The Times’ Sam Farmer honored during Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony

Los Angeles Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer, announced as the 51st winner of the Dick McCann Award in June, was presented with the award at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

Farmer was also honored Friday during the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket Dinner, where he spoke after a video presentation depicted his career.

The award -- presented by the Professional Football Writers of America to a reporter who has “made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage” -- was named for the first director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who was a longtime newspaper reporter and columnist before working for the Washington Redskins as a publicity director and general manager.

Farmer is the second Los Angeles Times writer to win the McCann award. Bob Oates won in 1974. Winners’ names are inscribed on a plaque in the Hall of Fame.

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Times NFL columnist Sam Farmer was presented the Dick McCann Award during the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 3.

“Sam is entirely deserving of the award based on his long track record of great reporting and a knack for finding the out-of-the-box story that resonates so nicely and strengthens coverage in a sport that benefits from creative thinking and delivers something special to readers,” said Bob Glauber, president of the PFWA, when the award was announced.

Farmer began his journalism career as a sportswriter covering high schools and colleges for the Times’ San Fernando Valley edition. He worked at the Bellevue (Wash.) Journal American and the Valley Daily News in Kent, Wash., before returning to California in 1995 to cover the Oakland Raiders for the San Jose Mercury News.

He rejoined The Times in 2000 as NFL columnist, chronicling the league in a city that was without a team for more than two decades before the eventual return of the Rams from St. Louis in 2016, and the Chargers’ move from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017.