John Steadman

John Steadman (February 14, 1927 – January 1, 2001) was an American sportswriter for The Baltimore Sun. His career spanned 7 decades and he attended and reported on every Super Bowl from its inception until his death.^[1]

Background

Steadman attended the Baltimore City College high school and was once a minor league baseball player. He decided to leave baseball in order to become a sportswriter.

Career

He was originally hired by the Baltimore News-Post in 1945 as a sports reporter, earning 14 dollars an hour. In 1952, Steadman revealed that Baltimore would regain an NFL franchise. Steadman would attend every Baltimore Football game from 1947 to December 10, 2000, a streak of 719 games. He was also one of only eight writers to attend all 34 Super Bowls, through Super Bowl XXXIV. He was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2000.

Steadman served as a color commentator on Colts radio broadcasts from 1955–58 and again from 1963-66.

In 1959 he wrote the book "The Greatest Football Game Ever Played: When the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants Faced Sudden Death".

Steadman was honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the posthumous recipient of the Red Smith Award, America’s most prestigious sports writing honor, on June 29, 2001.^[2]

Family

In 1973, the John F. Steadman firehouse, at the base of Baltimore's Bromo-Seltzer Tower was named for sportswriter John Steadman's father, John F. Steadman, a legendary Baltimore City Fire Department Deputy Chief.

References

1. ↑ Klingaman, Mike. "A Baltimore legend, champion of underdogs," The Baltimore Sun, Tuesday, January 2, 2001.
2. ↑ McKee, Sandra. "Steadman worth 'all the fuss,' peers say," The Baltimore Sun, Saturday, June 30 2001.

External links

• Klingaman, Mike. "Steadman wins Red Smith Award," The Baltimore Sun, Wednesday, May 2, 2001.
• Rasmussen, Frederick N. "John Steadman, 'fireman's fireman,'" The Baltimore Sun, Saturday, October 2, 2004.