Jerry Izenberg (born September 10, 1930) is a sports journalist with ''
The Newark Star-Ledger
''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of w ...
'' in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Rutgers University, Newark, but was interrupted for several years during which he served in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Izenberg has covered many memorable sporting events and figures of the late twentieth century, including
Sonny Werblin
David Abraham "Sonny" Werblin (March 17, 1910 – November 21, 1991) was a prominent entertainment industry executive and sports impresario who was an owner of the New York Jets and chairman of Madison Square Garden, and who built and managed the ...
1989 World Series
The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the Nat ...
.
In addition to many magazine articles and newspaper columns, he has also written 13 books, including "Once There Were Giants: The Golden Age of Heavyweight Boxing". Izenberg has been the writer, narrator, or producer (sometimes all three) of 35 network television documentaries. One of those shows, "A Man Called Lombardi," earned an Emmy nomination.
In 1997, Izenberg was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey and in 2000 he won the
Red Smith Award
The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) organization for outstanding contributions to sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and ...
from the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
Sports Editors. He was a 2000 inductee of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. In 2016, he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2019, he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
To commemorate 55 years in journalism, Izenberg wrote an eight-part memoir for ''The Star-Ledger'' in 2006. He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Izenberg covered every Super Bowl from
Super Bowl I
The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at the ...
Super Bowl LIV
Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...
The Star-Ledger
''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...