Longtime Associated Press sportswriter Ed Shearer covered SEC football as it grew from a regional pastime into a national powerhouse.
Shearer died at age 84 after a fall, according to the news service where he worked for 40 years.
During his career, Shearer covered three Olympics, the World Series and the Masters. He also wrote the story that appeared on front pages across America the day after the Atlanta Braves' Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974.
But I and other longtime SEC fans remember him best as the author of the SEC Seer, the weekly predictions column that appeared in newspapers across the region. Shearer also covered the biggest Southern football game each week.
An old-time sportswriter, Shearer loved cigarettes and hot peppers, according to his obituary. A native of Shreveport, Shearer started his career at the Shreveport Times. His first AP job was covering politics in Little Rock, Ark.
Transferred to Atlanta, Shearer played a big part in chronicling the rise of Southeastern football, and the emergence of professional sports in the region.
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