Distinguished Alumni Award
John McClain grew up in Waco and graduated from Richfield High School and MCC before earning his degree in journalism at Baylor in 1975. He worked for the Waco Tribune-Herald from 1973 to 1976, when he accepted a job with the Houston Chronicle. This is his 44th year at the Chronicle and his 41st covering the National Football League, including the Houston Texans for the last 15 years.
McClain has a plaque in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio as the 2006 winner of the Dick McCann Memorial Award presented annually to a writer for his long and distinguished coverage of the NFL. He is past president of the Pro Football Writers of America. He’s a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Seniors Committee and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Selection Committee. In 2015, he was named as a Gridiron Legend in Texas, becoming the third member of the media, behind Dave Campbell and Mickey Herskowitz.
McClain can be heard six times a week on the Texans Flagship, Sports Radio 610, in Houston, and twice a week on KRZI in Waco. He also does weekly sports talk shows in San Antonio, Austin, Nashville and Knoxville. He appears regularly on the NFL’s Top 10 series on the NFL Network. McClain also has appeared in eight movies: The Rookie, The Longest Yard, Spring Breakers, Invincible, Secretariat, Cook County, The Game Plan and Make It Rain.
