Pat Caputo, longtime Detroit sports columnist and radio host, dies at 67

Pat Caputo, who spent nearly four decades writing and talking about Detroit sports, died May 7 of pancreatic cancer. He was 67.

His family announced the death on his social media account. "Today May 7th we lost Pat to cancer," the post read. "Pat was surrounded by his family. Thank you for all your support. The Caputo Family." Caputo had disclosed a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in early January, and kept posting to readers through the months that followed.

Caputo built his name first in print. The Oakland Press hired him in 1983, and over the next 37 years he covered the Tigers, then the Lions, before settling in as the paper's lead sports columnist. He was laid off in 2020 after the paper cut staff, closing a run that had made him one of the most widely read sports voices in the suburbs north of Detroit. He won repeated recognition as Michigan's top sports columnist from both the state Associated Press and the Michigan Press Association.

The radio and television work ran alongside the column for years. He hosted on WDFN and later on WXYT, and he was a fixture on 97.1 The Ticket, where listeners knew him by the nickname "The Book" for the depth of sports history he carried in his head. For roughly 25 years he also contributed to sports coverage on FOX 2 Detroit.

What set him apart was the tone. He was skeptical of front-office spin and unimpressed by celebrity, and he talked to his audience as people who could follow a contract dispute or a roster decision in detail. That directness is the part colleagues kept returning to after his death.

FOX 2 Detroit, where he worked for about a quarter century, said in a statement: "FOX 2 extends our love and support to the Caputo family and our thanks to Pat, who gave so much to Detroit sports, and fans everywhere with his passion, heart and humor."

Caputo lived in Lake Orion. Funeral arrangements were not announced.