The football world was stunned and saddened to learn Monday that longtime Lions beat writer Tom Kowalski passed away suddenly this morning at the age of 51.
Kowalski was found unresponsive this morning. His fiance Diane Wolan confirmed his death to Booth Newspapers, where he worked.
Kowalski was a fixture for more than 30 years of Detroit football coverage. He started at the Oakland Press before spending the last 14 years covering the team for Booth Newspapers and Mlive.com.
We always considered Kowalski one of the very best beat writers in the country, a guy that embraced internet coverage to the fullest early. He filed his last story early Monday and was tweeting up a storm Sunday, so this news comes as a shock.
On a personal level, Kowalski was always a friendly, funny, generous guy whose passion for what he did never seemed to wane.
Our thoughts and condolences go out to Kowalski’s family and his fiance.