Former longtime Beacon Journal sports columnist Marla Ridenour has received national recognition from the Pro Football Writers of America with a first-place honor in the 2023 Dick Connor Writing Awards.
Ridenour won the Dave Anderson Column Writing Award, the PFWA announced Thursday. The prestigious award is named after the New York Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.
Ridenour emerged as the judges' top choice in the columnist category with the following entry: Browns' Deshaun Watson trade triggers past for sexual assault victims. I am one of them .
Readers react to column: Marla Ridenour says reaction to column about her sexual assault has been 'staggering'
A Louisville native and a 1978 graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, Ridenour became the first woman to cover the Browns in 1981.
Ridenour's distinguished career led to her induction in the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Hall of Fame (2022) and the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame (2013).
Ohio Hall of Fame honors: Beacon Journal sports columnist Marla Ridenour honored in Ohio Hall of Fame
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Marla Ridenour wins Dave Anderson Column Writing Award
