The honor roll of American sportswriting

Every name on the Red Smith Award.

Since 1981 the Associated Press Sports Editors have given their lifetime honor to the writers and editors who set the standard for the American sports page. This is a record of all of them.

Most recent

Christine Brennan

2020 · The first woman on the Miami Herald sports staff, the first on the Washington Redskins beat, the first president of the group that made sure she would not be the last. The award followed in 2020.

The namesake

The award is named for Walter “Red” Smith, the New York columnist whose work set the bar it now measures against — and its first recipient, in 1981.

39Recipients

1981First award

5Decades

1Standard

The roll of honor

All recipients →

The 1980s

1981 Red SmithColumnist 1982 Jim MurrayColumnist 1983 Shirley PovichColumnist 1984 Fred RussellSports editor 1985 Blackie SherrodColumnist 1986 Si BurickSports editor and columnist 1987 Will GrimsleyWire-service reporter and columnist 1988 Furman BisherColumnist 1989 Edwin PopeColumnist and sports editor

The 1990s

1990 Dave SmithSports editor 1991 Dave KindredColumnist 1992 Ed StorinSports editor 1993 Tom McEwenSports editor and columnist 1994 Dave AndersonColumnist 1995 Richard SandlerSports editor 1996 Bill DwyreSports editor and columnist 1997 Jerome HoltzmanBaseball writer 1998 Sam LacySports editor 1999 Bud CollinsColumnist and broadcaster

The 2000s

2000 Jerry IzenbergColumnist 2001 John SteadmanColumnist 2002 Dick SchaapWriter and broadcaster 2003 George SolomonSports editor 2004 Jimmy CannonColumnist 2005 Mary GarberReporter 2006 Joe McGuffSports editor and editor 2007 Van McKenzieSports editor 2008 W. C. HeinzColumnist and author 2009 Vince DoriaSports editor and news executive

The 2010s

2010 Mitch AlbomColumnist 2011 Bill MillsapsSports editor 2012 Frank DefordMagazine writer and commentator 2013 Dan JenkinsMagazine writer and novelist 2014 Wendell SmithSportswriter, sports editor and broadcaster 2015 Bob RyanColumnist 2016 Leigh MontvilleColumnist and author 2018 Terry TaylorSports editor 2019 Sandy RosenbushSports editor

The 2020s

2020 Christine BrennanColumnist

An independent archive, not affiliated with the Associated Press Sports Editors. Compiled from public sources for reference and commentary. About this project →