FOX Sports Radio personality Rob Parker has been named a finalist for the 2026 National Sports Media Association (NSMA) Hall of Fame in the Sportswriter (Living) category, marking another milestone in a career spanning more than three decades.
Parker, co-host of The Odd Couple with Rob Parker & Kelvin Washington, MLB Network analyst, and founder/editor of MLBbro.com, joins 39 other all-time greats nominated for the 2026 NSMA Hall of Fame. Finalists were determined through a month-long balloting process by NSMA members, recognizing distinguished careers in sports journalism.
“It’s an absolute honor to be considered with so many journalism heavyweights,” Parker said in a statement.
Winners of the NSMA Hall of Fame awards will be notified in the first week of January. The awards ceremony will take place June 28-29, 2026, during the NSMA’s 66th Awards Weekend & National Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The recognition is the latest in a string of honors for Parker, who was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame in 2023. His alma mater, Southern Connecticut State University, also recently dedicated the press box at Jess Dow Field in his honor.
Parker’s career began at age 22 when he became a full-time sportswriter at the New York Daily News. He quickly emerged as a trailblazer in the industry. Parker became the first African American sports columnist at both the Detroit Free Press in 1993 and Newsday in 1995. That same year, he made history as the first African American beat writer to cover the Cincinnati Reds for The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Over the years, Parker earned acclaim as an award-winning sports columnist in his nine years at The Detroit News. He also hosted the long-running radio show Sports Night with Parker and The Man and held on-air roles at WDIV Local 4 and WXYZ TV in 2016.
In 2018, Parker joined FOX Sports Radio to co-host The Odd Couple. The show quickly moved from Sunday to weekdays. He also hosts the Inside the (Rob) Parker Podcast, teaches as an adjunct professor at USC, and recently launched MLBbro.com, chronicling the journeys of Black and brown professional baseball players.
Parker is a New York native with a journalism degree from Southern Connecticut State University. He also earned a Master’s from Columbia University. Named NABJ Sports Journalist of the Year in 2018, he continues a career marked by groundbreaking achievements, mentorship, and lasting influence in sports media.
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