KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Kansas City Star award-winning reporter Terez Paylor passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday. He was 37.
A proud native of Detroit, Paylor joined The Star as a sportswriter in May 2006 shortly after graduating from Howard University with a degree in print journalism.
He covered high school sports from 2006 to 2012, as well as the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League, progressed to the Sporting KC beat covering Major League Soccer, and then moved to Columbia, Mo., to cover the University of Missouri athletics program for 19 months.
In 2011 and 2012, Paylor contributed to Top 10 award-winning projects for The Star, as honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors organization.
Because of his tireless commitment and proven record of excellence, The Star in 2013 promoted Paylor to the Chiefs beat, where he quickly established himself as an authoritative voice locally and nationally with stellar wall-to-wall coverage of Kansas City's NFL team and the rest of the league.
Paylor broke numerous high-profile Chiefs stories, including the trade of quarterback Alex Smith to Washington in 2018, and his ability to analyze game film became must-read material for The Star's audience.
One of sports journalism's best-sourced and most credible NFL reporters, Paylor left The Star in 2018 to become the senior NFL writer for Yahoo Sports, where he continued to break NFL news, including the Chiefs' acquisition of defensive end Frank Clark from the Seattle Seahawks in 2019.
"While we are shocked and saddened by Terez Paylor's sudden passing," longtime girlfriend and fiancee Ebony Reed wrote in a statement to Yahoo Sports, "we also celebrate his extraordinary life that touched so many. Terez was an exceptional journalist whose passion for football made him a respected voice. His legacy will leave an enduring impact on sports journalism, the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans.
"More important, Terez was a devoted son, grandson, brother, an adoring fiance and a wonderful friend to so many. To know him was to love him. He will be dearly missed."
The Chiefs communications team also released a statement on the news of Paylor’s passing.
“Hearing the news of Terez’s passing is heart wrenching,” the statement read. “He was so young and full of life, he always wanted to do right by people. Many of us in the Chiefs organization had the opportunity over the years to build a friendship with him, including our players, coaches and staff, and he was an incredible person with the right attitude and integrity.
“He took a lot of pride in his stories, was always deep into the X's and O's and film study, and we all had a chance to enjoy those conversations with him. Beyond that, he was always quick to ask about your family and took a genuine caring interest in the answer you were giving. He was a true professional and a great man with a bright future ahead of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and to Terez, you’re a permanent member of our ‘All-Juice’ team.”
Paylor called Kansas City his home for more than 15 years and was beloved by colleagues, community and Chiefs fans as the go-to source for Chiefs news. But his heart was often in his hometown of Detroit, and he had a deep, enduring love for the Lions as a self-admitted suffering fan.
He was a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, for which he held a vote for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Paylor was also an active member of the Kansas City Association of Black Journalists and served as a frequent speaker during the organization's urban student journalism academy.
Paylor is survived by Reed and his loving parents. Memorial and funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.
