Jeff Passan and Sally Jenkins are the winners of the sixth annual Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting. Passan wins the Jenkins Medal for Best Sportswriting (of 2021) for his ESPN article “San Francisco Giants Outfield Drew Robinson’s Remarkable Second Act.” Jenkins wins for her body of work that has led her to be a columnist for The Washington Post for some 30 years. Both will be honored at the Jenkins Medal award ceremony in Austin on September 23.

Passan’s entry, among twelve pieces cited as finalists by the Jenkins Medal jury, tells the story of major-leaguer Drew Robinson’s decline into and recovery from a suicide attempt. The 11,000 word take out chronicles a singular overcoming (and return to the field) of a gifted athlete’s struggle with personal relationships, individual purpose and mental wellbeing which led to his shooting himself in the head.

Said CSCM Director Dr. Michael Butterworth:

“Passan recounts the details of Robinson’s ascent to the major leagues and artfully juxtaposes it against the self-doubt that overwhelmed him. The piece is impeccably researched and written to display the full humanity of all its subjects, both Robinson and those who care for him. Passan presents no easy answers, but beautifully dramatizes the complexities behind the sports we so often see in simple terms.“

Sally Jenkins, Dan’s daughter, has been a columnist at The Washington Post for nearly 30 years. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2019. In 2021 was named the winner of the Red Smith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports Journalism. She is a five-time winner of the Associated Press prize for top sports columnist in the country, most recently this year. In 2017 she received the Chairman's Citation from the National Press Foundation for extraordinary journalistic accomplishments.

Jenkins has written 12 books of non-fiction including: The Real All Americans, the story of the Carlisle Indian School and its use of football as a form of resistance following the close of the Indian Wars; The State of Jones, about a Unionist militia in Mississippi during the Civil War, co-written with Harvard University historian John Stauffer; Sum It Up, a memoir and account of legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease, co-written with Summitt, which would become a No.1 New York Times bestseller.

In 2005 she was the first woman to be inducted into the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame. Her father presented her for induction at that ceremony.

Said CSCM Director Dr. Michael Butterworth:

“Sally Jenkins has honored her father’s legacy while charting her unique and acclaimed career. She is a versatile writer, shifting from features to books to columns with apparent ease. As a columnist for the Washington Post, her contributions are must-read accounts of the most pressing issues in contemporary sports. Jenkins has a particular gift for identifying precise points of analysis and then delivering critiques that are efficient and resonant. There is simply no finer columnist in sports journalism than Sally Jenkins.”

The jury for the Best Sportswriting award included committee members Kevin Blackistone, Kirk Bohls, Bryan Curtis, Melanie Hauser, Jackie MacMullan, Kathleen McElroy, Wright Thompson, Grant Wahl and Alexander Wolff. The jury for Lifetime Achievement in sportswriting included a committee comprised by Karen Crouse, Chuck Culpepper, Gerald Early, Vahe Gregorian, Will Leitch, Joe Posnanski, Steve Rushin, John A. Walsh and Seth Wickersham. Nominees for the lifetime achievement award are not made public.

CSCM will host the Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting awards dinner on September 23 at The Headliner’s Club in Austin. The first such ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic, this dinner will also honor 2019 and 2020 Jenkins Medal winners; Elizabeth Merrill and Mitchell S. Jackson for their Best Sportswriting citations and Rick Telander and the late Roger Angell for their Lifetime Achievement recognitions. Additionally, NFL Hall of Famer Charles “Mean Joe” Greene will receive the 2022 Jenkins Medal Sports Legend award.