Edwin Pope was recognized as one of the greatest sportswriters in America. Pope died of cancer at the age of 88 in Okeechobee, Florida where he lived during his retirement. Pope had worked for The Miami Herald newspaper for more than 50 years. Pope has been inducted into various Halls of Fame, but not the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF). Jimmy Cannon was a columnist in New York and was inducted into the IBHOF. Cannon said that Pope was the best sportswriter in America. Will Pope ever be inducted into the IBHOF? Possibly, probably, but also posthumously. Pope was not honored while he was alive. Why? I think the main reason is because his writing did not focus solely on boxing. Pope was a sportswriter who covered not just boxing, but also other sports such as football and horse racing. Before the Internet and before ESPN, people frequently relied on Pope to give them the news in sports. Pope received the Red Smith Award in 1989 which is the highest honor a sports journalist can obtain. The award is given for lifetime achievement and Pope became the youngest writer ever to win it.
Pope attended and covered the first 47 Super Bowls of the National Football League (NFL). Pope was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a writer in 2002. While working for The Miami Herald, Pope covered the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. The Dolphins named the press box at their stadium in honor of Edwin Pope. Pope's columns were held in such high regard that some people in South Florida purchased The Herald just to read his articles. People wanted to know what Pope wrote and his opinions on what was happening in sports at the time. Pope was instrumental in Don Shula becoming the Dolphins head coach in 1970 because Pope recommended him for the job. Shula won two Super Bowls with the Dolphins and one of those champions is still the only undefeated team in NFL history.
Shortly after Pope's death, there were many articles on the Internet written about his career as a journalist and his life. I only found one eulogy though on the boxing websites. It was written by a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) who was a former writer of The Miami Herald and briefly worked with Pope at the newspaper. The writer revealed that he endorsed Pope to receive the A.J. Liebling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing in 2004. I am sure that Pope deserved to win the award, but would he have won if the writer did not advocate for him? Pope has not been inducted into the IBHOF yet and one reason could be because he does not have enough people advocating for his enshrinement. The Ring Magazine states that they have won 11 awards for editorial excellence. These awards are given by the BWAA. The current president of the BWAA is Joseph Santoliquito. Santoliquito was a former editor of Ring Magazine and now writes for the magazine. Obviously, there is a conflict of interest as to who wins these awards.
Pope was once asked in an interview whether he thought it was necessary for sportswriters to have a journalism degree. Pope said that he did not think it was necessary to have the degree and that journalism can be learned through experience by working in the field. When Pope was just 11 years old, he was given a job as a writer for the Athens-Banner Herald in Athens, Georgia. Pope got the job by writing down every word that a sportscaster said in a radio broadcast of a college football game. Pope went to the newspaper and gave it to the editor-in-chief. The editor was impressed and offered him a job as a writer, but he did not get paid. Pope accepted the job anyway because of the invaluable experience that he could get. At the age of 15, Pope was promoted to sports editor of the newspaper because every able-bodied man in America in 1943 was fighting in World War II. Pope became the youngest sports editor in the United States. Women were not considered for sports editing jobs back in those days, but now it is not unusual for women to be sports editors. Pope majored in journalism at the University of Georgia. While in college, Pope was an amateur boxer and listened to Joe Louis on the radio. After graduating from college, Pope worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Pope eventually quit because the newspaper would not buy a manual pencil sharpener for $1.75. There was only one pencil sharpener in the newsroom, but the newspaper considered the purchase of another pencil sharpener as an extravagance.
Atlanta's loss was Miami's gain and Pope was offered a job at The Miami Herald in 1956 where he worked for five decades. Pope was promoted to sports editor at The Herald in 1967, but also wrote a few columns a week. Pope covered the first Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston heavyweight championship fight in 1964. The fight took place at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Pope also made hundreds of trips to the original 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach which is where Ali trained. Pope's columns would sometimes be based on his experiences at the gym. Pope was travelling with Ali on a bus to Maine where Ali had his rematch against Liston in 1965. Pope's last article for The Herald was published on June 5, 2016 which was a couple of days after Ali's death. In his last article, Pope described the bus ride with Ali. Pope wrote that Ali kept saying that he was "The Greatest" and that Pope was nothing. Of course, Ali was joking. Well, maybe half-joking. In the last paragraph of the article, Pope stated that he had a lot more to say about Ali and that he would write more in time. However, that was his last article probably because of health reasons. For whatever it's worth, I would like to recommend Edwin Pope for induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.