Home cookin’…How John Clayton has helped transform how we cover the NFL

It must be that western Pennsylvania food and water.  That has to at least be part of the equation.  How else can one explain how some of the greatest quarterbacks and players in the history of professional football and some of the greatest sports writers come from the same geographic area?
The late Myron Cope, the legendary color man for Pittsburgh Steelers radio broadcasts was honored by Sports Illustrated on its 50th anniversary citing Mr. Cope’s profile of Howard Cosell as one of its 50 classic articles. Although many people in the broadcast industry pointed to the voice and personality of Myron Cope as a “gimmick,” the same thing cannot be said concerning the journalistic approach of John Clayton.  When one thinks of Mr. Clayton, the word “gimmicky” does not come to mind; however, the word genius does.

John Travis Clayton was born May 11, 1954 in Braddock, PA.  He is a National Football League (NFL) writer and reporter for ESPN. He is also a senior writer for ESPN.com. Clayton had his eye on sports reporting early on while growing up in Braddock and Forest Hills, PA.
“Well, you grow up in Pittsburgh, a steel town, grow up in a ghetto-like environment, you have a single mom who worked hard and did everything for you, and gave me that (example),” he said. “And then I was lucky enough to figure out from a very young age what I wanted to do.  My goal all along, and I was able to get a press pass at the age of seventeen to cover the Steelers, was to be a beat person covering an NFL team and do a radio show.  Clearly what ended up happening was that everything far exceeded what I was hoping for.  The lucky part is that I was able to start so young.  I worked very hard, all through Duquesne University.  I was at one point considering going to Syracuse, I received a partial scholarship but that was right around the time that the Steelers were good, the Pirates were good and hockey was becoming more popular.  It served me better to stay in town and consequently all through college I was able to get 25 freelance opportunities for jobs, many of them paying opportunities, writing and broadcasting covering games.  Finally, I was at a Duquesne basketball game and Jeff Samuels from the Pittsburgh Press came walking over to me in January right before I was due to graduate and said “hey, they’re going to hire you at the paper.”  I said; “Gee for what?” Because I hadn’t even applied and sure enough they hired me and I spent my last semester at Duquesne working for the Pittsburgh Press.”
By the time Clayton reached the ripe old age of 25, he put his hometown Steelers, in a serious, serious predicament.  On one particular occasion he was subbing for the regular Steelers beat reporter at a spring minicamp. He noticed that the Steelers had practiced in pads, which was against the rules for that time of the year.  “I called the league office and asked if they could read me the rule,” Clayton said.
Once he verified it was an infraction, he wrote the story, and in the aftermath, the league docked the Steelers a third-round draft choice. Coach Chuck Noll accused Clayton of espionage, and Steelers fans were not nearly as incensed with Noll for knowingly breaking the rules as they were with Clayton for reporting it.
“It was news, and it was a valid story,” Wevurski said. “He took a beating for it, but his job was to report the news.” After those violations by the Steelers were exposed, Clayton was banned from the team’s facility.
Next week, ‘Home Cookin Part II’; Redemption and restoration. (The sources for this story was espn.com, Dave Boling and thenewstribune.com and wikipedia.com)
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at; abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
He is also a contributing columnist for urbanmediatoday.com
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