The Pro Football Writers of America announced the recipient of the Bill Nunn Jr. Award on Wednesday, named after the Steelers Hall of Fame scout and former sports writer, sports editor and managing editor of The Pittsburgh Courier.
The award is presented annually to a reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage.
Jarrett Bell, who has covered the NFL for USA Today since 1993 and is currently their NFL columnist, was named the 2022 recipient of the Bill Nunn Award. Bell is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and contributor's committee.
The award, which has been in existence since 1969, was re-named after Nunn in 2020.
In addition to his work writing for the paper, starting in 1950 he selected the newspaper's annual Black College All-America Team, developing relationships that benefited his scouting career and opened the door for Black players who weren't getting a lot of attention from professional teams.
Nunn was named the sports editor of the Courier in 1952 and he was the managing editor in 1966 when he was hired by the Steelers as a part-time scout, that eventually turned into a full-time job that lasted until his passing in 2014.
Nunn was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2021, and was an inaugural member of the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
