Free Press columnist Drew Sharp dies

Detroit Free Press sports columnist Drew Sharp, one of a handful of Detroit black sports media personalities, died Friday morning at age 56, the newspaper reports. A cause of death is not known.

According to Sharp’s biography, he “never participated in one minute of organized sports due to two open heart surgeries before the age of eight, but nonetheless became an accomplished sports columnist.”

Sharp had been with the Free Press since 1983 and became a full-time columnist in 1999. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan. In addition to his duties at the Freep, Sharp also was a fixture in sports radio, having been on staff at 105.1-FM just prior to its recent format switch.

“Drew became a powerful voice and opinion on our beloved sports teams here in Detroit and across America. We will miss him greatly,” Brian Priester, president of the Detroit Free Press, says.

In recent times, Sharp had been dogged by plagiarism accusations following a Detroit Sports Rag report that alleged one of his Free Press columns borrowed heavily from a writer’s work on the sports blog iSportsWeb. Sharp’s column was briefly on hiatus, and neither he nor the Free Press had ever addressed the accusations.

Sharp leaves a wife, Karen, and a dog, Seamus, the newspaper reports.