John Travis Clayton (May 11, 1954 – March 18, 2022) was an American sports journalist who was a National Football League (NFL) writer and reporter for ESPN, as well as a senior writer for ESPN.com. He also worked for The Pittsburgh Press and The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington. Clayton received the Dick McCann Memorial Award (now the Bill Nunn Award) from the Pro Football Writers of America in recognition of his long-time coverage of professional football. Early life Clayton was born in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on May 11, 1954. He started covering sports while he was attending Churchill Area High School. Beginning in 1972, he covered the Pittsburgh Steelers in twice-weekly dispatches for the Daily Press in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. He later wrote for Steel City Sports, and also served as a stringer for AP Radio and CBS Radio. Clayton graduated from Duquesne University in 1976. Career Newspaper Clayton started with The Pittsburgh Press after college. In May 1978, he was sent to cover a Steelers minicamp. While there, he discovered and reported a rule violation involving Steelers players wearing shoulder pads during minicamp, which would cost the team a third-round draft pick. The affair was dubbed "Shouldergate" by Clayton. He consequently became persona non grata for some time in his hometown for his role in the affair. Clayton eventually worked his way up to become the Steelers beat writer at the Press, before leaving the paper in 1986. He moved across the country and began covering the Seattle Seahawks for The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington. It was at this time that he began appearing in NFL segments on Seattle sports radio station KJR (AM) on host Nanci Donnellan's program The Fabulous Sports Babe. When Donnellan's show was picked up by ESPN for national syndication, Clayton came along as an NFL correspondent. ESPN Clayton joined ESPN as a reporter in 1995. He later added to his duties a weekly radio show during the NFL offseason. He hosted the show with former NFL quarterback Sean Salisbury; the show included "Four Downs," a debate with Salisbury over current NFL issues. Their debates often became quite heated, with Clayton underscoring how Salisbury "only started 12 more games in the NFL than I did". Clayton characterized their relationship as "a good chemistry", but added that his "mission is to destroy him". There was debate as to seriousness of the