Packers reporters Tom Silverstein, Ryan Wood earn Top 10 national sports writing honors

PackersNews.com reporters Tom Silverstein and Ryan Wood earned Top 10 national honors for 2018 in a contest judged this week by the Associated Press Sports Editors in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was recognized in the Beat Writing competition in Category A (the largest-circulation newspapers). Silverstein was recognized for a collection of stories that demonstrated authoritative, newsy and innovative coverage.

They included a game story on how Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers couldn't fix what was broken with the Packers' offense, a column on how Rodgers was equally to blame for the offense's struggles, a story on Jordy Nelson sharing the same fate as other longtime Packers receivers, a breaking-news story on Rodgers' four-year contract extension and a multimedia submission of his live blog from a Packers-Bears game.

Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, competing in Category B (the second-largest circulation category), won a rare Triple Crown of writing awards.

Like Silverstein, Wood also was recognized in Beat Writing for an assortment of stories that included a piece on Brandon Bostick's botched onside kick that led to a stunning 2014 NFC Championship game loss for the Packers in Seattle, an examination of the difficulty of kicking in the elements at Lambeau Field, a breaking-news story on Brian Gutekunst being named Packers general manager, a game story on Packers linebacker Clay Matthews' bewilderment over a costly roughing-the-passer penalty, and a multimedia submission consisting of a Facebook Live chat immediately after the Packers fired McCarthy.

Wood also earned top-10 recognition in the Features competition for his story on Bostick finding peace after his devastating mistake, and in the Explanatory competition for his story on kicking at Lambeau Field.

Additionally, the Journal Sentinel earned honorable-mention recognition in Category A for its digital and mobile platforms: jsonline.com/sports and PackersNews.com. It also got an honorable mention for its special section commemorating 100 years of Packers football, entitled The Packers’ 100th Season.