Katherine Fitzgerald, Daniel Oyefusi win Terez Paylor Award from PFWA
Katherine Fitzgerald and Daniel Oyefusi were named the 2025 Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer Award winners by the Pro Football Writers of America.
Fitzgerald covers the Bills for the Buffalo News, and Oyefusi is the Browns beat writer for ESPN.com.
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Fitzgerald and Oyefusi, the fifth and sixth Paylor Award winners, are the first co-recipients of the award since it was introduced in 2021. Fitzgerald is the first person affiliated with the Buffalo News to receive the award, while Oyefusi is the first affiliated with ESPN.com to be honored.
The Paylor Award recognizes a young NFL writer who carries on the legacy of Paylor through his or her work ethic, professionalism, 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.
Fitzgerald joined the Buffalo News as a Bills beat writer in 2021. She previously was a sports reporter for the Arizona Republic (2018-21) and USA Today (2017). While with the Republic, she covered the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns and other teams and events in the greater Phoenix area.
Oyefusi became the Browns beat reporter for ESPN's NFL Nation in April 2024. He previously was the Dolphins beat reporter for the Miami Herald.
The other 2025 finalists for the Paylor Award were Ben Arthur (Fox Sports) and Kris Rhim (ESPN.com).
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