The Sports Xchange

The late Dave Goldberg, who spent 41 years at the Associated Press including 25 as the wire service’s lead NFL writer, has been selected as the 2015 Dick McCann Award winner by the Professional Football Writers of America.

Goldberg, the 47th McCann Award winner, is the second member of the AP to receive the McCann Award, joining Jack Hand, who was honored in 1976. Goldberg died on Feb. 8 at the age of 73 in Mount Kisco, N.Y., from complications following hip surgery.

The McCann Award is given to a reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage. The award is named for McCann, who was the first director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1962-67). McCann was a longtime reporter who joined the Washington Redskins in 1946 as publicity director and was the club’s general manager from 1947-62.

“Dave not only was a walking encyclopedia of NFL information, but he relayed it in his inimitable style, always entertaining while always enlightening,” AP pro football writer Barry Wilner said of Goldberg. “Having worked 24 Super Bowls at his side, I came to recognize that Dave saw well beyond the Xs and Os of the game. He found the stories that really mattered, doing so fairly, concisely and with that journalistic edge that fascinated not only his millions of readers, but his peers.”

Goldberg joined the AP in 1968, beginning a rapid rise from state house correspondent in Trenton, N.J., to news editor in that state, to assistant bureau chief in Chicago to the general news desk in New York.

Goldberg joined the AP’s sports desk in 1982, and before becoming the lead football writer, he covered a variety of other sports. He moved to the NFL beat in 1984 and covered the league and three NFL commissioners — Pete Rozelle, Paul Tagliabue and Roger Goodell.

After his retirement from the AP, Goldberg stayed active by writing for AOL Fanhouse, and he was a longtime member of the selection committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“The NFL community has lost a good friend and highly respected professional,” Goodell said after Goldberg’s death in February. “Dave’s integrity, passion, and sense of fairness enabled him to maintain excellent working relationships with team owners, coaches, players, and commissioners. He was a real pro who served NFL fans exceptionally well with his coverage of the league for many years.”

Goldberg will be honored during the 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on Aug. 8 in Canton, Ohio.

–DICK McCANN AWARD WINNERS (To a reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage): 1969 — George Strickler (Chicago Tribune); 1970 — Arthur Daley (New York Times); 1971 — Joe King (New York World Telegram & Sun); 1972 — Lewis “Tony” Atchison (Washington Star); 1973 — Dave Brady (Washington Post); 1974 — Bob Oates (Los Angeles Times); 1975 — John Steadman (Baltimore News-American); 1976 — Jack Hand (Associated Press); 1977 — Art Daley (Green Bay Press-Gazette); 1978 — Murray Olderman (Newspaper Enterprise Association); 1979 — Pat Livingston (Pittsburgh Press); 1980 — Chuck Heaton (Cleveland Plain Dealer); 1981 — Norm Miller (New York Daily News); 1982 — Cameron Snyder (Baltimore Sun); 1983 — Hugh Brown (Philadelphia Bulletin); 1984 — Larry Felser (Buffalo News); 1985 — Cooper Rollow (Chicago Tribune); 1986 — William Wallace (New York Times); 1987 — Jerry Magee (San Diego Union); 1988 — Gordon Forbes (USA Today); 1989 — Vito Stellino (Baltimore Sun); 1990 — Will McDonough (Boston Globe); 1991 — Dick Connor (Denver Post); 1992 — Frank Luksa (Dallas Morning News); 1993 — Ira Miller (San Francisco Chronicle); 1994 — Don Pierson (Chicago Tribune); 1995 — Ray Didinger (Philadelphia Daily News); 1996 — Paul Zimmerman (Sports Illustrated); 1997 — Bob Roesler (New Orleans Times-Picayune); 1998 — Dave Anderson (New York Times); 1999 — Art Spander (Oakland Tribune); 2000 — Tom McEwen (Tampa Tribune); 2001 — Len Shapiro (Washington Post); 2002 — Edwin Pope (Miami Herald); 2003 — Joel Buchsbaum (Pro Football Weekly); 2004 — Rick Gosselin (Dallas Morning News); 2005 — Jerry Green (Detroit News); 2006 — John McClain (Houston Chronicle); 2007 — John Clayton (ESPN.com); 2008 — Len Pasquarelli (ESPN.com); 2009 — Peter King (Sports Illustrated); 2010 — Peter Finney (New Orleans Times-Picayune); 2011 — Bob McGinn (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel); 2012 — Tom Kowalski (MLive.com); 2013 — Dan Pompei (Chicago Tribune); 2014 — Ed Bouchette (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette); 2015 — Dave Goldberg (Associated Press).

–ABOUT THE PFWA: The Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) is the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. The PFWA is made up of accredited writers who cover the NFL and the 32 teams on a daily basis. Jeff Legwold, who covers the Denver Broncos for ESPN.com, is the organization’s president for 2015-17, while Bleacher Report national columnist Dan Pompei is the PFWA’s first vice-president and ESPN’s Jim Trotter is the organization’s second vice-president. Follow the PFWA at ProFootballWriters.org and on Twitter at @PFWAwriters.