Rod Beard

About

Rod Beard made a big move to become the Senior Sports Editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in April 2025, finishing 23-plus years at The Detroit News. He moved into a role as Sports Editor at The Detroit News in October 2023, after a short stint as the assistant sports editor. Under his guidance, the News' Sports department was recognized in three categories by the Associated Press Sports Editors for their work in 2023. Enhancing his growth, he previously was an award-winning writer who served as the Pistons beat writer for seven years and covered Michigan basketball for five years, including the Wolverines' memorable trip to the national championship game in 2013. In his time with The News, he worked in the early years of the website, www.detroitnews.com, and excelled in various writing roles in Sports and assisting in cross-departmental coverage and planning. Since elementary school, Rod has been involved in an interactive, competitive activity called Academic Games, which honed his skills in math, language arts and social studies. Continuing through high school in those competitions, his teams earned dozens of national and state titles, and he is in the Academic Games Hall of Fame. Following his playing career, he began coaching teams in Detroit at Renaissance High School, Murray-Wright High School and University Prep Academy. Rod has continued his lifelong service to Academic Games and is on the national board for AGLOA (Academic Games Leagues of America) and currently serves as the Executive Director and Tournament Director.