Benjamin Franklin Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition radio program. Deford's archives are held by the University of Texas at Austin, where an annual lecture is presented in his name. He was a long-time advocate for research and treatment of cystic fibrosis.