Voting is now open for the 2026 Red Smith Award, one of the highest honors in sports journalism, recognizing those who have made major contributions to the craft. This year’s ballot features 17 distinguished nominees representing generations of excellence across newspapers, magazines, and digital media: Mark Whicker, Hal Bodley, Garry D. Howard, Dan Shaughnessy, Terry Pluto, Pete Hayes, Helene Elliott, Mike Fannin, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Dick Young, Larry Merchant, Kirk Bohls, Bryan Burwell, Gary Smith, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Jackie MacMullan.
Five candidates return as carryover nominees after top-five finishes in 2025, while 12 new nominations expand a field that spans columnists, editors, innovators, mentors, and transformative newsroom leaders. From pioneers who shaped modern sports commentary to architects of APSE itself, this year’s class reflects the breadth, evolution, and enduring impact of sports journalism at its highest level.
Boston Globe sports editor Matt Pepin is the chairman of the Associated Press Sports Editors Committee for the Red Smith Award.
Full bios for each nominee are included below.
Mark Whicker
Carryover nomination (top 5 finish in 2025)
Mark Whicker wrote sports columns faster and better than 99% of the rest of us beginning in the early 1970s.
He started at the Winston-Salem Journal and was named state sportswriter of the year twice before he was 25. He was also state sportswriter of the year in Pennsylvania in ’86 at the Daily News.
Whicker covered virtually all sports during his time. That included 36 Masters, 32 World Series, 27 NBA Finals, 27 Final Fours, 16 Super Bowls, eight Olympics (winter and summer), 13 U.S. Opens (golf), nine Stanley Cup Finals, four Breeders Cups, 11 BCS Championship Games, and two College Football Playoffs.
He is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, and he won the Nat Fleischer Award (distinguished boxing writer) in 2014. He is a two-time Sportswriter of the Year in North Carolina and a co-winner in Pennsylvania, and a two-time Top 10 Columnist recipient from APSE. He also has won our prestigious Bob Hunter Award for the LA-Anaheim Baseball writers chapter.
He joined the Orange County Register in 1986. Bill Dwyre, who had arrived as sports editor of the LA Times in 1981, said he quickly realized he needed to make his assignments over the years, in competition with Whicker, by outnumbering him on a story, because The Times couldn’t outwork or outwrite him.
In his last 10 years as a columnist for The LA Times, Dwyre said he really got an appreciation for how good Whicker was by working so many of the same events and stories. Whicker has a sense for what a story is, what questions might trigger better angles on that story and how to get access so he can ask those questions. Dwyre said. “The guy is just good, in all regards,” he said.
If anybody doubts Whicker’s productivity, or the continuation of his talent, I recommend looking on Substack just about any day of the week and reading what Whicker has written. He is still topical, clever, insightful and entertaining. Some writers of his age and longevity lose their fastball. Whicker has not.
Hal Bodley
Carryover nomination (top 5 finish in 2025)
Hal Bodley’s dedication to the world of sports journalism has not only left an indelible mark but has also significantly contributed to the growth and development of the Associated Press Sports Editors and sports journalism as a whole.
His role as the secretary and treasurer for APSE during its formative years cannot be understated. In a critical moment of financial crisis in 1978, he and then APSE president Bill Millsaps (the 2011 Red Smith Award recipient) extended a personal loan of $5,500 to the organization to prevent bankruptcy. To put this into perspective, $5,500 in 1978 would be $26,000 in 2024, highlighting the magnitude of the contribution.
Bodley, who served as APSE president in 1981-82, was among the APSE founders at the first meeting on June 4, 1974. He was an integral part of the early meetings that led to the initiation of the APSE contest in 1976 and the launch of the Red Smith Award in 1981. Bodley acknowledged the significance of these initiatives, saying that launching the contest was, “Maybe the most important thing we ever did because it really put us on the map.”
His legacy within APSE is further exemplified by Bodley’s commitment to ethical journalism. He wrote APSE’s initial Code of Ethics, a vital framework for sports editors and journalists. Although met with resistance initially, he persevered, and today, the standards he established remain an integral part of the organization’s ethos, guiding journalists toward responsible and ethical reporting.
Hal Bodley’s illustrious career in sports journalism spans more than five decades. He spent 22 years at The Wilmington News Journal from 1960-82, and he was the sports editor for his final 12 years at the publication. Before that, he held positions as sports editor at the Delaware State News and sports director of WDOV-AM 1410, both in Dover, Delaware.
As the USA Today baseball editor and columnist from 1982 to 2007, Bodley continued to make significant contributions to sports journalism. His role as senior correspondent at MLB.com from 2008 onward further solidified his influence in the field. His impressive attendance at 51 World Series and 46 MLB All-Star Games demonstrates his unparalleled commitment to baseball journalism. He also twice served as Philadelphia Chapter President of the Baseball Writer’ Association of America and was elected to two terms on the organization’s Board of Directors.
Bodley’s career included stints as a CNN baseball analyst from 1988-91, co-hosting NBC’s baseball pre-game show in 1987, and serving as a national baseball analyst for CBS. He also expanded his coverage to other major sporting events, including five Super Bowls and four Olympics, earning him a National Headliner Award for his coverage of the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Hal Bodley is not only a distinguished journalist but also a prolific author. His books, such as “The Team That Wouldn’t Die,” “Countdown to Cobb: My Diary of the Record Breaking 1985 Season,” and “How Baseball Explains America” enriched our understanding of the sports we love.
He graduated from the University of Delaware in 1959. Bodley was elected to the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Hal Bodley’s lifelong dedication to sports journalism, his pivotal role in shaping APSE, and his unwavering commitment to ethical reporting make him an outstanding candidate for the Red Smith Award. His legacy as a journalist, author, and advocate for the integrity of sports journalism sets a high standard for the profession.
Garry D. Howard
Carryover nomination (top 5 finish in 2025)
A graduate of Lehigh University and The Lawrenceville School (1977), where he received a four-year academic scholarship through the A Better Chance Program, Garry D. Howard began his journalism career at the Trenton Times as a sports reporter.
He also worked at The Home News in New Brunswick, N.J.; the Rochester Times-Union; the St. Petersburg Independent and the St. Petersburg Times.
In 1987, Garry left the St. Petersburg Times to join The Philadelphia Inquirer as a sports copy editor. He was promoted three times to deputy sports editor at The Inquirer, where he covered the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
He left the Inquirer in 1994 to accept the executive sports editor’s position at the Milwaukee Journal, becoming the only African American sports editor at a major metropolitan daily at that time. The Journal merged with the Milwaukee Sentinel in April 1995 and Garry was named senior editor of the new, combined sports department at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Garry was promoted to assistant managing editor/sports in 2000. He also worked as the MJS sports editor and sports columnist at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Garry was elected the first Black president of the Associated Press Sports Editors in 2007, serving two years before running the organization as president in 2009-2010.
As APSE president, Garry came up with the idea of creating the Red Smith Hall of Fame, which he believed would be best served to include past Red Smith Award recipients, along with every past president of APSE. Garry worked with Tim Franklin, then Director of the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center to bring this idea to fruition. The Grand Opening of the Red Smith Hall of Fame was April 24, 2010, and the dinner was standing room only. The total cost to APSE to build the Hall of Fame? Not one dime. And every year since its inception, two plaques (Red Smith Award winner and immediate past president) are added at the expense of Indiana University-Indianapolis.
Garry left the Journal Sentinel in Dec. 2010 to accept the position as editor in chief with The Sporting News, then owned by American City Business Journals, where he was responsible for all editorial operations of the national product.
In 2014, Garry was hired as the director of corporate initiatives at American City Business Journals, reporting directly to CEO Whitney Shaw. His efforts touch on recruiting and talent development, training, and content initiatives in several critical programs across the entire spectrum of ACBJ operating units and corporate departments.
A former Division I basketball player at Lehigh, Garry was blessed to have APSE create the Garry D. Howard Scholarship in his honor. Two scholarships are awarded annually to an HBCU student. Garry is also a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists Sports Task Force (1999-2001).
In 2007, Garry earned a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award as host of Preps Plus, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s high school sports show, which he created and hosted for more than 10 years. In 2015, he was presented with the Game-Changer Award from Dow Jones News Fund, a program from which he graduated in 1981.
He received the University of Maryland’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism Mentor of the Year Award in 2017. Garry was inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club Hall of Fame in 2017 and then was inducted into the NABJ Hall of Fame in August 2019. In 2021, Garry was named the Gerald Loeb Lawrence Minard Editor Award recipient, becoming the first person of color to receive this honor in its 20-year history.
Garry currently serves on the Dow Jones News Fund board, as well as the Morgan State School of Global Journalism & Communications’ board of visitors, and the board of advisors at the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School in the Bronx, N.Y.
Dan Shaughnessy
Carryover nomination (top 5 finish in 2025)
You’d be hard-pressed to find a journalist who cares more about his publication than Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. From advising and encouraging aspiring journalists to answering nearly every email or letter he receives from subscribers, Dan puts the best interests of the Globe first, as he has throughout a 50-plus-year career.
In fact, in 2024, he came back from recovering from heart surgery early to write a column because he couldn’t sit idly by and not weigh in on a topic near-and-dear to him: Holding ownership of Boston’s teams to the Shaughnessy standards.
Need a column on the trade that just happened? Call Dan, and you’ll have it in a couple hours. An editor needs advice on how to handle an issue or plan for an event? Call Dan, so you can tap his institutional knowledge and perspective.
He’s a team player who consults and collaborates with colleagues to make sure he’s in the ballpark with his opinions as well as to not step on anyone’s toes. He welcomes feedback and input to make his arguments stronger. He’s invested. He holds truth to power, especially when it comes to the ownership and leadership of Boston’s most popular teams, including the Red Sox, who are owned by the same person who owns the Globe. Shaughnessy is the one asking tough questions at postgame press conferences or of Boston’s sports power brokers, setting a standard for other journalists both at the Globe and across the United States.
Shaughnessy joined the Globe in 1973, and during the past 50-plus years has become beloved by many, hated by some, and read by everyone. He has been named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year 14 times and 12 times was voted one of America’s top 10 columnists by APSE. In 2025, he will be inducted into the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame.
Whenever there’s a major event in Boston sports, and there have been many, Dan’s byline is the one readers flock to first and most often. More than 9,200 of his bylines have appeared in the Globe since his first in 1973 (about a Holy Cross wide receiver).
In 2016 he won the BBWAA Career Excellence Award and was inducted into the writer’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He has been a mentor to the rest of the Globe sports staff, from editorial assistants taking high school scores to considerably more experienced reporters and editors. He also advises the Globe sports department’s leadership team on content initiatives, coverage plans, and more.
If he didn’t invent the term “Curse of The Bambino,” he certainly made it famous. He has written 12 books, including the New York Times best seller “Francona,” the aforementioned “The Curse of the Bambino,” and “Wish It Lasted Forever: Life With The Larry Bird Celtics.”
Terry Pluto
Carryover nomination (top 5 finish in 2025)
Terry Pluto has been a sports columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal for more than 30 years. He has twice been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, twice been honored by APSE as the nation’s top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers and he is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame.
During his career, Pluto has become the utmost authority on N.E. Ohio sports, from the Browns, Cavs and Indians to Ohio State, Cleveland State and the local high schools.
He has authored 25 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito, Loose Balls, Browns Town 1964 and The Comeback: LeBron, the Cavs and Cleveland.
Pluto is a true newspaper man. He is nationally respected by his peers, and he writes more in a week than most columnists/reporters do in a month.
He’s mentored many young journalists and has always accessible with quality career advice. He’s open with his readers, often hosting free town-hall events around the Cleveland/Akron area. He’s also not above saying he made a mistake.
If there is a voice for northeast Ohio, the Midwest, it’s Terry Pluto.
Pete Hayes
New nomination by Erik Hall
Pete Hayes embodies the highest ideals of sports journalism: sustained excellence, adaptability through industry upheaval, and unwavering service to a community. His career began with his hometown paper, the Olney (Illinois) Daily Mail, followed by four years as sports editor of the Granite City (Illinois) Press-Record before he joined The Telegraph in Alton, Illinois, in 1982.
Over the next 44 years at one publication, Pete covered virtually every sport at every level — while also stepping in for news coverage when needed, including elections and major community events. From two Super Bowls, six World Series, a Final Four, and the Indy 500 to countless high school gyms and soccer fields, Pete has documented generations of athletes with consistency, accuracy, and care, helping keep local sports journalism vibrant through decades of change.
As sports editor since 2000, Pete successfully guided The Telegraph through digital transformation, staffing reductions, and a strategic shift toward hyper-local coverage, ensuring strong sports journalism remained central to the publication even as resources tightened and platforms evolved. His excellence continues late into his career: In 2025, his column writing earned a national top-10 honor from the Associated Press Sports Editors, and he won first place from the Illinois Press Association for a deeply moving column about a soccer player who died suddenly in a car accident. That same year, he was named Soccer Person of the Year by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association, reflecting the respect he commands from the communities he serves.
In 2020, Pete was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as a media member — an honor that underscores the trust and credibility he built over nearly five decades. Just as important is Pete’s character: collaborative, dependable, generous with his institutional knowledge, and quietly committed to doing the work the right way. In an era when long-term local newsroom careers are increasingly rare, Pete Hayes stands as a powerful example of sustained commitment and impact. His career reflects exactly what the Red Smith Award honors — major contributions to sports journalism through craftsmanship, integrity, and enduring service to readers — making him exceptionally deserving of this recognition.
Helene Elliott
New nomination from Iliana Limon Romero
Helene Elliott was one of the first women to cover the National Hockey League and the first female journalist to be honored in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport. She also was Association for Women in Sports Media’s 2024 recipient of the Mary Garber Pioneer Award.
Elliott was the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award. A past president of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, she has mentored numerous female sports reporters, especially those with an interest in hockey.
She began her career at the Chicago Sun-Times before working at Newsday. She joined the Los Angeles Times in 1989, moving from a focus on hockey to general sports columnist before retiring in February after 34 years at the paper. A New York native and Northwestern graduate, Elliott covered 20 Olympics.
Elliott’s decision to retire came soon after her beloved husband Dennis D’Agostino’s death in September. D’Agostino worked for the Associated Press before joining the New York Knicks and Mets public relations departments. After marrying Elliott and moving to California to support her career, D’Agostino was a fixture at Southern California games while working as an NBA and MLB statistician.
“I can tell you why Helene is a Hall of Famer, because I’ve seen it every day for the last six years: Tenaciousness. A near-obsession with thoroughness and accuracy. A crisp, vivid writing style that makes the story come alive. The total respect she has earned from owners, executives, coaches and players. An unceasing work ethic and a years-long cultivation of rock-solid sources,” D’Agostino wrote for the L.A. Times when Elliott was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“Helene tends to downplay her role as one of the pioneer female journalists in American sports. But make no mistake, when she and her sisters were starting out in the late 1970s, many locker room doors and press boxes were still closed except by court order.
“In a 1978 interview in People magazine (from which she was bumped from the cover in favor of Lenny and Squiggy), she said, ‘Women have enough constraints without being made to stand outside for two hours before we can see the players.’ But she added, ‘Imagine getting paid to do all the things my parents yelled at me not to do.’ So as far as her legacy as a trailblazer, let’s just say that my wife has done a lot of things simply because people told her she couldn’t.”
Mike Fannin
New nomination by Wright Thompson
Mike Fannin changed my life, and the lives of so many others, during his run at the Kansas City Star.
His mandate was simple: Be the Sports Illustrated of our town.
His other, which he attributed to Marv Levy, was to do what other sections were unable or unwilling to do.
He pushed us to be great, to take risks, and the stories of him keeping the business and news side people off our backs are legendary. (I once heard him tell the managing editor and the guy running the press room that he would not send the sports section until the Miami-Ohio State national championship game was finished.)
He prioritized the work, and especially the sacred mission of the APSE to encourage sports sections to put readers before profits. He loved the special section, the Sunday centerpiece, and his line-editing remains the best I’ve ever received. He ran a home for wayward boys and girls, hosting a Sunday barbecue at his house nearly every week of my five years there. We were a tribe, created in his image, and I wish so badly for him to be honored for the best of himself.
He was a force of nature, and American sportswriting is forever changed because of him. There is no Joe Posnanski without Mike. There is no Jeff Passan, no me. No Mike Vaccarro. No Vahe. No Voepel. No Liz Merrill. On and on and on. I am forever in his debt and hope y’all can consider him for this award. It would mean the world to him.
Michael Wilbon (2 nominations)
New nomination by George Solomon
Before Michael Wilbon became Michael Wilbon of ESPN and ABC, he was Michael Wilbon of The Washington Post, a summer intern fresh out of Northwestern’s Medill College of Journalism. That would be in 1979, when he was a junior. A year later, after dozens of stringing stories during the school year from Chicago for The Post, Wilbon was back at The Post for a second internship.
“We’ve got to hire this guy,” I pleaded that summer to my boss, the late executive editor of The Post, Ben Bradlee. “You don’t have an opening,” Bradlee responded.
“I’ll owe you; the next opening will have been filled by Wilbon,” I told Bradlee. Years later, when Bradlee passed away to the newsroom in the sky, I still owed him for Wilbon.
But who could deny Wilbon’s value to The Washington Post: From his earliest assignments — covering D.C. High School All-Star football games in empty RFK Stadium to owning the beats at Howard University, the University of Maryland, the Washington Bullets, Redskins and Baltimore Orioles.
If Wilbon walked into a team’s locker room, an hour later, the locker room was his. By 1996, Wilbon had become a sports columnist and was flying across the country for stories that included Jim Brown trying to calm the citizens of Los Angeles after the Rodney King affair.
He became a great sports columnist, worthy of being nominated for the Red Smith award. By 2010, ABC and ESPN had a grip on Michael Wilbon. But his work and presence at The Washington Post will never be forgotten.
Second nomination by Todd Adams
Michael Wilbon is a longtime sports columnist, commentator, and analyst whose career has spanned more than four decades across print and broadcast journalism. He joined The Washington Post in 1980 as a sports reporter and became a full‑time columnist in 1990. During his tenure at the Post, he covered every major American sporting event, including 10 Olympic Games, every Super Bowl since 1987, nearly every NCAA Final Four since 1982, and each NBA Finals since 1987. His work ranged from game coverage to long‑form reporting and commentary on the intersection of sports, culture and society.
Wilbon’s journalism has been recognized throughout the industry. In 2001, he was named the top sports columnist in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists. His reporting and commentary earned him a reputation for versatility and consistency across a wide range of sports and issues. He was also known for his deadline writing and for bringing broader cultural context into sports coverage at a time when that approach was still emerging in mainstream outlets.
In addition to his print career, Wilbon became a central figure in sports broadcasting. Since 2001, he has co‑hosted ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser, a daily program that helped establish a new format for sports discussion on television. He has also served as an NBA analyst for ESPN and ABC, contributing to NBA Countdown, SportsCenter, and other network programming. His work across platforms made him one of the first prominent newspaper columnists to maintain parallel careers in print and television.
Wilbon has written two books with Charles Barkley and has contributed to ESPN’s Andscape (formerly The Undefeated), focusing on the intersection of sports, race and culture. Earlier in his career, he appeared regularly on Washington’s Redskins Report and Full Court Press with George Michael, further expanding his presence in local and national sports media.
His contributions have been recognized by several organizations. Wilbon received the National Association of Black Journalists’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award in 2017. In 2020, he was honored with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award for print journalism. He is also a member of the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame.
Wilbon is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he has remained active as an alumnus and mentor. Throughout his career, he has been a visible and influential figure for young journalists, particularly journalists of color, and has been involved in various professional development and mentorship efforts.
Tony Kornheiser
New nomination by George Solomon
Before he became co-host of “Pardon the Interruption” in 2001, followed by a two-year stint on “Monday Night Football,” Tony Kornheiser was a superb columnist for The Washington Post.
I say that knowing if we were both still at The Post, Kornheiser would remind me daily of my assessment of him, wearing me out consistently.
But his departure from The Post in 2010 was a major loss for The Post, nearly 16 years before The Post eliminated its sports section in early 2026. But that was now, way before former Post Style Editor Shelby Coffey and I recruited Kornheiser from the New York Times in 1979 to write for both Style and Sports. Before writing for The Times (1976-1979), Kornheiser learned his trade at Newsday, after graduating from Harpur College (now Binghamton University).
How would it all work? Who knew, but it did, with Kornheiser writing remarkable feature stories for both sections. By 1984, after David Kindred left The Post for Atlanta, Kornheiser was promoted to sports columnist (with Tom Boswell) and Sunday Style columnist, writing on any subject that crossed his mind.
Kornheiser would write two sports columns a week (Tuesday and Thursday) that I recommend you call up and read. His Bandwagon Tuesday columns on Washington’s last Super Bowl appearance in 1991 were strictly Mr. Tony. His Style columns earned him a finalist in commentary for a Pulitzer, and with Michael Wilbon, won the Fourth Estate award from the National Press Club. And, if that wasn’t enough, you can hear Kornheiser on the radio daily.
In 2010 Kornheiser left The Post to work strictly for ESPN – a great loss for the newspaper, its readers and yours truly. He still lives on television and radio, but also in the memory of one admiring editor and lots of readers.
Dick Young
Carryover nomination (updated and re-submitted for 2026 by Joe Sullivan)
Dick Young changed sports writing, prodding it into a modern form that benefits our readers to this day. He worked for the New York Daily News for 45 years. Before Young did it, sports writers were mostly observers from on high. Young was one of the first to move into the locker room fearlessly, asking for explanations, holding athletes accountable.
If you read “The Boys of Summer,’’ by Roger Kahn, you’ll see that simple advice from Young that transformed Kahn’s approach. “Write off the game every chance you get,’’ he told Kahn, meaning the monotonous play-by-play would only go so far. The details beyond the game often become the best stories. Personal stories were also part of what he did.
He evolved into the leading columnist in New York and was highly controversial. Some saw him as arrogant or too conservative, but he backed down from no one, making both allies and enemies. He was polarizing, but his form of sports writing set the tone for modern sports journalism.
He was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. He’s also one of the most important people involved in developing the modern scoring system of baseball. I witnessed this in a press box after a controversial ruling by him as official scorer. Someone said, “You don’t know the rule.’’ Young stood up and said, “I don’t know the rule? I wrote the rule.’’
It was a perfect example of his ego and authority. That, of course, translated to his column.
His absence from the Red Smith wall of winners is a huge omission; he deserved to be honored among the greats.
Larry Merchant
Carryover nomination (updated and re-submitted for 2026 by Joe Sullivan)
If you relied on Wikipedia, one would think Larry Merchant was a boxing announcer prone to controversy. He was indeed that, but in terms of journalism, he was much more than that.
His boxing commentary and interviews were the best in the business when he worked for HBO. He was willing to ask the questions that others were only thinking about.
As a newspaper editor, he was in charge of the Philadelphia Daily News, an underrated publication that set the tone for sports coverage in the city with well-written stories in a hard-hitting style and great, in-depth feature stories. The Daily News, led by Merchant, set the bar high for modern sports journalism when the business was changing.
As a columnist at both the Daily News and the New York Post (pre-Murdoch), he did the exact same thing. Unrepentant opinions but well reported. A reader and sports left entertained and well informed.
He was also the author of three books.
Kirk Bohls
New nomination by Reid Laymance
Kirk Bohls has covered the University of Texas for more than 50 years as a beat reporter and columnist.
His first 50 were at the Austin American-Statesman before moving to the Houston Chronicle in 2024.
In addition to his track record of reporting on UT as well as commentary on The Masters, Tour de France, World Series, and NFL, Kirk has been a mentor to scores of journalists in Texas over the years.
Kirk and his wife, Vikki, fund an annual scholarship at the University of Texas for sports journalists and the Daily Texans.
He has also worked with the Football Writers Association to help ensure access and other rights for reporters.
Bryan Burwell
New nomination by Reid Laymance
Bryan Burwell, who passed away in 2014, was one of the early contributors to Black sports journalism.
He worked at eight newspapers, from New York’s Newsday to the Detroit News to USA Today to his final 12 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, while pioneering the balancing act of sports writer and multimedia personality with jobs at Real Sports, Inside The NFL, sideline reporter on TNT, and ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters.”
Burwell approached issues of race and class head-on and mentored an entire generation of young journalists, many of whom needed to see someone who looked liked them rise to the pinnacle of their profession.
Gary Smith
New nomination by Todd Adams
Gary Smith is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished long‑form sportswriters in American journalism. He spent 30 years at Sports Illustrated (1983–2013), where he became known for deeply reported, narrative‑driven profiles that often explored the personal histories, motivations and conflicts of his subjects. Before joining Sports Illustrated, Smith worked at the Wilmington News Journal, the Philadelphia Daily News, the New York Daily News, and Inside Sports, building a foundation in both daily reporting and magazine‑style storytelling.
During his tenure at Sports Illustrated, Smith typically produced four major feature stories per year, each the result of extensive reporting and immersive interviewing. His work appeared in Time, Rolling Stone, and Esquire, reflecting the broader relevance of his reporting beyond sports. Several of his profile subjects have publicly noted the depth of his insight and the care with which he approached their stories.
Smith’s journalism has been recognized with some of the highest honors in magazine writing. He won the National Magazine Award for non‑fiction four times — the most of any writer — and was a finalist a record ten times. His stories have been selected for The Best American Sports Writing anthology 12 times, also a record. In 2006, a survey of Associated Press sports editors named him the nation’s top sportswriter. His 1996 profile of Tiger Woods was later included in The Best American Sportswriting of the Century.
Smith’s peers have consistently cited him as a model for narrative sports journalism. Media critic Ben Yagoda described him as “the best magazine writer in America,” and other writers have referred to him as “America’s best sportswriter.” Younger journalists have frequently pointed to his work as an example of how deeply reported storytelling can illuminate the human dimensions of sports.
His professional career began unusually early: he was hired by the Wilmington News Journal while still in high school and continued reporting there while attending La Salle University. Over the decades that followed, he developed a body of work that emphasized complexity, empathy and close attention to the internal conflicts of the athletes and coaches he profiled. His wife, Sally, once described his approach as an effort “to understand what is the core conflict that has driven that person,” a philosophy that shaped much of his reporting.
Smith has published two books collecting his magazine work: Beyond the Game: The Collected Sportswriting of Gary Smith (2001) and Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories (2008). His stories continue to be used in journalism programs and writing workshops as examples of long‑form reporting and narrative craft. He was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame as part of its 2020–2021 class.
Adrian Wojnarowski
New nomination by Todd Adams
Adrian Wojnarowski is a longtime sports reporter, columnist, author, and NBA insider whose career has spanned newspapers, magazines, digital media, and television. Born in Bristol, Connecticut, he began his journalism career at the Hartford Courant while still in high school and continued reporting there during college breaks. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1991, later receiving the university’s Alumnus of the Year honor in 2019 and an honorary doctorate in 2022.
After college, Wojnarowski worked for several smaller newspapers before becoming a columnist for the Fresno Bee in 1995. In 1997, he joined The Record in New Jersey, where his work earned him Associated Press Sports Editors “Columnist of the Year” honors in both 1997 and 2002. During this period, he also contributed regularly to ESPN.com. In 2006, he published The Miracle of St. Anthony, a New York Times bestseller about coach Bob Hurley and St. Anthony High School’s basketball program.
Wojnarowski joined Yahoo! Sports full‑time in 2007 after contributing to the site’s NBA coverage for several years. At Yahoo!, he became one of the most prominent national reporters covering the NBA, known for breaking major news on trades, free‑agent signings, and organizational changes. His reporting helped define a new era of real‑time, digital‑first NBA journalism, particularly through his use of Twitter as a primary news‑delivery platform. He was widely recognized as one of the league’s most influential reporters during this period.
In 2017, Wojnarowski joined ESPN as its lead NBA insider, contributing to SportsCenter, NBA Countdown, ESPN.com, and the network’s draft and free‑agency coverage. His reporting continued to shape league news cycles and he became one of ESPN’s most visible journalists. Over the course of his career, he was named National Sports Media Association National Sportswriter of the Year three times (2017, 2018, 2019).
In addition to his reporting, Wojnarowski has written extensively about basketball culture and personalities. His work has included investigative reporting, long‑form features, and coverage of major NCAA and NBA stories. Earlier in his career, he co‑wrote a widely discussed 2009 Yahoo! Sports investigation into NCAA recruiting violations involving the University of Connecticut men’s basketball program. He has also written or co‑written multiple books, including athlete biographies and coaching profiles.
Wojnarowski retired from reporting in 2024 and transitioned into basketball administration, becoming the general manager of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball program. His move marked a return to the university where he began his journalism career and where he has remained an active alumnus.
Jackie MacMullan
New nomination from Erik Hall
For more than four decades, Jackie MacMullan has represented the sustained excellence, integrity and influence that define the Red Smith Award. Sports editors know how rare it is to find a journalist who can handle the daily beat, deliver long-form narrative and pursue investigative reporting — and do it across multiple sports. From chronicling the Boston Celtics dynasty at the Boston Globe to covering World Series, Stanley Cup Finals and the Olympics, MacMullan demonstrated that no assignment was too big and no subject too complex.
After establishing herself at the Globe, she became a senior NBA writer at Sports Illustrated from 1995-2000 before returning to the Boston Globe as a columnist and associate sports editor. In every role, she strengthened the newsroom around her while producing work that balanced access with accountability and authority with empathy. Her investigative reporting on the death of Reggie Lewis, recognized by APSE, reflected the rigor that defines the best of our profession.
Even as the industry shifted, MacMullan stayed ahead of it. While at ESPN.com, she tied for first place in APSE’s 2018 Class A projects category for her reporting on NBA player mental health, including Kevin Love’s decision to seek counseling. It did more than earn peer recognition — it moved the conversation forward. As a senior writer at ESPN and a respected presence on “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption,” she brought a reporter’s depth to television without sacrificing credibility.
Her Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Mary Garber Pioneer Award from AWSM confirm what sports editors have long known: Jackie MacMullan is not only an exceptional storyteller, but a transformational presence in sports journalism. The Red Smith Award honors careers that leave our craft stronger than they found it. Few have done so more consistently, more honorably, or more impactfully than Jackie MacMullan.
