1981 Journalism

Rich Scarcella

was been named the winner of one of the top awards in the 30th annual Football Writers Association of America Best Writing Contest. He is sportswriter for the Reading Eagle.

Scarcella received first place in the feature category for his profile of former Penn State player Adam Taliaferro, who recovered from a spinal cord injury to lead the Nittany Lions onto the field a year later in their 2001 season opener. “An emotional then-and-now look at a success story against the odds,” the judge commented.

It’s the fifth time Scarcella has been recognized in the FWAA contest but the first time he’s been named a first-place winner.

Scarcella also has been recognized many times in writing contests conducted by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors and the Keystone Media Awards.

He started covering Penn State football for the Reading Eagle in 1989 and is in his 34th season on the beat. His coverage appears in seven other MediaNews Group publications in the Philadelphia region.

David Ubben of The Athletic placed second in the feature category and David Hale of ESPN.com was third.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com took first place in the game story category, Dave Wilson of ESPN.com for column writing and Tom Shanahan of TomShanahanReport.com for enterprise.

Founded in 1941, the FWAA consists of the men and women across North America who cover college football.

Note Posted: September 30, 2022