Wink Martindale, Bobb Mckittrick and John Mitchell selected as PFWA’S 2023 Paul “DR. Z” Zimmerman Award Winners
The Dr. Z Award is given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL.
The Dr. Z Award is given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL. The award is named for Zimmerman, who covered the NFL for 29 years as Sports Illustrated's lead pro football writer. His impact on the writing and football industries was profound. Zimmerman is widely considered one of the best football writers of all time, and his 1970 “A Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football” and revised 1984 “The New Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football” are textbooks to this day for young football writers trying to learn the game and trying to learn to write about the game.
He started to cover the NFL in 1966, and he started at Sports Illustrated in 1979. Zimmerman stayed at SI until his writing career was cut short by a series of strokes in November 2008. He served as PFWA president during the 1982 season
The PFWA (originally established as the Pro Football Writers Association of America or PFWAA) was founded December 28, 1963 in Chicago, and George Strickler of the Chicago Tribune was elected as the organization’s first president. The PFWA selected its’ first All-NFL team in 1966, an All-AFL/NFL team in 1968-69 and again an All-NFL team each season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The PFWA has selected All-AFC/NFC teams since 1992 and an All-Rookie Team since 1974. The PFWA first gave a NFL MVP and Rookie of the Year award in 1966, and after a hiatus from 1967-74, the group has selected an MVP and Rookie of the Year each year since 1975. The oldest of the Off-Field Awards selected by the membership are the Halas Award and the Nunn Award (which is presented to the honoree during each year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony in Canton, Ohio), which each date back to 1969.
Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award
New York Giants defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale, the late Bobb McKittrick and recently retired Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell have been selected as the 2023 Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award winners by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).
Martindale, McKittrick and Mitchell are the 21st, 22nd and 23rd recipients of the Dr. Z Award, which was instituted by the PFWA in 2014. Other 2023 finalists for the Dr. Z Award were the late defensive coordinator Thomas Catlin and the late defensive coordinator Floyd Peters.
Martindale, the Giants defensive coordinator, is known for his wit and his creative blitz schemes out of a variety of fronts, and his best defenses have also defended the run with discipline. He has a resume that shows a gritty climb that included a year as a truck driver for a company his uncle owned before collegiate coaching stints at Defiance College, Cincinnati, Western Kentucky, Western Illinois as well as three Ohio high schools before he broke into the NFL in 2004 as a linebackers coach with the Oakland Raiders. Martindale spent 10 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, including four as the defensive coordinator. His defenses were among the league’s top three in scoring in three of those four years as the Ravens’ coordinator, including No. 1 in his first season with the team. Martindale was on the staff for the Ravens’ Super Bowl XLVII win. Current Jets, and former Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley, who earned a Pro Bowl trip as a Baltimore rookie with Martindale, called Martindale “just a real guy, a real coach."
McKittrick, who developed athletic, undersized offensive lines over 21 years and five Super Bowl titles with San Francisco, spent 28 years as a NFL offensive line coach. His 49ers lines protected quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young during 21 seasons (1979-99) with San Francisco. Sports Illustrated wrote McKittrick “may be the most successful position coach of his era” since “few coaches have done so much with so little.” McKittrick was an assistant for the Los Angeles Rams (1971-72) and San Diego (1974-78) before joining the 49ers in 1979. He coached in five Super Bowls (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV, XXIX) with the 49ers, winning all five, and was one of only four 49ers coaches who were part of all five title teams.
Mitchell, who broke the color barrier as a player at Alabama and was the first African American defensive coordinator in the SEC, spent five decades as a college (including three years as an assistant for Paul "Bear" Bryant) or NFL coach. A total of 29 of those years were with the Pittsburgh Steelers until Mitchell retired in February. His tenure with the Steelers included three Super Bowl trips and two Super Bowl wins. In his time with the Steelers five defensive linemen were named to at least one Pro Bowl – Casey Hampton, Cam Heyward, Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith and Joel Steed. When Mitchell retired, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said: "I'm not sure that I can offer sufficient praise and admiration for Mitch -- as both a man and football coach. Mitch has been a central figure in the success of the Pittsburgh Steelers for nearly three decades. He has coached some of the best players in this franchise's illustrious history, and each one of them, to a man, would tell you their success was a direct result of not only Mitch's coaching acumen, but also his mentorship, leadership and character."
ABOUT THE PFWA: In its 60th season in 2023, the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) is the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. The PFWA is made up of accredited writers who cover the NFL and the 32 teams daily. Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News is the PFWA president for the 2023-24 seasons and the organization’s 31st president. Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post is the PFWA’s first vice-president, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic is the second vice-president, Lindsay Jones of The Ringer is the advisor to the president and Mike Sando of The Athletic is the secretary-treasurer. At-large board members include Mike Jones of The Athletic, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold, Joe Reedy of the Associated Press and ProFootballTalk.com’s Charean Williams.
Follow the PFWA at ProFootballWriters.org and on Twitter at @PFWAwriters
PAUL “DR. Z” ZIMMERMAN AWARD WINNERS (For lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL): 2014 – Jim Johnson, Howard Mudd, Fritz Shurmur and Ernie Zampese; 2015 – Dick LeBeau, Tom Moore and Dante Scarnecchia; 2016 – Monte Kiffin and Wade Phillips; 2017 – Bud Carson; 2018 – Joe Bugel and Emmitt Thomas; 2019 – Gunther Cunningham and Mike Westhoff; 2020 – Bill Arnsparger and Romeo Crennel; 2021 – Rod Marinelli and Bobby Turner; 2022 – Leslie Frazier and Greg Knapp; 2023 – Don “Wink” Martindale, Bobb McKittrick and John Mitchell
It is a changing of the guard in the ‘Black and Blue’ division. Gone is Green Bay Packers legend Aaron Rodgers. In comes Jordan Love. Down are expectations, as head coach Matt LaFleur has already pre-warned that ‘there will be growing pains.’ Over the last 12 years, Green Bay won the NFC East eight times with A-Rod at the helm. While the Packers went out and shopped for additional weapons to provide Love in the 2023 NFL Draft, this division is as wide open as it has ever been.
While some might be ready to anoint the Minnesota Vikings as repeat division winners, the upstart Detroit Lions have been abuzz during the NFL offseason. Detroit has earned the right to be the media darlings after their love affair on Hard Knocks…they fell short of the playoffs on the final week of the regular season. However, the Lions just might have the youngest nucleus of core players in the NFL. They added rookie running back jitterbug Jahmyr Gibbs, bruising linebacker Jack Campbell and versatile defender Brian Branch via the draft.
Despite rattling off 13 victories a year ago, Minnesota couldn’t swat a fly on defense. After selecting wideout Jordan Addison, the Vikings went on the defensive with their next three selections. However, ‘Captain Checkdown,’ Kirk Cousins remains the quarterback and there is only so much run left in that carpet ride. In Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears have arguably the best quarterback in the division, making them the x-factor. Chicago general manager Ryan Poles has worked feverishly to flip the roster during the past two off seasons. The Beard are suddenly loaded with speedy playmakers and got stronger in the trenches through the draft. With three franchises on a sharp ascension, the Packers stranglehold on the Norris seems to be officially over.
The PFWA’s Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award given for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL. The award is named for Zimmerman, who covered the NFL for 29 years as Sports Illustrated’s lead pro football writer.
Zimmerman’s writing career was cut short by a series of strokes in November 2008 that left him unable to speak, read and write. But his impact on the writing and football industries was profound. He’s widely considered one of the best football writers of all time, and his 1970 “A Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football” and revised 1984 “The New Thinking Man’s Guide to Pro Football” are textbooks to this day for young football writers trying to learn the game and trying to learn to write about the game.
As a 15-year-old, Zimmerman sparred with Ernest Hemingway in a Manhattan gym. He broke his nose four times as an offensive lineman in high school (Horace Mann High in the Bronx, N.Y.), at two colleges (Stanford and Columbia) and for his Army team (the Western Area Command Rhinos, in Germany). He also played semi-professionally in New Jersey for the Paterson Pioneers and the Morristown Colonials.
Before joining SI in 1979, Zimmerman worked for the Sacramento Bee, New York Journal-American and the New York World-Telegram & Sun, and he spent 13 years at the New York Post, where he covered pro football and three Olympic Games. He was one of the few journalists to get close to the Israeli compound during the 1972 hostage-taking in Munich; he bucked two lines of security guards and took a rifle butt to the head.
He served as the 10th president of the Pro Football Writers of America during the 1982 season. He received the PFWA’s highest honor, the Dick McCann Award, in 1996 for a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage.
Zimmerman was still writing multiple columns a week for the magazine and its website, SI.com, until he suffered his strokes.
He was cared for until his death on November 1, 2018, by his loving wife, Linda, known as “the Flaming Redhead” in his writings. The couple was married in 1999.
PAUL “DR. Z” ZIMMERMAN AWARD WINNERS (For lifetime achievement as an NFL assistant coach):
2014 — Jim Johnson, Howard Mudd, Fritz Shurmur and Ernie Zampese
2015 — Dick LeBeau, Tom Moore and Dante Scarnecchia
2016 — Monte Kiffin and Wade Phillips
2017 — Bud Carson
2018 — Joe Bugel and Emmitt Thomas
2019 — Gunther Cunningham and Mike Westhoff
2020 — Bill Arnsparger and Romeo Crennel
2021 — Rod Marinelli and Bobby Turner
2022 — Leslie Frazier and Greg Knapp
2023 — Don “Wink” Martindale, Bobb McKittrick and John Mitchell
YEARLY FINALISTS (winners in bold)
2014 — Bill Arnsparger, Alex Gibbs, Jim Hanifan, Jim Johnson, Bobb McKittrick, Howard Mudd, Dante Scarnecchia, Fritz Shurmur, Mike Westhoff, Ernie Zampese
2015 — Bill Arnsparger, Dick LeBeau, Bobb McKittrick, Tom Moore, Dante Scarnecchia, Emmitt Thomas
2016 — Monte Kiffin, Bobb McKittrick, Wade Phillips
2017 — Bud Carson, Gunther Cunningham, Bruce DeHaven, Jim Hanifan, Bobb McKittrick
2018 — Joe Bugel, Bobb McKittrick, Jim McNally, Emmitt Thomas, Dave Toub
2019 — Gunther Cunningham, Rod Marinelli, Bobb McKittrick, Terry Robiske, Mike Westhoff
2020 — Bill Arnsparger, Romeo Crennel, Dick Hoak, Rod Marinelli, Bobb McKittrick, Floyd Peters, Buddy Ryan, Bobby Turner
2021 — Rod Marinelli, Bobb McKittrick, Floyd Peters, John Teerlinck, Bobby Turner
2022 — Keith Butler, Leslie Frazier, Greg Knapp, Bobb McKittrick, Floyd Peters
2023 — Tom Catlin, Don “Wink” Martindale, Bobb McKittrick, John Mitchell, Floyd Peters
About The PFWA
In its 60th season in 2023, the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA) is the official voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public. The PFWA is made up of accredited writers who cover the NFL and the 32 teams daily.
Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News is the PFWA president for the 2023-24 seasons and the organization’s 31st president. Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post is the PFWA’s first vice-president, Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic is the second vice-president, Lindsay Jones of The Ringer is the advisor to the president and Mike Sando of The Athletic is the secretary-treasurer. At-large board members include Mike Jones of The Athletic, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold, Joe Reedy of the Associated Press and ProFootballTalk.com’s Charean Williams.
The PFWA has established local chapters in each NFL market to assist members, monitor each club’s adherence to the NFL Media Access Policy and increase PFWA membership by qualified media personnel. Each chapter’s executives work with their local club’s public relations staff and communicates with PFWA officers on issues relating to coverage, all in an effort to fulfill the PFWA’s mission statement to promote and fight for access to NFL personnel to best serve the public.
The PFWA works with the NFL each year to assign pool reporters in every market, who may visit the officials locker room following games to make inquiries about rule interpretations for distribution to all media.
Each year in January, members select the PFWA’s On-Field Awards: All-NFL, All-AFC/NFC and All-Rookie teams along with individual awards for Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year. The PFWA On-Field Awards are announced during the week of the AFC and NFC Championship Games.
In the spring, members nominate and vote for the Off-Field Awards: Good Guy Award (NFL player for his qualities and style in helping pro football writers do their jobs), George Halas Award (NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed), Horrigan Award (league or club official for his or her qualities and style in helping the pro football writers do their job), Bill Nunn Jr. Award (reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage), Terez A. Paylor Emerging Writer Award (NFL writer under the age of 30 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), Pete Rozelle Award (NFL club PR staff that consistently strives for excellence in its dealings and relationships with the media) and the Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman Award (lifetime achievement as an assistant coach in the NFL) The Off-Field Awards are announced prior to clubs finishing their spring OTAs.
The PFWA also conducts the Dick Connor Writing Awards, which honors the best writing by members in beat reporting, columns, features, enterprise news/features, breaking news, and game stories by members. The Connor Awards, which span the period after the Super Bowl and continues through the following year’s Super Bowl, are announced during the preseason each year. Beginning in 2019, the Connor Award categories were named for some of the renowned pro football writers who chronicled the NFL over the league’s first 100 seasons: the Bob Oates Beat Reporting Award (Los Angeles Times reporter and the PFWA’s 1974 Bill Nunn Jr. Award winner), the Dave Anderson Column Writing Award (New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and the 1998 Nunn Award honoree), the Bryan Burwell Feature Writing Award (St. Louis Post-Dispatch and New York Daily News writer and columnist), the Lesley Visser Enterprise News/Features Award (pioneering football writer who became the NFL’s first female beat reporter in 1976 at the Boston Globe and who later worked for CBS), the Will McDonough Breaking News Award (Boston Globe reporter and columnist who went on to a decorated career in TV journalism and the 1990 Nunn Award winner) and the Dave Goldberg Game Story Award (41-year Associated Press reporter and 2015 Nunn Award honoree).
The Art Rooney Scholarship is awarded each year to a child of a PFWA member who is entering his or her freshman year of college. Applications for the Rooney Scholarship are available in early summer each year from the PFWA for children who graduated high school in the spring. The winner is announced at the PFWA’s Annual Meeting during Super Bowl week.
The PFWA (originally established as the Pro Football Writers Association of America or PFWAA) was founded December 28, 1963 in Chicago, and George Strickler of the Chicago Tribune was elected as the organization’s first president. The PFWA selected its’ first All-NFL team in 1966, an All-AFL/NFL team in 1968-69 and again an All-NFL team each season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The PFWA has selected All-AFC/NFC teams since 1992 and an All-Rookie Team since 1974. The PFWA first gave a NFL MVP and Rookie of the Year award in 1966, and after a hiatus from 1967-74, the group has selected an MVP and Rookie of the Year each year since 1975. The oldest of the Off-Field Awards selected by the membership are the Halas Award and the Nunn Award (which is presented to the honoree during each year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony in Canton, Ohio), which each date back to 1969.
Follow the PFWA at ProFootballWriters.org and on Twitter at @PFWAwriters.
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