Cronkite School visiting professional to be inducted into National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame

William Rhoden, an award-winning national sports writer and visiting professional at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will be inducted into the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) Hall of Fame this summer.

Rhoden, who joined the Cronkite School in 2019 as a visiting professor and a visiting senior practitioner for the Global Sport Institute, is receiving the prestigious honor for his 45-year journalism career.

“I am honored and humbled to be inducted into the Sports Media Hall of Fame,” Rhoden said. “When I look at the other inductees — professionals I’ve worked with for years — the honor becomes even more special. This is indeed one of the highlights of my career.”

During his 34 years working at The New York Times, Rhoden became an award-winning columnist, spending more than a decade as the author of the “Sports of the Times” column. Before joining The Times, he spent more than three years as a columnist for The Baltimore Sun.

Rhoden received a Peabody Award in recognition of his writing for HBO’s documentary “Journey of the African American Athlete.” Additionally, he earned an Emmy Award for writing “Breaking the Huddle” and published the books “Forty Million Dollar Slaves” in 2006 and “Third and a Mile” in 2007.

Today, Rhoden continues to be a writer-at-large for The Undefeated, ESPN’s digital platform, exploring the intersection of race, culture and sports. As a visiting professional at the Cronkite School, Rhoden teaches “Opinion in the Digital Age,” introducing students to the art of crafting and forming thoughtful opinion pieces for all existing platforms.

“William C. Rhoden is one of the finest sports journalists of our time. He is a model for our students to go beyond the obvious, to find stories that matter, stories that make a difference. We are so fortunate to have him teaching at Cronkite” said Brett Kurland, director of sports programs at the Cronkite School and the Phoenix Sports Bureau.

Rhoden will be inducted into the NSMA Hall of Fame alongside fellow sports writers Larry Merchant, William Nack and Rick Telander. Accompanying them will also be legendary sportscasters Bill King, Jim Nantz and Dick Stockton, in what is a record-breaking seven-person Hall of Fame Class of 2021.

The NSMA is scheduled to honor its Hall of Fame inductees this summer on June 26–28 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

About the National Sports Media Association

The National Sports Media Association is an organization of more than 1,000 members that honors excellence in the sports media industry and passes along knowledge and history through the generations. Each year, NSMA members in each state and the District of Columbia elect a State Sportscaster of the Year and State Sportswriter of the Year and Hall of Fame inductees.

Story by Mario Baralta