MIAMI -- Edwin Pope, an award-winning sports columnist who covered the first 47 Super Bowls and spent more than 50 years with the Miami Herald, has died at 88.
Pope had battled cancer and died Thursday in Okeechobee, Florida, where he lived in retirement, Herald managing editor Rick Hirsch said Friday.
Pope went into the newspaper business at age 11, was a sports editor at 15 and joined the Herald in 1956. He covered the Miami Dolphins from their first season and recommended Don Shula for their head coaching job in 1970, a suggestion that transformed the franchise.