ESPN’s Vaughn McClure, a former Chicago Bears reporter for the Chicago Tribune, has died. He was 48.
Since 2013, McClure covered the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons for ESPN, which reported Thursday that he died this week at his Atlanta-area home. The date and cause were not mentioned.
McClure’s last story for ESPN.com was posted Wednesday, and his last tweet was Tuesday afternoon.
ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson called McClure “an amazing friend and colleague” on Twitter while Falcons President and Chief Executive Rich McKay remembered him as “an earnest, thoughtful reporter who had a passion for his craft and the relationships he held.”
Besides writing for ESPN’s website, McClure appeared on its television and radio programs, including “SportsCenter” and “NFL Live.”
A Chicago native, McClure came to the Tribune in 2007 from the Sun-Times, where he had covered Notre Dame.
McClure previously worked for the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, Fresno (Calif.) Bee and DeKalb Daily Chronicle, where he was a general assignment reporter covering the police, fire, courts, park district, and school board beats after graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1994.
ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen called McClure a “wonderful man. Pro. Humble. Diligent. Loving. Caring. Faithful. And much more.”
Wrote Tribune Bears and NFL columnist Brad Biggs: “Terribly saddened by the passing of former colleague and good friend Vaughn McClure. He had an incredible gift for getting people to open up to him and was a delight to be around. Rest in peace, Vaughn.”
Bears Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher tweeted that McClure “had a big heart and was one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. You will be missed. RIP HOMIE”
WSCR-AM 670 David Haugh, a former Chicago Tribune columnist and longtime colleague of McClure’s, tweeted a fond remembrance. Haugh hired McClure at the South Bend Tribune when he was an assistant sports editor there.
“From South Bend through Chicago till our last conversation Tuesday, Vaughn McClure was uncommonly considerate, effortlessly charismatic and one of my best friends,” Haugh wrote. “He’d be so proud to see the outpouring. And then he’d ask how to improve his writing. RIP, buddy. You’ll be missed.”
