2013: Adam Schefter (sports commentator, ESPN)

2012: Dick Enberg (sportscaster, CBS Sports)

2011: Chris Broussard (sportswriter, ESPN)

2009: Christine Brennan (USA Today columnist)

2008: Frank DeFord (“Morning Edition” sports commentator, NPR)

2007: Rob King (vice president and editor-in-chief, ESPN.com)

2006: Bill Hancock (author and former director, NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament)

2005: Johnathan Rodgers (chief executive officer and president, TV-One)

2004: Norby Williamson (senior vice president and managing editor, ESPN)

2003: Steve Rushin (writer, Sports Illustrated)

2002: Nancy Axthelm (director of broadcast, Grey Worldwide)

2001:cancelled as a result of the September 11 tragedy

2000: Pete Bonventre (executive editor, Entertainment Weekly)

1999: Maureen Orth (author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair)

1998: John A. Walsh (senior vice president and executive editor, ESPN)

1997: Jimmy Breslin (Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author)

1996: Robert Lipsyte (sports columnist, New York Times)