MIAMI (AP) - Edwin Pope, an award-winning sports columnist who covered the first 47 Super Bowls and spent more than 50 years with the Miami Herald, has died at 88.
Managing Editor Rick Hirsch says Pope, who had battled cancer, died Thursday in Okeechobee, Florida, where he lived in retirement.
Pope went into the newspaper business at age 11, was a sports editor at 15 and joined the Herald in 1956. He covered the Miami Dolphins from their first season and recommended Don Shula for their head coaching job in 1970, a suggestion that transformed the franchise.
In 1989, Pope became the youngest winner of the Red Smith Award, given for lifetime achievement in sports journalism. He was a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.