John Clayton, a fixture on ESPN's "SportsCenter" for years, has died, a collection of his colleagues confirmed on Friday. He was 67.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was hard to turn on SportsCenter or any of ESPN's NFL shows without seeing Clayton and his familiar background pop up to discuss the biggest football story of the day. He started at the network in 1995 after a long career as a newspaper writer covering the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks, and stayed there until he was let go in 2017.
Clayton was also a regular presence on radio in Seattle and around the country, hosting The John Clayton Show on Seattle Sports 710 AM until his death.