Terez Paylor, national NFL copywriter for Yahoo Sports and voter of the Professional Football Hall of Fame, died unexpectedly on Tuesday at the age of 37.
Paylor worked for the Kansas City Star from 2006 to 2018, spending the past five seasons covering the Chiefs for the newspaper. He left to join Yahoo Sports, where he covered the NFL.
“While we are shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Terez Paylor, we are also celebrating his extraordinary life that has moved so many people,” Ebony Reed, his longtime fiancee and girlfriend, said in an online post from Yahoo Sports. “Terez was an exceptional journalist whose passion for football has made him a respected voice. His legacy will leave a lasting impact on sports journalism, the NFL, Kansas City Chiefs and his fans.
“Most importantly, Terez was a son, grandson, devoted brother, a lovely groom and a wonderful friend to so many. To know him was to love him. He will be missed very much.”
It is with regret that we announce that our dear friend, colleague and Yahoo Sports journalist, Terez Paylor, has passed away.
Declaration of Ebony Reed, engaged to Terez: pic.twitter.com/oUFlJsXnSk
– Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 9, 2021
Paylor graduated from Howard University in 2006 and joined Star. He covered preparations, Arena football and Sporting KC in Major League Soccer. He also covered the University of Missouri for the newspaper. He took on the Chiefs’ beat in 2013 and held on until he left Yahoo in 2018.
Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger wrote that “Terez’s genius had nothing to do with turning a sentence. … He knew football and the people who loved him. He built and executed a plan that quickly made him a of the best writers in American football – an extremely competitive field. “
He was a senior copywriter at Yahoo Sports at the time of his death.
He was one of 48 voting members for the Professional Football Hall of Fame and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the National Association of Black Journalists.
Preparations for the funeral are pending.