Colton Pouncy, a writer for The Athletic, was named as the 2024 Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer Award winner by the Professional Football Writers of America.
Pouncy, the fourth Paylor Award winner, has covered the Lions as a beat writer since 2022. He is the third person employed by The Athletic to receive the Paylor Award.
The Paylor Award recognizes a young NFL writer who carries on the legacy of Paylor through his or her work ethic, professionalism, and dedication to the craft and commitment to improving diversity in NFL media. Paylor, the former Yahoo! Sports and Kansas City Star football writer, died in February 2021 at the age of 37.
Pouncy, a Chicago native and a 2017 graduate of Missouri, joined The Athletic in June 2018 as the Michigan State football beat writer. He covered the Spartans for four years before moving to the Lions beat in July 2022. In addition to his daily written coverage of the Lions, he also co-hosts a Lions podcast, “One of These Years,” with Chris Burke and Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic.
The other 2024 finalists for the Paylor Award were Ben Arthur (Fox Sports), DJ Bien-Aime (ESPN.com), Katherine Fitzgerald (Buffalo News), Daniel Oyefusi (Miami Herald) and Kris Rhim (ESPN.com).