DALLAS, May 8, 2012 - NFF Historian and legendary college football writer Dan Jenkins was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday evening in St. Augustine, Fla. Joining Jenkins, who was inducted under the Lifetime Achievement category, in the 2012 class were Peter Alliss, Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson and Hollis Stacy.
"Dan Jenkins is a living legend in the sphere of college football," said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. "His is such a remarkable talent that it could not be limited to just one sport. We in the college football community are glad to share his writing with the world of golf."
Jenkins began serving as the NFF's historian in 2005. In 2009, the NFF honored him with the NFF Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award, which is bestowed to those who have made significant contributions to the game of amateur football either in the way that it is coached, played or in the manner that it is enjoyed by spectators.
Jenkins, 82, began his career at the age of 11 by reproducing stories from the Fort Worth Press and Fort Worth Star-Telegram on an old typewriter from his grandmother's attic. His zest for the profession has led him on a remarkable career that has spanned more than 65 years, a record 500-plus Sports Illustrated feature stories and deadline articles and more than 20 books and 20 screenplays.
A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Jenkins entered college with a byline courtesy of the renowned sports editor Blackie Sherrod, who had recognized his talent and hired him directly out of high school to be a sports writer at the Fort Worth Press. Jenkins worked full-time at the Press while earning his degree from Texas Christian University in 1953. After college, he continued with the paper, replacing Sherrod as its sports editor in 1957. In 1960, Sherrod recruited Jenkins for a second time to a new home at the Dallas Times Herald. After two years with the Herald, New York City summoned Jenkins, and he began his illustrious career at Sports Illustrated.
Jenkins retired from Sports Illustrated in 1985 but continues a monthly column in Golf Digest to this day. Widely considered one of the best sportswriters in the history of the profession, Jenkins has written numerous books covering his two loves, college football and golf. His novels have produced nine bestsellers with three of them, Semi-Tough, Dead Solid Perfect, and Baja Oklahoma being turned into major motion pictures.
He and his wife June live full-time in Fort Worth, Texas. His sons, Marty and Dan Jr., are sports photographers in California, and his daughter, Sally, is a prize-winning sports columnist for The Washington Post and a best-selling author in her own right.
