William Forrest "Blackie" Sherrod ( ;
/ref> November 9, 1919 – April 28, 2016) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

who wrote for the ''Temple Telegram'', ''Fort Worth Press'', ''

Dallas Times Herald The ''Dallas Times Herald'', founded in 1888 by a merger of the '' Dallas Times'' and the '' Dallas Herald'', was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas ( USA) area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, an ...

'' and ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' in a career that spanned more than sixty years. Voted Texas Sportswriter of the Year a record sixteen times, he was called "the best writer I ever read" by

Don January Donald Ray January (November 20, 1929 – May 7, 2023) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship. Early life Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a ...

and "the best newspaperman I ever knew" by Felix McKnight who hired Sherrod at the ''Times Herald'' in 1958. Despite not being as well known nationally as he was in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, he was the mentor to both

Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ea ...

and

Bud Shrake Edwin A. "Bud" Shrake, Jr. (September 6, 1931 – May 8, 2009) was an American journalist, sportswriter, novelist, biographer and screenwriter. He co-wrote a series of golfing advice books with golf coach Harvey Penick, including ''Harvey Penick's ...

.Sherrington, Kevin. "Legendary News sportswriter Blackie Sherrod dies at 96," ''The Dallas Morning News'', Friday, April 29, 2016.
/ref> Sherrod attended

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

for the 1937–1938 academic year, but transferred to

Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a Private university, private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Noah T. Byers and John David Robnett founded Howard Payne College in 18 ...

where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in English in May 1941.Blackie Sherrod, ''The Dallas Morning News'', Class of 2011 – Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame.
/ref> He was the

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

with

Bill Mercer William A. Mercer (February 13, 1926 – March 22, 2025) was an American sportscaster, educator and author. Mercer, a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2002. He was best known for covering shows f ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

radio broadcasts on

KLIF-AM KLIF () is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Dallas, Texas. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a news/talk format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The studios are in the Victory Park district in Dallas, just no ...

from 1967 to 1969. Sherrod relinquished his duties to

Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American former sportscaster known for his long career with CBS Sports. Early life Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before ...

after he was disgusted over a piece of ice that hit his hat while he was standing next to the press box elevator at

Pitt Stadium Pitt Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the eastern United States, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1925 Pittsburgh Panthers fo ...

in December 1969.Engel, Mac. "Verne Lundquist returns to his roots as Cowboys’ radio voice," ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', Friday, September 11, 2015.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrod, Blackie 1919 births 2016 deaths The Dallas Morning News people Howard Payne University alumni People from Belton, Texas Sportswriters from Texas American radio sports announcers