William N. Wallace (April 29, 1924 – August 11, 2012) was an American sportswriter for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

Early life

Wallace was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1945 after serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. At Yale, he was a catcher on the baseball team.

Career

Wallace was hired by the ''World-Telegram'' as a yachting writer and in 1957 joined the ''New York Herald Tribune'', where he began his football writing career in 1959. He joined the ''New York Times'' after the newspaper strike of 1962–63. During his career he covered both the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He is the author of the book ''Yale’s Ironmen: A Story of Football and Lives in the Decade of the Depression and Beyond''. In 1986, he was given the

Dick McCann Memorial Award The Bill Nunn Jr. Award is bestowed annually by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) to a reporter for their "long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage". It is named after Bill Nunn Jr., who worked for 22 ...

from the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Personal life

He was married to Linda De Refler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Bill The New York Times sportswriters 1924 births 2012 deaths Yale University alumni American sportswriters Dick McCann Memorial Award recipients Journalists from Washington, D.C. United States Army personnel of World War II