":"tag-houstontexans","15":"tag-justin-jefferson","16":"tag-my-wish","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-savannah-bananas","19":"tag-sportscenter","20":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114856612704186903","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}