Legendary sports journalist Rudy Martzke passes away at age 82

USA Today is grieving the loss of an incredible icon.

The news outlet recently lost a long-time treasured sportswriter, Rudy Martzke.

Martzke was 82 years old at the time of his passing.

Since news of his death has spread, countless friends and colleagues have stepped forward to share their respects, including Greg Hughes from NBC Sports.

Hughes took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to give a heartfelt tribute to Martzke.

"Very sad about the passing of the great Rudy Martzke. A friend, great sense of humor, bulldog reporter, fellow Badger (and a huge fan), sports media industry legend. Helped many a PR person (definitely me) and others across the industry with their careers…hurt a few, too,” Hughes wrote in the X post.

Martzke also got condolences from Dick Vitale, a well-known ESPN college basketball commentator and even ESPN’s vice president of communications, Bill Hofheimer.

Despite retiring back in 2005, it is clear that no one in the sports industry had forgotten about the legendary Martzke.

Martzke wrote for USA Today for over 20 years before his retirement.

In his goodbye article, he wrote that “while some at times have blistered me with complaints -- Gary Bender, Howard Cosell and even [Pat] Summerall -- my experiences have largely been positive while covering the TV sports business during a period of its greatest growth.”

“The plaudits have come as the Sports on TV column became recognized. There have been features on me in Sports Illustrated and other magazines, a charity Rudy Roast in 2000 [in Biloxi, Mississippi] and a proclamation read to me at the men’s Final Four in St. Louis by NCAA President Myles Brand, who described me as an icon. Can’t do any better than that, I guess,” Martzke continued.

There are not many who get to say they lived a life so full and left the earth so greatly respected by their peers.

We pray for anyone grieving the loss of the incredible human that waws Rudy Martzke.

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