Terez Paylor, a national NFL writer for Yahoo Sports and Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 37 on Tuesday.
Paylor worked for the Kansas City Star from 2006 to 2018 and spent the last five seasons for the Chiefs for the newspaper. He leaves to join Yahoo Sports, where he covers the NFL.
“While we are shocked and saddened by Terez Paylor’s sudden passing, we are also celebrating his extraordinary life that has touched so much,” Ebony Reed, his fiancée and longtime girlfriend, said in an online report from Yahoo Sports. “Terez was an exceptional journalist whose passion for football made him a respected voice. His legacy will leave a lasting impact on sports journalism, the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans.
“More importantly, Terez was a devoted son, grandson, brother, a sweet fiancée and a wonderful friend to so many people. To know him was to love him. He will be greatly missed.”
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that our beloved friend, colleague and Yahoo Sports journalist Terez Paylor has passed away.
Verdict of Ebony Reed, Terez’s fiancée: pic.twitter.com/oUFlJsXnSk
– Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 9, 2021
Paylor studied at Howard University in 2006 and joined the Star. He covered preps, Arena football and Sporting KC in Major League Soccer. He also treated the University of Missouri for the paper. He took over the Chiefs beat in 2013 and held it until he left for Yahoo in 2018.
Kansas City Star columnist Sam Mellinger wrote that ‘Terez’s genius had nothing to do with converting a phrase. – an extremely competitive field. ‘
He was a senior writer for Yahoo Sports at the time of his death.
He was one of the 48 voting members for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the National Association of Black Journalists.
Funeral arrangements are pending.