NFL Reporter John Clayton has died at 67

RG33

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Longtime ESPN and NFL reporter John Clayton has passed away per ESPN.

His ESPN “Slayer” commercial is a classic (Schefter posted). His battles with dipshit Sean Salisbury were always a great watch. Total football geek, I always enjoyed him. RIP

View: https://youtu.be/XvXRaSvxmqg
 

E5 Yaz

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A classy guy who refused to deal in hype. A real reporter in a sea of muck.
 

Nick Kaufman

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Dunno much about him, but I do remember that commercial fondly. When did this first air? Early oughts? He was in his late 40s in that!
 

pokey_reese

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Damn, that seems incredibly young, somehow, for a guy who always felt old. His NFL work was fantastic, especially in an era when it seemed like he was one of the few people offering serious reporting and analysis. Never felt like his expulsion was warranted, or without some secret backstory, but even if he hasn't been putting out content for a while, he will be missed.
 

Cellar-Door

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Damn, that seems incredibly young, somehow, for a guy who always felt old. His NFL work was fantastic, especially in an era when it seemed like he was one of the few people offering serious reporting and analysis. Never felt like his expulsion was warranted, or without some secret backstory, but even if he hasn't been putting out content for a while, he will be missed.
He was great, he got pushed out in the purge because:
1. He made good money
2. He didn't fit the "entertainment" pivot where they wanted hot takes which he never dealt in. Reporting went away, all "news" came from Schefter copy/pasting agent or team emails into his tweets.
 

terrynever

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We crossed paths on the Penn State football beat in the mid-1970s. John maximized his talents. Really nice guy. I think his picture flashed on the screen in the first Men In Black movie when K was talking about aliens living among us. John wasn’t the greatest looking person! But he was a very real person who outworked everyone.
 

Zedia

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It’s probably not fair to his career that I remember him most for that ESPN promo, but damn, that’s a masterpiece.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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I didn’t know about this story until reading up on Clayton’s career after hearing news of his passing. From his Wikipedia page:
In May 1978, Clayton was sent to cover a Steelers mini-camp in place of the Press's regular Steelers beat writer, Glenn Sheeley. While there he discovered and reported a rules violation which would cost the team a draft pick. The affair was dubbed "Shouldergate" by Clayton.[1] Clayton became persona non gratafor some time in his hometown for his role in the affair.[2]
Here’s a link to his original article. The Steelers wound up losing a third round pick for a mini-camp practice in pads, after Dan Rooney himself had negotiated the relevant no-pads rule into the then-current CBA. Chuck Knoll flipped out and accused Clayton of “espionage” and working for other teams, and being a local guy it probably was tough for Clayton to have been the one to cost the team a pick. But that’s what good reporters do.
 

grsharky7

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He still did a weekly spot on 93.7 in Pittsburgh during the season and he was awesome to listen to while I was driving home from work.
 

sezwho

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Super sad, I really enjoyed him and always paid a bit more attention when he had something to say.

I didn’t know about this story until reading up on Clayton’s career after hearing news of his passing. From his Wikipedia page:

Here’s a link to his original article. The Steelers wound up losing a third round pick for a mini-camp practice in pads, after Dan Rooney himself had negotiated the relevant no-pads rule into the then-current CBA. Chuck Knoll flipped out and accused Clayton of “espionage” and working for other teams, and being a local guy it probably was tough for Clayton to have been the one to cost the team a pick. But that’s what good reporters do.
That’s commitment to the craft.
 

Phil Plantier

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Mike Sando in The Athletic today with a remembrance worthy of your time.

No one worked harder than John. No one revelled in how hard he worked more than John. If he could somehow make one final check-in phone call following his death Friday at age 67, I can say with certainty and in the most affectionate terms that John would say two things. He’d point out that Saturday was his first day off in I-don’t-know-how-many years. And he’d grumble about how his own death had put him so far behind schedule, he’ll never catch up.

That was Clayton every day, year after year, up until the very end.
 

Justthetippett

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He was a throwback to the old nerdy, quirky ESPN that I enjoyed so much growing up. Always great to hear colleagues express genuine affection and respect too. He seemed like the real deal. RIP.