Joe Biddle, whose Nashville sportswriting career spanned five decades, died early Wednesday. He was 78.
Born June 13, 1944, in Johnson City, Tennessee, where Heisman Trophy-winning sophomore and legendary coach Steve Spurrier was a high school student, Biddle rose to fame as a sports editor and columnist for the Nashville Banner. In the year 1979 until it closed its doors in 1998.
The famous “I Bit Biddle” contest was held during Banner’s tenure. Anyone who received Biddle’s college football picks received a red, white and blue “I Beat Biddle” bumper sticker. They can be seen throughout the Southeast.
An East Tennessee State graduate and Vietnam War Air Force veteran, Biddle moved to The Tennessean, Nashville’s morning paper, in 1998 as a sports columnist, where he remained until 2011.
Former Tennessean and Nashville Banner columnist Joe Biddle died Wednesday at age 78: https://t.co/t6Nq194D3m pic.twitter.com/duC6VKT7sQ
— The Tennessean (@Tennessean) October 26, 2022
Biddle, an avid golfer, played in the Masters. He also covered 31 Super Bowls and 31 Final Fours. He was a four-time Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportswriters and Sportswriters Association. In the year He was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.
Biddle is survived by his wife, Sharon; They have been married for 47 years.
