LoginAugust 2023 Notable Author: John Steadman
John Steadman - “Ironman” of Sports Writing
John Steadman (1927 – 2001), the son of a Baltimore Fire Department Deputy Chief, became a sportswriter for The Baltimore News Post, the Baltimore Evening Sun, and then the Baltimore Sun and culminated his career by being inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. He wrote exclusively about the Baltimore Colts and Ravens, their player heroes (Unitas, Donovan, Moore, Berry, etc.) as well as the coaches, general managers, and owners.
Over his 50 year career, Steadman, became the “Ironman” of sports writing by attending 719 Baltimore Football games in a row (1947 to December 10, 2000). He also attended Super Bowls I - XXXIV (34 total), a record matched by only seven other sports writers.
Steadman attended Blessed Sacrament School on Old York Road, then graduated from Baltimore City College high school. He caught well enough on their baseball team to pursue a minor league baseball career. He left baseball when sportswriting became more to his liking. The Baltimore News-Post hired him in 1945 and it was Steadman who broke the story that Baltimore would regain an NFL franchise. In addition to writing, Steadman announced Colts games as a color comentator 6 years. At one point, he was broadcasting radio commentaries five times a week on top of writing six columns a week.
Former Baltimore Sun columnist, Michael Olesker remembers Steadman this way, “He was the humblest of men. When complimented on a nice column, he’d mutter a self-effacing, ‘good days and bad.’ When elected to the Sportswriters Hall of Fame, he said, ‘It was an off-year. That’s why they picked me.’”
Steadman wrote seven books, including, "The Greatest Football Game Ever Played: When the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants Faced Sudden Death" (1988).
He was named Maryland Sportswriter of the Year eight times and after his death, Steadman was awarded America's most prestigious sports writing honor, the Red Smith Award, by the Associated Press Sports Editors.
Genre: Sports Writing
Journalism that specializes in sporting events and writing about sports topics by attending games, interviewing athletes and coaches, gathering statistics and performance information, and writing articles that inform, analyze, and entertain readers of newspapers, magazines, websites, or other publications.
Sample Reading List: The Best (and Worst) of Steadman A Collection of Stories By the Sports Editor of The Baltimore News American (1974), Football's Miracle Men: The Baltimore Colts' Story (1959), From Colts to Ravens: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Baltimore Professional Football.
Writer's Prompt - Fun With Words
Fun With Words - Maryland Writers’ Association (MWA) invites you to have fun writing Living History like John Steadman. Using up to 100 words, create a highly unusual event involving ordinary people caught in an extraordinary situations. Title your work and submit to: https://marylandwriters.org/Notable_Maryland_Authors by the 22nd of the month to receive an MWA Fun With Words submission certificate. Selected responses will be published with next month's article and on the MWA Website.
Last month we asked writers to have fun writing living history like Walter Lord. Their responses are posted on the MWA website www.MarylandWriters.org.
Submit Your FUN WITH WORDS Prompt
Viola Robinson-Boone
Aug. 24, 2023Football’s Blind Race - The Baltimore Colts drafted Lenny Moore in the first round in 1956. He spent eleven years with them. Q – “Given the social tension during the 1950s, what was life like with your teammates as an African American?” A - "There was never anybody ever closer than me and the guys that I played football with on that Baltimore team – on the field. We were just like glue. One for all, all for one. But once they blew the whistle and the game was over, they (the white players) went their way, we (the black players) went our way. We split. It was race.”
Lawrence McGuire
Aug. 24, 2023FOURTH AND DEAD - "Last question. Johnny, what's the secret of success?" Keeping the late great Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas on the planchette proved harder than Angstrom Brown anticipated. The disgraced journalist balanced a Ouija board on a wobbling table among unsorted lilies in his uncle's flower shop. For "fabrications" Baltimore's paper fired Brown. That disgrace, though, wouldn't last. His collection of interviews with dead sports heroes was destined to sell because it combined athletics, paranormal, and self-help. The planchette darted from letter to letter. When Brown assembled its message, he said: "Never fake it?" Even in the afterlife, everybody played the comic.
Cindy Herndon
Aug. 24, 2023Binjimen Victor - January 14, 2023: At 26 years old, 6’4” Binjimen Victor was finally going to get a chance at a playoff game. The Baltimore Ravens had promoted him to their active roster for their 2023 playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals, his third time to be called up as a wide receiver. He had 1 tackle on just 2 special team snaps; he played 4 out of 68 offensive snaps, but he failed to log a target. Ravens lost. The famous quotation, “To the Victor belong the spoils” will hopefully happen for Victor who becomes a free agent this up-coming year.
Doris Brady
Aug. 24, 2023Sports Story - I’m here at Super Bowl V, held this year at the Orange Bowl in Miami, where the Baltimore Colts bested the Dallas Cowboys, 16-13, in a last-minute thriller. After the great Johnny Unitas was injured in the second quarter, Earl Morrall came on the field to dig the team out of a 13-6 deficit. He ended up top passer of the game, connecting 7 out of 15, to bring the Colts to a 13-13 tie. With only 9 seconds left, the Colts kicker hit a 32-yard field goal. As Morrall told me, quoting Shakespeare, “All’s well that ends well.” A true team player.
Beth Smith
Aug. 24, 2023Super Bowl Fever - “Game tied. Seconds counting down. Super Bowl V on artificial turf…what a game! Johnny U conferring with rookie coach Don McCafferty. Wait. Five seconds to go…here comes Jim O’Brien. Can he do it? The kick is up. It’s good! A 32-yard field goal! The crowd is wild in Miami! What a game! Baltimore Colts – world champs!” “Hey, Jim O’Brien, what do you have to say?” “Cowboys are great, but Colts know how to kick ass!” “Folks, John Steadman here with Super Bowl fever! I’ve got it, and I’ll be back! Yeah, for 34 Super Bowls!”
Jon Hillbilly Anthology Ketzner
Aug. 24, 2023Mad Dogs and Stupid Men - Colts won yesterday 14-3 in a tidy fashion. A fine Colt victory that’ll be remembered forever by the sellout Memorial Stadium crowd for a single, bone-crushing tackle by the Colts’ All-Pro linebacker Mike “ Mad Dog” Curtis. In the third quarter, an auto mechanic, uninhibited by a dangerous lack of sobriety, lumbered onto the field and grabbed the football. Curtis bolted from a huddle, bulldozed the fool, flipped him like a rag doll and forced a fumble. Pure Mad Dog. Curtis told this reporter, “He entered my workplace illegally. I enforced the city ordinance.” But, Mad Dog, you could’ve killed him? “Pretty sure nobody would miss the guy.”
Steve Baker
Aug. 24, 2023The Bigger Loser - "Professor Snodgrass, tell us about your team's victory in today's student/teacher softball game." "Those pint-sized pygmies never had a chance! They just couldn't measure up. They're also 'short' on talent!" "Well, Professor, they ARE only eleven years old!" "How is that MY problem? They should have thought about that when they were TEN! I mean seriously! Every player on that team is a 'cutoff man!'" [rim shot] "How did the students score their only run?" "THEY CHEATED! One of those Pee-Wee-League runts scurried up our catcher's arm then ran down his back! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" "Any final comments...[eye roll]...Professor Snodgrass?" "YES! There are no small victories, only small losers!... and oh yeah [sinister chuckle] I'd like to thank all the little people!