Cochran, Mike

Jul 22, 2021

Mike Cochran played golf at Stamford for Gordon Wood, but became one of the most decorated reporters in Texas during a long career with the Associated Press and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Although best known for covering moon shots, the Kennedy assassination, the trials of Cullen Davis and Billie Sol Estes, and other major news events, he always kept a hand in covering sports, beginning with high school football during his early days as a sports reporter at the Abilene Reporter-News. He was a fixture for years in covering TCU football, the Cotton Bowl and Sun Bowl, and the Colonial and LaJet golf tournaments. Cochran wrote numerous books and feature stories, including features on Sam Baugh, Texas Tech’s Donny Anderson, and Odessa High’s 1997 victory over Permian. He is the author of a book on Big Country Hall of Fame poker player Doyle Brunson. Cochran is a member of the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame and was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.