John McClain is a retired American sportswriter. He was the winner of the 2006

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 ...

Early life and education

McClain grew up in

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, Texas and graduated from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

in 1975.

Career

McClain began his career writing for the

Waco Tribune-Herald The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity. Background The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...

in 1973 before moving to the

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

in 1976. During his career, he covered the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

(until their move to Tennessee), the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, and the Houston Aeros of the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He also appears on Sports Radio 610. In 2015, he was named as a Gridiron Legend in Texas. On March 31, 2022, McClain announced his retirement from the

. On May 21, 2022, McClain was inducted into the

Texas Sports Hall of Fame The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction (baseball ...

References

American sportswriters Baylor University alumni 21st-century American writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-sportswriter-stub