John Clayton passed away on March 18. He may not have physically been at the NFL Draft on Thursday night, but he was there in spirit thanks to two very cool tributes.
Bob Condotta, who covers the team for The Seattle Times, tweeted out an image on Thursday before the Draft officially began. The Seahawks reserved a seat for the late reporter at their draft table.
The other tribute came from Clayton’s former colleagues at ESPN. Field Yates wore a shirt featuring Clayton’s last name in the same font as the band Slayer’s logo. It was a reference to the beloved “This is SportsCenter” commercial.
John Clayton covered the Seahawks beginning in 1986 when he arrived at The News Tribune in Tacoma. He joined ESPN in 1995.
He was also a prominent member of the sports radio community. He began making appearances on KJR in Seattle in 1990. He hosted his own show on 710 ESPN in Seattle. He was also a contributor to a number of stations across the country, including 104.3 the Fan in Denver, where Clayton made appearances on air and wrote for the station’s website.
