# Red Smith Award

The Red Smith Award is awarded by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) organization for outstanding contributions to sports journalism. Unlike many journalism awards, it is open to both writers and editors. Winners of the award are traditionally announced in April and it is bestowed in June at the annual APSE convention. It is named in honor of Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905–1982) whose sportswriting career spanned 1927 to 1982, and was the first recipient of the award in 1981.

## List of winners

| Year | Winner | Winner | Winner | Organization(s) | Ref. |
| Year | Name | Born | Died | Organization(s) | Ref. |
| 1981 | Red Smith | 1905 | 1982 | New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times | |
| 1982 | Jim Murray | 1919 | 1998 | Los Angeles Times | |
| 1983 | Shirley Povich | 1905 | 1998 | The Washington Post | |
| 1984 | Fred Russell | 1906 | 2003 | Nashville Banner | |
| 1985 | Blackie Sherrod | 1919 | 2016 | The Dallas Morning News | |
| 1986 | Si Burick | 1909 | 1986 | Dayton Daily News | |
| 1987 | Will Grimsley | c. 1914 | 2002 | Associated Press | |
| 1988 | Furman Bisher | 1918 | 2012 | The Atlanta Journal | |
| 1989 | Edwin Pope | 1928 | 2017 | Miami Herald | |
| 1990 | Dave Smith‡ | c. 1939 | | The Dallas Morning News | |
| 1991 | Dave Kindred | 1941 | | The National Sports Daily | |
| 1992 | Ed Storin | 1929 | 2022 | Miami Herald | |
| 1993 | Tom McEwen | 1923 | 2011 | The Tampa Tribune | |
| 1994 | Dave Anderson | 1929 | 2018 | The New York Times | |
| 1995 | Richard Sandler† | c. 1939 | 1989 | Newsday | |
| 1996 | Bill Dwyre‡ | 1944 | | Los Angeles Times | |
| 1997 | Jerome Holtzman | 1926 | 2008 | Chicago Tribune | |
| 1998 | Sam Lacy | 1903 | 2003 | Baltimore Afro-American | |
| 1999 | Bud Collins | 1929 | 2016 | The Boston Globe | |
| 2000 | Jerry Izenberg | 1930 | | The Newark Star-Ledger | |
| 2001 | John Steadman† | 1927 | 2001 | The Baltimore Sun | |
| 2002 | Dick Schaap† | 1934 | 2001 | ESPN, The Sports Reporters | |
| 2003 | George Solomon | c. 1940 | | The Washington Post | |
| 2004 | Jimmy Cannon† | 1909 | 1973 | New York Post, New York Journal American | |
| 2005 | Mary Garber | 1916 | 2008 | Winston-Salem Journal | |
| 2006 | Joe McGuff†‡ | 1926 | 2006 | The Kansas City Star | |
| 2007 | Van McKenzie†‡ | c. 1946 | 2007 | Orlando Sentinel | |
| 2008 | W. C. Heinz† | 1915 | 2008 | The New York Sun | |
| 2009 | Vince Doria‡ | c. 1947 | | ESPN | |
| 2010 | Mitch Albom | 1958 | | Detroit Free Press | |
| 2011 | Bill Millsaps‡ | c. 1943 | 2020 | Richmond Times-Dispatch | |
| 2012 | Frank Deford | 1938 | 2017 | Sports Illustrated | |
| 2013 | Dan Jenkins | 1928 | 2019 | Sports Illustrated | |
| 2014 | Wendell Smith† | 1914 | 1972 | Pittsburgh Courier, Chicago Herald-American, Chicago Sun-Times | |
| 2015 | Bob Ryan | 1946 | | The Boston Globe | |
| 2016 | Leigh Montville | 1943 | | The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated | |
| 2017 | Henry Freeman‡ | | | USA Today | |
| 2018 | Terry Taylor | c. 1953 | | Associated Press | |
| 2019 | Sandy Rosenbush | c. 1953 | | The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated | |
| 2020 | Christine Brennan | 1958 | | USA Today | |
| 2021 | Sally Jenkins | 1960 | | The Washington Post | |
| 2022 | Leon Carter | | | Sports Journalism Institute | |
| 2023 | Claire Smith | 1954 | | Hartford Courant, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
| 2024 | Bill Plaschke | 1958 | | Los Angeles Times | |
† Awarded posthumously
‡ Served as president of APSE