A Final Huddle, a Lasting Legacy

When George Solomon became assistant managing editor for sports at The Washington Post in 1975, he convinced a living legend to join him back in the game.

Columnist Shirley Povich had been retired for only two years, but though he had already spent half a century at the newspaper, it turned out he still had a lot to say about the sports world. And for the next 23 years, Povich wrote for Solomon and The Post until his death at age 92, providing an extended coda for one of the most respected voices in sports journalism.

It was the first time Solomon “saved” his father, said Maury Povich, Shirley’s son and notable talk show host. The second time was during his tenure as founding director of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at UMD, where since 2011 Solomon has lived out “all the ethics and principles that my father practiced.”

“The Povich family owes everything to George,” he said.

That dual legacy will continue to live on after Solomon retires this month: More than 150 alumni and friends contributed $500,000 and the Povich family, including longtime Philip Merrill College of Journalism supporters Maury and wife Connie Chung ’69, made a $1 million gift to create the George Solomon Endowed Chair in Sports Journalism.

“It’s more of a passion (than a job),” Solomon said. “If you love it, you’ll never feel like you’re going to work.”

Solomon worked 28 years for The Post as a reporter and editor, then came to Merrill College in 2003 and was named Professor of the Practice in 2008. He was the first ombudsman for ESPN in 2005 and co-edited an anthology of Povich’s work, “All Those Mornings.” Among other honors, he was given the Associated Press Sports Editors Red Smith Award in 2003 for his contributions to the field of sports journalism and was inducted into the Washington Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.

“George has been a dedicated, compassionate mentor to an extraordinary number of our students,” said Merrill College Dean Lucy A. Dalglish. “His guidance and legendary rolodex have kick-started many successful journalism careers.”

While switching from a destination newsroom of veteran reporters to a classroom of green students necessitated some adjustments in expectations, Solomon said the basic goal of immersing them in quality reading and writing remained the same. He encouraged students to remain resilient in the face of an industry wracked by change and pick up as many skills as they could at Merrill, from videography to podcasts. 

“From the first moment I came into Merrill, he always supported me,” said Daniel Oyefusi ’19, now a reporter at The Baltimore Sun. “He’s always been able to make a phone call on my behalf or introduce me to somebody, and it’s really helped me.”

Now Solomon is working on two book projects, one about his tenure at The Post and another a collaboration with former NFL player Ray Schoenke.

Mark Hyman, a veteran journalist and lawyer who was most recently professor of sport management at the George Washington University School of Business, will be the inaugural Solomon chair. He said his tenure at The Baltimore Sun often featured strategy discussions of how to beat Solomon’s team to a story, and following him at Merrill is “an amazing honor.”

“It’s one of the most important jobs in sports journalism today, and one of the most fun,” Hyman said. “I don’t see any reduction in the number of sports fans or the appetite for sports news. The challenge is to think creatively how we share that.”