Will McDonough
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William McDonough (July 6, 1935 – January 9, 2003) was an American
sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
for ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' who also worked as an on-air football reporter for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
.


Biography


Newspaper career

The youngest of nine children of
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
immigrants, McDonough grew up in working-class
South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...
. He attended
The English High School The English High School of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, is one of the first public high schools in America, founded in 1821. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed The English High School upon its first relocation ...
, where he starred in
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
as a
pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
and in football as a
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
. While attending the Northeastern University School of Journalism, McDonough started at the ''Boston Globe'' as a co-op intern /
copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the '' Herald Sun'' who began work ther ...
in 1955 to cover school sports, and he was hired by the ''Globe'' full-time after graduation in 1957. In 1960, after McDonough had been promoted to sportswriter, he was assigned as the beat reporter for the Boston Patriots of the start-up American Football League and remained one of the country's premier football reporters until his retirement in 2001. During his 40+ years writing career with the ''Globe'' (interrupted only by a brief departure in 1973), McDonough worked with other legendary Globe sportswriters such as
Peter Gammons Peter Gammons (born April 9, 1945) is an American sportswriter, media personality, and musician. He is a recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Early ...
,
Bob Ryan Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
, and
Leigh Montville Leigh Montville (born July 20, 1943) is an American writer and former newspaper columnist who worked for ''The Boston Globe'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. Early life and education Montville was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from th ...
. Beginning in 1993, he was named an associate editor of the ''Globe''. Montville has said of McDonough: "He was the scoop guy. He always said: 'I can write better than anyone who can write faster, and I can write faster than anyone who can write better.'" McDonough became a hero among Boston sportswriters after a
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
altercation with Patriots cornerback Raymond Clayborn, in which the 44-year-old McDonough leveled Clayborn in the locker room after the third-year cornerback had poked him in the eye. However, McDonough's main fame was due to the number of "scoops" and exclusive stories that he broke while with the ''Globe''. At the time of his death, NFL commissioner
Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 and served until September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL ...
called him the "most influential reporter covering the NFL."


Controversy

McDonough's co-workers and supporters referred to him as "Willie" and credited his ability to get such stories to his ability to "get anybody to the phone" and to parlay nuggets of information from his calls into bigger stories. However, even ''Globe'' management admitted that he "rewarded his friends and slammed his enemies" in his columns. His critics, meanwhile, said that he only "publishe what's going to reinforce his sources, his friends, his contacts", referring to him as "a management stooge" and "Will the
Shill A shill, also called a plant or a stooge, is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organization. Shills can carry out their operatio ...
". Examples of this dichotomy marked his career. He regularly referred to superstar pitcher
Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...
as the "Texas Con Man" after Clemens' tenure with the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
; his bosses said that that was because he saw Clemens as a phony, potentially supported by later allegations of steroid use directed at Clemens, while others claimed that he was defending his friends John Harrington and
Dan Duquette Dan Duquette (born May 26, 1958) is an American baseball executive. He is the former general manager of the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He is also the founder of the Dan Duquette Sports Academy ...
, who had stated that Clemens was in the "twilight of his career" in 1996—after which Clemens won four more Cy Young Awards as the best pitcher in the League (1997–98, 2001, 2004). McDonough also repeatedly referred to former Red Sox player
Mo Vaughn Maurice Samuel Vaughn (born December 15, 1967), nicknamed "The Hit Dog", is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the Boston Red Sox, Anaheim Angels, and New York Mets from 1991 to 2003. He was a three-time All-Sta ...
as "Mo Money" after Vaughn turned down the Sox's contract offer before the 1998 season to become a free agent after the season. He was accused of chauvinism when he questioned the presence of women in the locker room as well as the legitimacy of allegations by then '' Boston Herald'' sportswriter
Lisa Olson Lisa Olson is an American sports journalist. Her work has been featured in the anthology, "The Best American Sports Writing". She was previously a sports columnist for the ''New York Daily News'', and the first female sports columnist for the ''S ...
against New England Patriots players in the team locker room in 1990; McDonough claimed he was vindicated two years later when other ''Globe'' sportswriters acknowledged the presence of holes in Olson's credibility that were overlooked or ignored at the time, but others claimed that the ''Globes report showed that the overall atmosphere of sexual harassment was worse than Olson had alleged. One of McDonough's biggest scoops came during the week before Super Bowl XXXI when he broke the story that Patriots' head coach
Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...
, one of McDonough's best friends, was planning to leave the Patriots after the Super Bowl and become head coach of the New York Jets. The story was 100% correct but still generated controversy because of the contention by McDonough's detractors that Parcells' agent (who was also McDonough's agent) had planted the story at that time to maximize his negotiating leverage.


Broadcasting

In addition to newspaper reporting, McDonough was a pioneer among journalists who became broadcasters in the late 1970s and early 1980s while maintaining their newspaper positions. He originally was hired by
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, later moving to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. His appearances included stints as part of
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''NFL Live'' pregame show from 1991 to 1993. About his TV work, McDonough said, "I proved once and for all you don't have to be pretty to be on television." For one season, he also served as an analyst for New England Patriots preseason games. In 1994, NBC was paying him about $400,000 a year to appear on the network.


Personal life

McDonough was married twice, fathering three children (Sean, Erin and Terry) with his first wife Wilma and two (Ryan and Cara) with his second wife Denise. One of his three sons,
Sean McDonough Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and WEEI Red Sox Radio Network. Early life The son of ''Boston Globe'' sportswriter Will McDonough, McDonough graduated from the S. I. Newhouse Sch ...
, is a sportscaster for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
is also a Boston Red Sox announcer. Another son, Terry McDonough, is vice president, Player Personnel for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. His third son, Ryan McDonough, was the general manager of the Phoenix Suns. Each of the three has a championship ring in a different sport: Sean as an announcer for the 2004 Boston Red Sox (baseball); Terry as a scout for the 2000
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
(football); and Ryan as a special assistant/video analyst for the 2008 Boston Celtics (basketball). McDonough remained lifelong friends with two other prominent South Boston Irishmen: Massachusetts political leader William "Billy" Bulger and his older brother, Boston organized crime boss
James "Whitey" Bulger James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr. (; September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018) was an American organized crime boss who led the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Bos ...
. He served as campaign manager for Billy's 1960 run for state representative, and he visited Whitey in
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a medium security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Unite ...
in the 1960s while the Boston Red Sox were in Kansas City. In return, in 1993 Billy successfully lobbied
Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
to allow McDonough to provide commentary on the cable broadcast of the annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast hosted by Billy.


Death

McDonough died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
at his home in Hingham on January 9, 2003, at age 67.


Notes and references


External links


AFL Hall of Fame
* ttp://www.boston.com/sports/specials/mcdonough/mcdonough_obit/ Boston Globe Obituary* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonough, Will 1935 births 2003 deaths American Football League contributors American people of Irish descent American television reporters and correspondents The Boston Globe people Dick McCann Memorial Award recipients National Football League announcers New England Patriots announcers Northeastern University alumni Writers from Boston People from Hingham, Massachusetts Sportswriters from Massachusetts People from South Boston