Includes profiles of Ndamukong Suh, Jerry Jones and Jimmy Graham, analysis of Billy Beane’s new secret strategy and more.

Exploring today’s most polarizing, game-changing personalities in sports, the Renegades Issue of ESPN The Magazine – on newsstands Friday, September 5 – gives fans a fresh and insightful look into the unique athletes, coaches and front office executives fans love and hate.

On the Cover: Ndamukong Suh
Elizabeth Merrill asks the question: Does anybody really know Ndamukong Suh? Many consider the Lions defensive tackle the dirtiest player in the NFL, a menace who has racked up $342,794 in fines and lost wages during his four seasons in the league. But friends, like 10-year-old Isaac Barchus, a kid Suh met through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and others including Warren Buffett, say Suh is simply misunderstood.

Skimming the Surface: Jimmy Graham
Jimmy Graham is the NFL’s top game-changing player and personality, but Kevin Van Valkenburg observes the tension above the surface between the tight end and his coach — and below the surface between Graham and Drew Brees.

Jerry Jones
Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Don Van Natta got unprecedented access with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, as he enters his 25th year as owner and general manager. Jones makes hundreds of millions every year and is one of the NFL’s leading visionaries. But what he wants most — another championship — is hindered by his own refusal to give up his team’s GM role.

Innovation in Oakland, Part II
Tim Keown reports that Billy Beane has a new trick up his sleeve — but this time he’s not telling anyone what it is, and it’s driving other GMs crazy. Beane is perhaps the game’s best architect of rotations, but so far it hasn’t worked in the playoffs. This year he went all-in with his starters, bringing in high-priced stars at the trade deadline in order to bring the trophy back to Oakland.

Kershaw vs. Trout
There is supposed to be only one once-in-a-generation talent. That’s sort of the whole idea. But 32 miles away from where 26-year-old Clayton Kershaw has grown into the game’s most lethal hurler, 23-year-old Mike Trout is a player who many believe could be the greatest we’ve ever seen. Wayne Drehs was there when the two phenoms collided in an August series, and he caught up with them both.

Additional highlights from the Renegades issue:
 
College Football: You think Week 1 was big? Its follow-up is even bigger. Hallie Grossman breaks down how Week 2 will shape the season, predicting the outcomes of five matchups that will determine these teams’ fates this year.

MLB: Even after the Royals’ recent push, Dan Szymborski reports that there is still work to do to end a 28-year playoff drought. It involves making good use out of September call-ups and a slightly unusual rotation.

NFL: Dave Tuley asks NFL sharps for their best bets this season — including the big one, their Super Bowl pick.

SVP and Russillo: The Weirdest Friendships
As Floyd Mayweather prepares for his next fight — which BFF Justin Bieber will surely attend — Scott van Pelt and Ryen Russillo take a look at pop culture’s weirdest friendships, including Drake and … every athlete ever.

Columns
In his Numbers column, Peter Keating writes that in keeping the Redskins’ controversial name, Dan Snyder is doing more than just causing concern and criticism from fans and pundits. It’s losing him money. The Redskins experienced the largest decline in brand equity in the NFL from 2002 to 2012, and keeping the name costs Washington at least $1.6 million a year.

Mina Kimes looks into the unique phenomenon of card hoarding, including one man who has cornered the market on a 1964 Curt Flood card — he owns 4,000 copies of it.

Howard Bryant writes that in the fallout from Ferguson, Mo., athletes can help America see itself.

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Kevin Ota, ESPN        860 766 9581 or kevin.r.ota@espn.com
Rob Tobias, ESPN     860 766 2240 or rob.tobias@espn.com