Gary Shelton: “What an Absurd Way to Make a Living.”

Press Box Access: A Sports History Podcast

Gary Shelton is someone you want to sit by in the press box or on a media bus. Laughter is sure to follow. Gary takes us back 45 years to when his career began in the long shadow cast by Bear Bryant. He tells us about Don Shula’s brown chair, and how that NFL coaching icon made him a better journalist. Hear about the many personalities of Sam Wyche, how Bobby Bowden was your favorite uncle, what made Warren Sapp so entertaining to cover, and why Dan Marino was like a beer league softball player. Gary recalls serving as governor of Idiot Island in the press room, covering the Nancy & Tonya soap opera, and the worst deadline that he ever faced. And he shares poignant Olympic moments when the power of sports shone through all the silliness. Oh, and about that meal in Athens, Greece . . .

Shelton has twice been named the No. 1 sports columnist in the country by the Associated Press Sports Editors. He was ranked in the APSE Top 5 five times, and the Top 10 eight times. Gary has been writing about sports in Tampa Bay since 1990, including a tenure of nearly 25 years at the Tampa Bay Times when the area grew into a huge sports market. He has covered the Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl, the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup, and the Rays in the World Series. He has also covered college football national championships won by Florida, Florida State and Miami, as well as 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics, 11 Final Fours, and the Masters seven times.

Prior to moving to Tampa Bay, Gary covered the Dolphins, the NFL, and college football for the Miami Herald from 1984-90. He has been named best sportswriter in Florida six times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. He has also won several Green Eyeshade, Florida Sports Writers Association awards, and other honors. Shelton began his journalism career writing about sports – including Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Georgia Tech – for the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer in 1978. He likes to say that he graduated from Auburn University and the Don Shula School of Having My Face Yelled Into.

Shelton took a buyout from the Tampa Bay Times in 2014 and has since been writing for his own subscription website. You can read Gary’s columns at: https://garysheltonsports.com/

Contact Gary at [e-mail]

Follow him on Twitter: @Gary_Shelton

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