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Tommy Bryan of the Wilson Post inducted into Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame




TOP: Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan gives his induction speech for the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame on Thursday, July 8 at Cumberland University’s Alumni Hall. Bryan has been writing about Wilson County athletes for more than 40 years.STEVE WAMPLER

TOP: Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan gives his induction speech for the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame on Thursday, July 8 at Cumberland University’s Alumni Hall. Bryan has been writing about Wilson County athletes for more than 40 years.STEVE WAMPLER

Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan has filled hundreds of notebooks, scrapbooks, computer screens and Smartphones by writing about the accomplishments of Wilson County athletes for nearly 44 years.

Last Thursday night in Lebanon, the Tennessee Sports Writers Association put an emphatic mark of approval on his career by inducting him into the organization’s Hall of Fame.

Bryan, who helped to create the TSWA, was one of three members of the Class of 2020 inducted during a ceremony at Cumberland University’s Alumni Hall. The 2020 ceremony was postponed by COVID-19 guidelines. There were also three members of the 2021 class inducted last Thursday.

Bryan is the 19th inductee from Middle Tennessee, but only the second one who did not work at The Tennessean, Nashville Banner or Vanderbilt.

His most visible – and possibly only – significant rooting interest outside of Wilson County belongs to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bryan is a 1975 graduate of Lebanon High School. He graduated from Cumberland Junior College (now university) in 1977 and started working at the Lebanon Democrat. He was owner and publisher of The Wilson World newspaper for 22 years (1981-2003).

Taft

Taft

Bryan, who celebrated the career honor with some homemade peppermint ice cream, also worked in the sports information offices at Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee State, Cumberland and Trevecca Nazarene.

“To the coaches who have let me inside of their world with the wins and losses, I thank you for trusting me,” Bryan said in his induction speech to a crowd of more than 100 attendees that included Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto, Sam Hatcher (a former Bryan boss), Lebanon High football coach Chuck Gentry, former Cumberland University baseball coach Woody Hunt, and Dave and Ellen Gould (Bryan’s current bosses as the co-owners of Main Street Media).

“When you think about sports writing in Wilson County, Tommy Bryan is at the top of the class. He does so much in this county because he cares about the kids and who they are,” Hutto said in 2019 when the news of Bryan’s election to the hall of fame was announced.

Patton

Patton

The first coach whom Bryan thanked was Larry Joe Inman, who brought Bryan along for the ride to a basketball championship.

“My first real break came covering Mt. Juliet girls basketball and their run to the 1977 state championship,” Bryan said in 2019. “After that I was hooked on local sports. Since then, I’ve covered the children and now grandchildren of people I played football and went to school with.”

Bryan, also a founding member of the Lebanon-Wilson County Sports Council, has handled the play-by-play calls for Cumberland football for 10 years and Lebanon High School football for more than 30 years. He has hosted numerous sports talk shows on WANT-FM, and is planning for his third year of the “Coaches Night Out” weekly Facebook Live event with Wilson County football coaches talking about their teams and upcoming games.

Walker

Walker

“I appreciate that you recognize this work,” Bryan said at the induction dinner. “When Cumberland University wins a national title, that is a big deal around here. The Lebanon girls run to the state basketball final, that is a big deal around here. I am just a local guy who is wonderfully blessed to be doing something that I love for a long, long time.”

Three of the other inductees – Maurice Patton, Larry Taft and Teresa Walker – have strong sportswriting ties to Middle Tennessee.

Patton joined The Tennessean in 1990 and covered high school sports, the Nashville Sounds, the University of Tennessee, MTSU, Tennessee State and Vanderbilt. He was an Associated Press Top 25 poll voter for football and women’s basketball.

Patton was named sports editor at the Columbia Daily Herald in 2016. He is currently the editor for Southern Middle Tennessee Sports, a digital platform focused on coverage of local high school athletics, and co-host of the sports talk radio show “Southern Middle Tennessee Sports Today”.

Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan talks about Wilson County teams during a radio show on WANT-AM.FILE

Wilson Post Sports Editor Tommy Bryan talks about Wilson County teams during a radio show on WANT-AM.FILE

“Nobody gets into this (sportswriting) expecting this,” Patton said in his induction speech. “It proves that good work is good work regardless of where you do it or who you do it for.”

Taft wrote about high school sports for nearly 40 years, primarily with The Tennessean. He also covered the Nashville Sounds for many years.

Taft was sports editor of The Tennessean for five years. He is a 2011 inductee into the TSSAA Hall of Fame as a contributor.

“I just had a passion for sports growing up,” Taft said in his induction speech. “If it is important, then cover it thoroughly and cover it well,” he said to repeat the advice given to him by former Tennessean sports editor John Bibb, also a TSWA Hall of Fame member.

Walker has been the Tennessee Sports Editor for the Associated Press since 1992 and is a two-time Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year. The graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville was hired by the Associated Press in Nashville in December 1989. She has covered five Olympics, three Super Bowls, several NCAA Tournaments and the 2014 Women’s Final Four in Nashville.

Walker is the first president of the Pro Football Writers Association’s Nashville chapter. She is the first female sports writer selected for the TSWA Hall of Fame and only the third female elected by the association. The other two — June Stewart and Debby Jennings — are both from the sports information field.

In her induction speech, Walker thanked her mother for having them both watch NFL games on TV when she was growing up “because there just wasn’t much to do for girls in East Tennessee in the winter.”

“I just want to thank you for treating me just like one of the guys,” Walker said.

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